Nicol David Poised To Make Half-Century

Malaysian favourite Nicol David is one match away from extending her unbroken WISPA World Tour run to 50 matches after beating New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes in today's first round of the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open in Hong Kong.

The world's leading players - led by world number ones David and Amr Shabana - are competing in one of the biggest joint men's and women's events of the year, celebrating its 23rd consecutive year of sponsorship by Cathay Pacific.

Defending champion Nicol David took just 22 minutes to despatch Hawkes 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 in the $104,000 WISPA Platinum event - and will now face Asian rival Rebecca Chiu in a bid to win her 50th match in a row en-route to her tenth Tour title triumph this year.

Local favourite Chiu, the 13th seed, defeated Denmark's Line Hansen 11-9, 11-8, 11-8.

Egypt's Raneem El Weleily pulled off the only upset on the opening day of women's action. The 19-year-old from Alexandria defeated Shelley Kitchen, the No10 seed from New Zealand, 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 in 31 minutes and will now face USA's fourth seed Natalie Grainger for a place in the quarter-finals.

After a troubled year following knee surgery in April, Tania Bailey made a welcome return to Tour action with an 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-1 victory over English compatriot Lauren Briggs. The 29-year-old 11th seed from Lincolnshire, who has dropped from five to 17 in the world rankings since July, will now battle with England team-mate Jenny Duncalf, the fifth seed.

Australian Cameron Pilley pulled off biggest upset in the men's $145,000 PSA Super Series Platinum event. The 26-year-old from New South Wales beat Wael El Hindi when the ninth seed from Egypt retired injured with the score at 11-7, 12-10, 6-3 ret. to the Australian.

Unseeded Englishman Alister Walker celebrated his second win in three years over higher-ranked Finn Olli Tuominen when he beat the 14th seed 6-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-8. The Botswana-born 26-year-old from Leeds will now meet Ramy Ashour, after the world champion from Egypt beat Australian qualifier Scott Arnold 11-4, 11-8, 11-7.

But the longest encounter of the day saw Spaniard Borja Golan continue the form which saw him win the Santiago Open earlier this month. The unseeded 25-year-old battled for 100 minutes - twice coming back from behind - before beating Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema, the 15th seed, 5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (40m)
[16] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 (30m)
[6] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 (60m)
[11] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-3, 11-6, 12-10 (43m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Scott Arnold (AUS) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (24m)
Alister Walker (ENG) bt [14] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 6-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-8 (69m)
[8] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (34m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt [15] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7 (100m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [9] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-7, 12-10, 6-3 ret. (53m)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 11-9, 11-8, 11-2 (50m)
[10] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Dick Lau (HKG) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7 (41m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (44m)
[13] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Tom Richards (ENG) 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 (51m)
[5] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-8, 11-6, 11-1 (30m)
[12] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 3-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (56m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (44m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 (22m)
[13] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 (27m)
[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [Q] Elise Ng (HKG) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (17m)
[16] Samantha Teran (MEX) bt [Q] Donna Urquhart (AUS) 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11 (62m)
[4] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [Q] Lauren Selby (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 (20m)
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [10] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 (31m)
[6] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 11-3, 13-11, 11-5 (24m)
[9] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) bt Annie Au (HKG) 3-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 (37m)
[14] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [Q] Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (32m)
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG) 11-5, 6-11, 12-10, 11-4 (36m)
[12] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Joey Chan (HKG) 14-12, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11 (48m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Christina Mak (HKG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (19m)
[11] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Lauren Briggs (ENG) 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-1 (35m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 4-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 12-10 (65m)
[15] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Sharon Wee (MAS) 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 (26m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (26m)