Malaysia Retain Women's Asian Team Title

World champion Nicol David led her country to a third successive women's triumph in the Asian Team Championships today when Malaysia beat second seeds Hong Kong 2-0 in the final at the Taipei Arena in Taiwan, Chinese Taipei.

Tricia Chuah put the favourites ahead with a 10-8, 9-5, 9-0 win over Hong Kong's Elise Ng, before the record five-times Asian individual champion Nicol David clinched the title for Malaysia with a 9-4, 9-3, 9-0 victory over the Hong Kong No1 Rebecca Chiu in a repeat of last week's individual final.

A first-time 'grand slam' of all four titles is still on the cards after favourites Malaysia beat India 2-1 in a men's semi-final today which went right down to the wire. India, the third seeds, started positively with Gaurav Nandrajog beating an error-prone Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 9-2 5-9 9-5 9-2.

The second match, the best of the day, was between Mohd Azlan Iskandar and India's No1 Ritwik Bhattacharya. As training partners in London, they knew each others games well. A highly-charged Bhattacharya came on strongly though he was two games down. The 26-year-old from New Delhi bravely fought back to level the score. The fifth was an extremely exciting affair with the Indian team relishing the prospect of getting into the finals for the first time ever. Iskandar, however, hung in to record a 9-1, 9-7, 7-9, 6-9, 9-5 win to draw the tie.

The third match was a one-sided affair with Ong Beng Hee in full control against India's Saurav Ghosal. The Malaysian's fluid movement and deft touches in the front of the court were a delight to watch. Beng Hee completely outclassed Ghosal, despite the 19-year-old from Chennai giving everything he had.

The 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 win takes Malaysia forward to face old rivals Pakistan, the defending champions, in the men's final tomorrow.

Men's semi-finals:
[1] MALAYSIA bt [3] INDIA 2-1 (Mohd Azlan Iskandar bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 9-1, 9-7, 7-9, 6-9, 9-5; Ong Beng Hee bt Saurav Ghosal 9-1, 9-0, 9-1; Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan lost to Gaurav Nandrajog 2-9, 9-5, 5-9, 2-9)
[2] PAKISTAN bt [4] KUWAIT 2-0 (Farhan Mehboob bt Mohammed Hajeyah 9-2, 9-2, 9-2; Mansoor Zaman bt Bader Al Hussaini 9-2, 9-2, 10-8; Shahid Zaman v Ali Alramezi (dead rubber - match not played))

5th - 8th place play-offs:
[5] HONG KONG bt [7] JAPAN 2-1 (Abdul Faheem Khan bt Yasunori Ishiwata 9-5, 9-2, 9-4; Wai Hang Wong lost to Takanori Shimizu 2-9, 7-9, 9-2, 3-9; Dick Lau bt Jun Matsumoto 9-2, 2-9, 7-9, 9-1, 10-9)
[6] SOUTH KOREA bt [8] SINGAPORE 2-0 (Kwon Hyeon-Jun bt Richard Hill 9-1, 9-5, 9-2; Kim Dong Woo bt Marcus Phua 9-4, 9-1, 9-6; Kim Sung Young v Kenneth Chan (dead rubber - match not played))

9th - 12th place play-offs:
[10] IRAN bt [9] SRI LANKA 2-1 (Babak Shahabi lost to Yasir Issadeen 8-10, 4-9, 7-9; Payman Siyavoshi bt Eranga Alwis 9-2, 0-9, 5-9, 9-5, 9-3; Mohd Hassan Nadoushan bt Harin Pereira 1-9, 9-6, 9-1, 9-2)
[11] CHINESE TAIPEI bt [12] MACAU 2-0 (Li Chin Chou bt Chan Chak In 9-1, 9-0, 9-0; Yang Wen Chang bt Armando Amante 9-2, 9-7, 9-2; Cheng Yao Huang v Sun Kin Peng (dead rubber - match not played))

Women's final:
[1] MALAYSIA bt [2] HONG KONG 2-0 (Tricia Chuah bt Elise Ng 10-8, 9-5, 9-0; Nicol David bt Rebecca Chiu 9-4, 9-3, 9-0; Sharon Wee v Christina Mak (dead rubber - match not played))

3rd place play-off:
[3] JAPAN bt [4] SOUTH KOREA 2-1 (Sachiko Shinta lost to Ga-Hye Kim 5-9, 6-9, 3-9; Mami Nishio bt Eun Ok Park 9-6, 9-2, 4-9, 9-0; Chinatsu Matsui bt Eun Chan Ahn 7-9, 3-9, 9-1, 9-5, 9-1)

5th place play-off:
[6] SINGAPORE bt [5] INDIA 2-1 (Vicky He lost to Surbhi Misra 4-9, 4-9, 8-10; Joannah Yue bt Dipika Pallikal 10-8, 4-9, 9-4, 10-8; Serene Lee bt Anwesha Reddy 9-5, 9-4, 9-2)

7th place play-off:
[7] SRI LANKA bt [8] CHINESE TAIPEI 2-0 (Vidushi Gurunada bt Hsu Shu Ling 9-3, 9-2, 9-4; Nirasha Guruge bt Pan Kuei Yeh 9-0, 9-1, 9-0; Tehani Guruge v Hung Mei Hsia (dead rubber - match not played))