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MEDIA RELEASE | |
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Results
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Media release: 22nd February 2008 DEFENDING CHAMP THROUGH TO FINAL
Dual Commonwealth Games gold medalist Ahmad Siti Zalina has booked the first berth in the women’s final of the ABN AMRO Australian Open.
The defending champion, who is the tournament’s number one seed, made light work of New Zealand international Marina Khan during today’s first semi-final, setting up a mouth-watering showdown with Katrina Wright or Australian star Karen Murphy in the championship decider tomorrow .
Later today, Wright and Murphy, teammates at the 2004 World Championships in Scotland, will lock horns for the right to play Siti Zalina, with the latter a slight favourite at this stage.
Murphy, who is among the greatest players to ever pull on an Australian shirt, is fresh off winning gold at last month’s World Championships in Christchurch and will fancy her chances against her Cabramatta clubmate.
For Wright, however, today’s semi-final marks another opportunity to press her claims to national selectors for a re-call to the Australian team.
Earlier in the week, the 27-year-old skipped Corinne Crouch and Kay Moran to victory in the women’s triples final before being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the pairs’ event alongside Maria Rigby.
According to Siti Zalina, she’s not too concerned with who she plays, as long as she is at the peak of her powers.
“I don’t have a preference,” the Malaysian superstar said following her 10-4, 9-5 semi-final victory.
“I just want to play well, hopefully I can play well.”
Since the ABN AMRO Australian Open’s inception in 2005, no player or team has been able to successfully defend their title, a feat that is now just one win away for Zalina.
“My first (priority) was to make the final,” she said.
“After that, who knows?”
During today’s semi-final, Siti Zalina claimed the opening nine shots of the first set before Khan finally hit the scoreboard with a single on the seventh end.
While she secured an invaluable triple on the next, Siti Zalina closed out the first set with a single on the ninth to grab an early lead.
In the second set, the defending champion picked up where she left off with successive singles before Khan grabbed a double on the third end and a triple on the fifth to swing the momentum her way.
Once again, Siti Zalina rallied, closing out the match 9-5, moving her way into the ABN AMRO Australian Open final for a successive year.
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