Seeds Continue To Suffer In KL

Shocks continued to shake up the Women's CIMB Malaysian Open today in Kuala Lumpur where a further three top seeds crashed out of the last 16 round of the WSA World Series Gold championship.

It was Egyptian Nour El Tayeb who landed the biggest scalp when she ousted second seed Laura Massaro, the world champion from England, 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4 in 47 minutes.

It was the pair's third meeting on the WSA World Tour since 2010, but the 21-year-old from Cairo's first ever victory over world No2 Massaro, winner of a pair of silver medals in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"I knew I'm playing the world No2 but I told myself that she's just another player and I know I can beat her," El Tayeb told Zheng Guan from The Star. "I just kept playing my own kind of shots and gave her no space to play.

"Most importantly, I had to really concentrate and I'm happy to have a chance to play in the glass court."

El Tayeb, making her first appearance on the Tour since announcing her engagement to fellow squash professional Ali Farag, had never progressed beyond the first round before.

"I've been coming here for a while now and I never got that far. Besides, it's not a regular thing, beating someone like Laura and it's definitely one of my best wins."

There was additional surprise Egyptian interest in the quarter-finals after 15-year-old qualifier Habiba Mohamed Ahmed despatched 11th seed Jenny Duncalf, a former world No2 from England, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7.

Ahmed arrived in Malaysia hotfoot from Namibia where she stunned the squash world by winning the world junior U19 title. After qualifying in KL, the Alexandria youngster immediately downed fourth-seeded French star Camille Serme.

"I'm delighted to win," said Habiba after defeating Duncalf. "It's a really tough match against Jenny and I'm expecting another tough match against Amanda. She's really good and talented."

Harvard student Amanda Sobhy, the 2010 world junior champion, ended local heroine Delia Arnold's run, beating the Malaysian who upset fifth seed Alison Waters in the opening round 14-12, 11-9, 11-5.

There was further local disappointment when sixth seed Low Wee Wern was stopped in her tracks. The former semi-finalist from Penang went down 11-3, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9 in 77 minutes to England's 13th seed Sarah-Jane Perry.

"I felt like I started like a train," said the 24-year-old Perry, from Kenilworth. "It was a great start then she came back in the third and I didn't do so well there.

"After that it was up and down just like the scores suggest. I guess it's a bit of a revenge since she beat me in the Texas Open this year. I also realised that I was the last English girl and that gave me a little motivation."

Defending champion Nicol David will now singlehandedly lead Malaysian interest into the quarter-finals on the all-glass showcourt at the Nu Sentral shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. The world No1 from Penang, bidding for a ninth title, beat India's Joshana Chinappa 11-4, 11-3, 11-8.

"I actually thought Joshana played really well in the first game," said top seed David. "But I found my rhythm and turned on the momentum. She used the time well in the third game but I managed to put the pressure on her and I'm happy to win 3/0 and head into the Nu Sentral for the quarter-finals."

Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [7] Annie Au (HKG)
[3] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [13] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[Q] Habiba Mohamed Ahmed (EGY) v [10] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[16] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [8] Madeline Perry (IRL)