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Tuesday May 19, 2009 :)
Nicol fights back for second title

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Nicol David bagged her second successive title for the year after coming from behind to beat defending champion Natalie Grainger in the final of the Texas Open squash championship in Dallas on Sunday.

The top seeded Nicol beat the second seeded American 7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 in 39 minutes to claim the title for the first time.

It was the third time both players clashed this year. Grainger ended Nicol’s year-long unbeaten streak at the Kuala Lumpur Open in March before Nicol earned her revenge at the Cayman Islands Open earlier this month.

Nicol, blogging on www.squashstars.com/thestars after the final, said that her opponent got her game going from the start while she needed time to adjust to the pace.

“It started like an ordinary game for Natalie with her going for every shot that she could think of and it came in nicely while she found her flow right from the very beginning,� she said.

“Somehow I didn’t quite get into my usual game but I knew it wasn’t over just yet. The second game I was trailing 10-8 and a crucial point that gave me a heads up to take over while Natalie made a few errors to make it 1-1 in games.

“The third game was more constructive from my part while Natalie made more unforced errors as she’d like to be doing.

“The fourth game got very close with momentums switching back and forth but I finally got hold of finishing it off with the right shot selection to take the match. It was never an easy task to get on with Natalie but I knew I had to work hard always.�

Nicol’s next campaign will be to defend her Seoul Open title from June 3-7.
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