Chinappa Charges Into Maiden World Series Quarter-Final In Hong Kong by Howard Harding
photos courtesy Steve Cubbins
December 5, 2013
- India's Joshana Chinappa pulled off a sensational second successive
upset in today's second round of the Women's Cathay Pacific Sun Hung
Kai Financial Hong Kong Open to claim her first ever quarter-final
berth in a WSA World Series event.
After making her
breakthrough in the first round where she upset No7 seed Natalie
Grinham, the 27-year-old from Mumbai today stunned Denmark's No15 seed
Line Hansen 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5 in 44 minutes to become the only
unseeded player to reach the last eight of the final World Series Gold
event of the year at the Hong Kong Squash Centre.
Currently just two
places below the career-high world No24 ranking she achieved two months
ago, 11-time Indian national champion Chinappa made her WSA World
Series championship debut in the Kuwait Open qualifiers in March 2005.
Now, 28 World Series events later, the Chennai-born Indian star is
making her long-awaited quarter-final debut.
"I hadn't played Line
for five years but she's had some good results recently so I knew it
would be tough," Chinappa (pictured above in action with Hansen) told
www.squashsite.com later. "I really like it here in Hong Kong and seem
to play well. That's two good wins for me."
Chinappa will now face
Alison Waters, the No4 seed from England who took only 23 minutes to
dismiss Welsh qualifier Tesni Evans 11-2, 11-4, 11-5. It was Waters
that Chinappa met in the first qualifying round in Kuwait in 2005
"It will be very
different tomorrow on the glass court, but I had a great time on there
last year [beating Annie Au] so I hope to do well on there again
tomorrow," concluded Chinappa.
Two greats of the
women's game will meet in the quarter-finals when defending champion
Nicol David, the top seed from Malaysia, takes on 2010 runner-up Jenny
Duncalf, the fifth seed from England.
In a repeat of last
year's final, David beat France's Camille Serme - but had to recover
from a game down to overcome the No9 seed 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 in 41
minutes.
Duncalf was taken the
full distance by rising Guyana star Nicolette Fernandes before finally
beating the 16th seed 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 in 76 minutes.
The quarter-final
clash will be David and Duncalf's 28th on the WSA World Tour since
February 2002 - and fourth in the Hong Kong Open. The Malaysian holds a
25-2 head-to-head advantage, with Duncalf claiming her two victories in
quick succession in November 2009.
Local star Annie Au
keeps Hong Kong hopes alive following her 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 win over
English giant-killer Emma Beddoes (both pictured above), the
28-year-old qualifier who ousted sixth seed Low Wee Wern in the first
round.
Au, the No12 seed who
was a semi-finalist in 2011, now faces second seed Laura Massaro. In a
match between two of the game's most experienced players, the world No2
from England defeated Australia's former champion Rachael Grinham 11-8,
11-7, 11-5 (both pictured below).
An Egyptian
semi-finalist is guaranteed when 11th seed Omneya Abdel Kawy takes on
Raneem El Welily, the third seed. Kawy, from Cairo, upset Ireland's No8
seed Madeline Perry 12-10, 11-3, 11-5, while El Welily, the 2011
runner-up from Alexandria, beat compatriot Nour El Tayeb 11-9, 8-11,
11-2, 11-8.
RESULTS: Women's Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open, Hong Kong
Quarter-final line-up: [1] Nicol David (MAS) v [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) [4] Alison Waters (ENG) v Joshana Chinappa (IND) [3] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [11] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) [2] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [12] Annie Au (HKG)
