Blake Blows Local Hopes In KL Championship

Ireland's Aisling Blake reduced local hopes for success in the NSC Series No5 Championship after upsetting Malaysia's No8 seed Delia Arnold in today's opening round of the women's $25,000 WISPA World Tour event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the country's capital Kuala Lumpur.

The unseeded 27-year-old from Sligo beat world No23 Arnold 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8 in 51 minutes and will now face Irish rival Madeline Perry in an unexpected quarter-final. Top seed Perry also ousted a Malaysian, beating Lim Yoke Wah 11-7, 11-8, 11-7.

Second seed Vanessa Atkinson needed five games to overcome Sarah Kippax - the Dutch star beating her unseeded English opponent 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4 in 55 minutes.

It was a good day for France in the men's $20,000 PSA Tour event. Mathieu Castagnet became the only qualifier to make the last eight after dismissing New Zealand's sixth seed Kashif Shuja 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 in 61 minutes.

Castagnet, from Le Mans, progresses to meet Omar Mosaad, the No2 seed from Egypt who took four games to defeat Australian qualifier Zac Alexander 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5.

A surprise all-French quarter-final clash is the result of the unexpected demise of Pakistan's Yasir Butt. The fifth seed retired injured midway through his third game against unseeded Stephane Galifi - leaving the Frenchman to line up against compatriot Renan Lavigne, the fourth seed who beat Malaysian Nafzahizam Adnan 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (34m)
[5] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-1 (53m)
[3] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 11-7, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8 (47m)
[8] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) 11-4, 11-9, 12-10 (36m)
Stephane Galifi (FRA) bt [7] Yasir Butt (PAK) 11-6, 11-2, 4-1 ret. (15m)
[4] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Nafzahizam Adnan (MAS) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (31m)
[Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [6] Kashif Shuja (NZL) 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (61m)
[2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Zac Alexander (AUS) 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (50m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Lim Yoke Wah (MAS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (35m)
Aisling Blake (IRL) bt [8] Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8 (51m)
[3] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 (26m)
[6] Annie Au (HKG) bt [Q] Maria Toor Pakay (PAK) 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 14-12 (45m)
[5] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 9-11, 11-6, 11-1, 11-3 (35m)
[4] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [Q] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (28m)
[7] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt [Q] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 2-11, 11-2 (50m)
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4 (55m)