Low Wee Wern claimed a 27th birthday present in advance by winning her maiden Malaysian Open Squash Championships title after edging fourth seeded Satomi Watanabe of Japan in the final on Sunday.
The Penang-born player, whose birthday falls on July 25, displayed a splendid performance at the National Squash Centre to beat the Japanese 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 in 30 minutes.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Low said she knew the final match against Watanabe would not be easy and that she must give her all to win.
"It’s nice to play with someone whom you are familiar with; we trained together back in Penang and I know she is very talented and she moves a lot, but I think I’m lucky because I am a little more experienced than Satomi," she said.
This is also her eighth career tittle, with the last being the 2014 China Open championship.
Meanwhile, in the men’s category, Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi of Qatar clinched his first Malaysian Open title after winning a close fight against Hong Kong's Yip Tsz Fung 5-11, 12-10, 11-1, 7-11, 11-5 in 52 minutes.
"It’s tough to play in quarter-finals, semi-finals and this final in five sets and I was expecting to win in over than one hour, so I have prepared everything in my mind.
"In the first set, I was a bit nervous and did not find the way that I should play. Thankfully I found my rhythm in the second set and the rest was just good," he said.
As the winners, Low and Abdulla received USD2346.50 and USD5866.25 respectively.
The Penang-born player, whose birthday falls on July 25, displayed a splendid performance at the National Squash Centre to beat the Japanese 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 in 30 minutes.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Low said she knew the final match against Watanabe would not be easy and that she must give her all to win.
"It’s nice to play with someone whom you are familiar with; we trained together back in Penang and I know she is very talented and she moves a lot, but I think I’m lucky because I am a little more experienced than Satomi," she said.
This is also her eighth career tittle, with the last being the 2014 China Open championship.
Meanwhile, in the men’s category, Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi of Qatar clinched his first Malaysian Open title after winning a close fight against Hong Kong's Yip Tsz Fung 5-11, 12-10, 11-1, 7-11, 11-5 in 52 minutes.
"It’s tough to play in quarter-finals, semi-finals and this final in five sets and I was expecting to win in over than one hour, so I have prepared everything in my mind.
"In the first set, I was a bit nervous and did not find the way that I should play. Thankfully I found my rhythm in the second set and the rest was just good," he said.
As the winners, Low and Abdulla received USD2346.50 and USD5866.25 respectively.
