Abdulla Al Tamimi
Doha: In a major upset in quarter-finals of the squash competition at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia yesterday, the reigning Malaysian Open champion, Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tamimi lost to Malaysia’s Nafiizwan Adnan 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9.
At the at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex in Jakarta, the Qatari star, who is ranked career-high 28th in the world, put up a tremendous effort against the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, who went on to secure the semi-finals berth.
Ranked 12 places behind the Qatari, Adnan squandered a 2/0 lead before clinching his win in exactly one hour.
“It was really a tough fight but it’s worth it because at least there will be a medal for Malaysia,” said the 32-year-old world No.40.
“I feel awesome and very glad to win today and contributing a medal to my beloved country, especially in this special “Merdeka” (independence) month. It was a tough match and now I am looking forward to a good rest this evening - and hopefully tomorrow, I’ll do even better than today.”
Adnan progresses to face Max Lee, the No.2 seed from Hong Kong who ended Kuwaiti interest in the event when he beat Ammar Altamimi 11-5, 11-4, 11-7.
Following Adnan’s win yesterday, Malaysia are in line for a triple squash medal haul in Indonesia after Sivasangari Subramaniam and Nicol David also pulled off major upsets in the quarter-finals to secure places in the semi-finals.
Subramaniam, a 19-year-old from Kedah, scored the biggest win of her career when she beat second seed Annie Au, the world No.11 from Hong Kong, 11-9, 11-13, 11-5, 3-11, 11-5.
“I still can’t believe that I’ve managed to produce a win over Annie,” the jubilant Subramaniam (pictured above, left, in quarter-final action) told www.squashmad.com.
“She’s the second seed in the tournament and ranked as high as number 11 in the world.
“I went on court just looking to play my best squash, which I did and I’m just so happy to get through to the semi-finals in my first Asian Games,” continued the teenager who recently won the Malaysian national title.
“It’s really a big thing getting through into the top four but now I have to reset and focus again because I have another big match tomorrow.”
The player she will now face in a bid to reach the final is Joshna Chinappa, a 3/4 seed from India who needed four games to overcome Hong Kong left-hander Joey Chan 11-5, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10.
David kept alive her hopes of a record fifth gold medal when she despatched one of the women’s game’s rising stars Satomi Watanabe, of Japan, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3.
“It’s great to be in the semi-finals and I’m very happy with the way I played,” said Nicol, who now faces Indian rival Dipika Pallikal Karthik for a place in her sixth successive final.
Top men’s seed Saurav Ghosal, bidding to become the first Indian gold medallist in the event, had a tough quarter-final battle on his hands against fellow countryman Harinder Pal Sandhu. After dropping the opening game, the favourite regained control of the match to prevail 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 after 70 minutes.
The world No.12 from Kolkata now takes on Hong Kong’s Leo Au in a bid to reach the final for the second time in a row.
