[Q] Sarah Kippax (Eng)
13/11, 10/12, 11/5, 11/6 [2] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
Top Seed David On Course To Retain
Cleveland Classic
The 2012 Cleveland Classic championNicol
Davidlooks on course
to retain her title after two dominant wins see her comfortably into
the semi-final round at theCleveland
Racquets Club, Pepper Pike, Ohio, USA.
David facedJenny
Duncalfin an
unsurprising day of round one results, with the top seed dispatching
the Englishwoman in straight games. All seven of the other seeded
players also met expectations in the opening stage of theWSA Gold
50event, although
Egyptian pairNour El
SherbiniandRaneem
El Weleilydropped
the second of their respective four-game victories againstKasey
BrownandSarah
Kippax. Third seedAlison
Watersalso dropped a
game against qualifying opponentJoshana
Chinappaof India.
Waters continued her form through to the semi-finals of her first
competition of 2013 with a controlled performance to dispatch
Egyptian teen Nour El Sherbini in straight games.
Raneem El Weleily contested an exciting attacking battle againstAnnie
Auof Hong Kong. Both players were happy to take the opportunity
to hit winners, but the Egyptian had an extra dimension to her game
that Au could not compete with. The No.7 seed was forced into all
four corners of the court and El Weleily was happy to pick off the
loose balls. A change of tactic from Au in the third saw the Hong
Kong international force a tie-break, but was unable to capitalise
as the quality of the No.2 seed was enough to see her through to
face Waters in the semi-finals.
David continued her run of six consecutive Cleveland match wins by
dismissing fellow MalaysianLow
Wee Wern. Last week’s Greenwich Open finalist forced a
tie-break against the seven-time World Champion but was unable to
finish off the gruelling opening game. The world No.1 upped the
pace further in the second game with Wee Wern unable to respond in
the latter stages. The third game saw a renewed effort from the
younger player, but to no avail as the tournament favourite closed
out a closer third game to cement her place in the semi-final.
David will playMadeline
Perryin the next
round, following the only seeded upset of the competition so far.
The Irish No.8 seed twice came from a game down to defeatJoelle
Kingof New Zealand
in a cat-and-mouse-like match. King got off to a strong start after
a hard-hitting first game, but Perry returned fire in the second to
match her opponents pace with some canny counter-attacks to draw
level. More frantic squash continued, but as King retook the lead
after the third, the tables turned and Perry seemed to have found
some reserves of energy. The Irishwoman ran away with the fourth
game with King unable to respond, but the Kiwi held a small lead at
the beginning of the fifth. Perry slowly chipped away at the
deficit and tied at 5-all, the experienced player strung together a
succession of points to claim an unfancied victory and a place in
the semi’s.