National squash player Delia Arnold was sent packing in the first round of the British Open held in the University of Hull Sports and Fitness Centre this morning as the Malaysian second seed was defeated by Denmark’s Line Hansen.
Delia steadily won the first two sets 11-9 and 11-8 but failed to gauge her opponent’s brilliance in the next three sets as she was ousted 9-11, 5-11 and 9-11 in just 64 minutes.
Ranked No.15 in the world, Delia was unable to repeat her heroics last year when she made it to the semifinals through a surprising triumph over Egyptian powerhouse Raneem El Weleily.
“This is the best I’ve ever done at the British Open and I’ve played here a fair few times,” said the Danish international as quoted from the PSA official website.
“Last time we played, I lost 12-10 in the fifth so I knew it was going to be close but I also knew I was in with a chance. I’m just glad I finally got a good win. To be honest, I got a little bit annoyed because I definitely thought I shouldn’t have lost the first.
“I was just thinking that I had to hit through the ball rather than try to be pretty and it worked.”
Malaysia’s only remaining representative Datuk Nicol David will be playing against Australia’s Donna Urquhart in the second round tomorrow.
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