World Champion David & Iskandar Set For Asian Games Malaysian Double

After a short break to celebrate her successful defence of the World Open Championship title in Belfast on Sunday, Malaysian Nicol David must set her sights on reclaiming a major title she does not hold, at the Asian Games in Qatar in December.

David and compatriot Mohd Azlan Iskandar have been named as top squash seeds in the sport's third appearance in the quadrennial Asian Games, in Doha from 10-14 December.

In the 2002 Games in Busan, South Korea, Nicol David suffered a rare loss in the women's final to Rebecca Chiu, the Hong Kong number one whom she is seeded to meet in the Doha final. The anticipated meeting would also be a repeat of the 1998 final, which was won by the Malaysian.

"The Asian Games is very important to me, in a different way from the World Open," said David after her epic 95-minute five-game victory over Australia's three-times Commonwealth Games gold medallist Natalie Grinham at the Ulster Hall in the Northern Ireland capital.

"You are part of your country's whole team of athletes from a number of different sports. There's been a huge build-up the Games - and winning something like that is a whole different feeling," said the 23-year-old from Penang whose second World Open title triumph stretched her unbeaten international run to 33 matches!

After a bye in the first round, David is expected to go on to face Hong Kong's Christina Mak in the semi-finals, before the anticipated final clash with Chiu.

Top men's seed Iskandar, whose only previous performance in the event was a semi-final finish four years ago, is expected to meet Malaysian rival Ong Beng Hee, the defending champion, in the final.

The pair will face stiff competition, however, from Pakistanis Mansoor Zaman and Aamir Atlas Khan, seeded 3/4 and 5/8, respectively, and Indians Ritwik Bhattacharya and the Saurav Ghosal, also seeded 3/4 and 5/8.

The Asian Games draw was made on in Chennai, India - conducted at the Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu in Chennai by Ms Apoorva, IAS (Indian Administrative Service), Member Secretary of the Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu (which is equivalent to Director of Sports, Tamilnadu), in the presence of The President of the Asian Squash Federation (ASF); the Secretary General of the ASF; and the Technical Delegate for the 15th Asian Games, Doha.

The seedings were set by Major Maniam, Director of Coaching, ASF; Tony Choi, Deputy Director of Coaching, ASF; and Fahim Gul Khan, Deputy Director of Coaching, ASF.