Samantha Teran (Mex)
w/o [1] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
Wee Wern Battles To
Successive China Open Titles
Low Wee Wern
retains her WSA Gold Lujiazui Finance City China Open title after
beating Joelle King in a marathon final.
After clinching an unfancied three-game win over No.4 seed Kasey
Brown in yesterday’s semi-final, the Malaysian came from behind
twice in the final to defeat King 11-9 in the deciding fifth game.
Wee Wern started the event with a strong win over experienced Rachael
Grinham, before taking five games to overcome Omneya Abdel Kawy,
the Egyptian who had dismissed top seed Jenny Duncalf in the
first round.
A strong straight games win over Brown saw the world No.9 hit her best
form to propel her into her second WSA World Tour final since claiming
the title against fellow Malaysian Delia Arnold last year.
King put up a strong fight in search of her seventh WSA title and has
been enjoying some of the best form of her career to date after
impressive campaigns in recent months. This form looked to continue as
she first defeated Sarah Kippax, followed by No.3 seed Annie
Au and No.5 seed Alison Waters on her way to the final.
The New Zealander claimed led after the first and third games after some
quick-fire squash, but each time was pegged back by Wee Wern. A closer
fifth game saw the rallies extend and the pressure mount on the
competing pair. With the final game tied at 7-all, sprung a two-point
lead to put her within touching distance of match ball. But she
couldn’t see off the final two points and the 22-year-old came back to
win three consecutive rallies to end contest and clinch title number
six.
After the match, Wee Wern spoke of winning the biggest event of her
career. She said: “The feeling has not sunk in yet. To be able to win
a WSA Gold tournament is just amazing. It's my first time playing in the
final of such a big event, and to be able to win it, even if it's 11-9
in the fifth, it's my best one so far!
"My game plan in the 5th was basically to just hang in there with her
and not to give her confidence. The most important thing was to get a
good start, which I did, but I didn't finish well enough. Fortunately I
managed to come back at the end, which is really good for me."
Waters And King Upset
Seeds To Clash In China Semi's
Alison Waters
claimed the biggest surprise result of the Lujiazui Finance City
China Open quarter-finals after defeating top seed Raneem El
Weleily in a dramatic tiebreak deciding game.
The pair battled it out at the
Shanghai Jinqaio Megafit Sports Club in Shanghai for 78-minutes with
the experienced Waters, formerly world No.3, clinching the semi-final
spot in the deciding game, 13-11. She had initially gone behind against
the top seeded Egyptian but Waters’ fought back to lead after three
games, even winning 11-1 in the third. El Weleily drew level again,
before a marathon decider ensued, which the Englishwoman was able to
close out.
Waters will face in-form Joelle King
in tomorrow’s semi-final, after the New Zealander claimed a scalp of her
own in defeating No.3 seed Annie Au. King has now reached at
least the semi-final stage of her last three WSA events, and the world
No.12 continued the best form of her career to leap to a two-game lead
against the Hong Kong international. Au scraped a game back but was
unable to stop King’s progression, falling just short of forcing a
tiebreak in the fourth game.
At the top end of the draw, No.6 seed
Low Wee Wern cut short the run of Omneya Abdel Kawy who had
eliminated No.2 seed Jenny Duncalf in round one. The resilient
young Malaysian twice came from behind against the former world No.4,
and refused to let Kawy out of her sights. A 75-minute contest came to
a head as Wee Wern claimed the last two games to finish off the
contest.
Wee Wern will play experienced
Australian Kasey Brown, the highest remaining seed in the
competition. Brown defeated qualifier Aisling Blake of Ireland
in a drawn-out three-game match. Blake had defeated No.8 seed
Camille Serme in an hour-long battle in round one, but was unable to
spring successive upsets to see Brown into her first semi-final round
since March.
For the semi-final contests,
play will be moved to the all-glass court at the Lujiazui Central
Park, where Wee Wern and Brown will face each other in front of a
packed audience at 19.30 local time, followed by King and Waters at
20.30.
Qualifier Kawy Upsets Top Seed
In China
Qualifier Omneya Abdel Kawy
claimed the upset of the day in round one of the Lujiazui Finance City China
Open after beating No.2 seed Jenny Duncalf at the Shanghai Jinqaio
Megafit Sports Club, Shanghai, China.
Runner-up in last week’s Macau Open, Kawy claimed a close opening tiebreak game
and extended her lead with the second game, before Duncalf’s frustration boiled
over and was reprimanded by officials with a conduct warning. Some composure
allowed the Englishwoman to hit back and take the third game but she was unable
to keep momentum as Kawy, a former world No.4, beat the current world No.4 in
four games.
Sixth seed Low Wee Wern will face giant-killer Kaway in the
quarter-finals, after the Malaysian defeated Rachael Grinham in a
four-game contest.
A second surprise result came as Irish world No.26 Aisling Blake defeated
the eighth seed Camille Serme of France. Blake came from a game behind
to lead the contest, before Serme powered back level with an 11-1 fourth game
win. But the Irishwoman stood her ground against the world No.13 and clinched
the fifth game in the tiebreak.
Blake will face Australian Kasey Brown in the quarter-finals, after the
No.4 seed beat local wildcard Li Dongjin despite dropping the first game
against the teenager ranked 212 places below her.
Recently crowned Macau Open 2012 champion, Joelle King extended her
unbeaten run against qualifier Sarah Kippax in an hour-long three-game
fixture. The No.7 seed from New Zealand will line up against Annie Au of
Hong Kong, after the third seed dispatched Australian Donna Urquhart in
five games.
Alison Waters clinched a narrow five-game victory over Au’s national
compatriot, qualifier Joey Chan. The Englishwoman led after the first and
third games, but was pegged back on both occasions by the world No.18. In the
53rd minute of play, the Englishwoman ended the contest 3-2, to book her
quarter-final place. There she will top seed Raneem El Weleily,
following the Egyptian’s first round walkover against an injured Samantha
Teran.