Malaysia Cup SFs: Arnold Takes Out Khafagy to Reach Final

World No.39 Rachel Arnold will line up in the final of the inaugural Ace Malaysia Squash Cup on home soil after she came back from a game down to beat Egypt’s Malak Khafagy in Seremban.

Arnold will take on either top seed Nour El Tayeb or fellow Malaysian Sivasangari Subramaniam in the title decider after she completed an 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4 victory over the unseeded Khafagy.

The opening game was a mixed bag with neither player truly playing their best amidst a flurry of errors. Khafagy – playing in her first PSA World Tour Bronze semi-final – was able to pull things together at the end to take a one-game advantage.

Arnold initially squandered a 5-2 lead in the second game as Khafagy threatened to double her lead, but the accuracy of the Malaysian’s shots soon improved as she held off the threat to level the scores.

By the third game, Arnold had settled on court and dominated proceedings at the S2 Sports Complex, ripping in some devastating boasts to catch her opponent off guard.

However, Khafagy proved to be a difficult opponent to put away and the Egyptian came back at Arnold in the fourth, hitting the ball into the back corners consistently to keep the Malaysian away from the middle of the court.

She ran out of ideas though in the decider as Arnold outmanoeuvred her to seal her place in the last four.

“I can’t believe it,” said Arnold.

“I was close to giving up in my first match in the fifth game, so I’m proud to get to the final and I’m pretty happy with how I’ve been playing this week.

“I’ve got nothing to lose now, so I’m just going to give it my best tomorrow. Everyone here has been great and really supportive. It’s nice to see familiar faces around.”

Result

[5] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4 (52m)