Lotte Captures Kuching Crown
30 Sep 2014
Lotte Eriksen denied Nouran El Torky a second successive WSA Malaysian Tour title when the top-seeded Norwegian beat the No4 seed from Egypt in the final of the Malaysian Tour Squash Circuit No9, the WSA Tour 5 event at the Sarawak Club in Kuching in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Eriksen, the world No63 from Stavanger, clocked up her fourth WSA Tour final appearance when she defeated home hope Zulhijjah Binti Azan, the No3 seed from Malaysia, in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old No4 seed El Torky gained her second WSA final berth in the month against expectations when she beat second seed Rachel Arnold - also a Malaysian.
The final went the full distance, with Eriksen fighting back from 2/1 down to overcome the Alexandria-based Egyptian 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9.
The win marks Eriksen's second WSA World Tour title.
"I'm happy to win this tournament, this is my second title - and I'm glad I can play a better squash again after the last tour in Malacca," said the Norwegian champion. "I hope to win more titles in the future."
1st round:
[8] Chan YiWen (MAS) bt Koh Kar Yan (SIN) 3-11, 14-12, 11-5, 12-10
Jerryca Teo (SIN) bt [7] Sivasangari Subramanian (MAS) 11-5, 11-6, 11-5
Quarter-finals:
[1] Lotte Eriksen (NOR) bt [6] Aika Azman (MAS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4
[3] Zulhijjah Binti Azan (MAS) bt [8] Chan YiWen (MAS) 11-3, 11-8, 14-12
[4] Nouran El Torky (EGY) bt [5] Teh Min Jie (MAS) 11-4, 11-7, 11-13, 11-4
[2] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Jerryca Teo (SIN) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7
Semi-finals:
[1] Lotte Eriksen (NOR) bt [3] Zulhijjah Binti Azan (MAS) 11-8, 11-3, 13-11
[4] Nouran El Torky (EGY) bt [2] Rachel Arnold (MAS) 11-7, 11-3, 12-10
Final:
[1] Lotte Eriksen (NOR) bt [4] Nouran El Torky (EGY) 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9
