Ace Malaysia Cup Final: Clinical El Tayeb Beats Home Favourite Arnold

Nour El Tayeb is the 2023 Ace Malaysia Squash Cup champion after beating Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold 11-2, 11-4, 11-4.

The two players had met twice before, both in February 2019, with El Tayeb winning each match in straight games.

The Egyptian’s most recent tournament in Malaysia came in 2014 in the Malaysia Open, where El Tayeb lost the final to then-World No.3 Raneem El Welily.

The home favourite has a more regular record playing in competitions close to home, and has won four events in Malaysia, including in 2021, where she defeated fellow Malaysian Aifa Azman in the final.

Arnold came onto the court with heavy strapping supporting her right thigh, suggesting something wasn’t quite right physically for the No.5 seed.

Top seed El Tayeb wasted no time in the first game, constantly picking shots that Arnold had no response for, leading to a dominant start as El Tayeb won 11-2.

The pattern continued into the second game as El Tayeb kept up the pace and methodically broke down her opponent, using drop shots in both front corners, and she held strong to drop just four points as she doubled her lead.

Arnold struggled to match El Tayeb’s physicality as the Egyptian kept up the unrelenting pressure into the decisive third game to secure her first title in Malaysia and the 15th of her career.

El Tayeb was quick to mention Arnold, speaking after her 3-0 victory, saying: “I think I’ve been playing well all week so it’s nice to play well today. I could tell Rachel [Arnold] wan’t moving well, maybe she’s struggling from the long week. I’m sorry for her but I’m happy that I won.”

The Egyptian now has just six days until her first match in the Singapore Open, but is confident coming off the back of a strong tournament performance.

“It gives me a lot of confidence in my ability, every opponent was different this week and every match was different. I’m glad I was able to back up match after match.”

Results – Women’s Final: 2023 Ace Malaysia Squash Cup
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [5] Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (19m)