New
Zealand's Joelle King will compete in the semi-finals of a PSA World
Series tournament for the first time in over three years after she
downed England's Alison Waters 3-1 to secure a last
four berth at the 2017 U.S. Open presented by Presented by Macquarie
Investment Management.
The
29-year-old, who missed over a year of competitive action after
suffering from an achilles injury in 2015, last made it to a semi-final
at the 2014 Windy City Open but continued to display
a re-discovered confidence on court as she followed up her second round
win over 2016 champion Camille Serme with a polished performance
against Waters.
The
win, which came after 43-minutes of action, sees her through to meet
Egyptian Raneem El Welily - the player who beat her in that semi-final
in Chicago - for a place in the tournament decider.
“Camille
is a good player and she won this tournament last year so I know that
if you beat her then you are playing well,” said King.
“But
you kind of have to leave that behind and focus on the next match and
Alison was always going to be tough. We were both ranked four and five
in the world for a while so had a lot of battles
in the past.
“I
felt a bit tight in the second and kind of lost my way and just fell
away from the game I like to play. I just tried to come back and played
my style and it worked and I'm looking forward
to the semis.”
El
Welily meanwhile came through in four games over compatriot Nouran
Gohar, bouncing back from dropping the first game to prevail 11-13,
11-7, 12-10, 11-5 and keep alive her hopes of winning
a first World Series title since the 2017 Windy City Open in March.
“We’re
teammates and we also play for the same club, so we know each other’s
game quite well," said El Welily after the match. "But everyone goes on
court with a different attitude and a different
personality.
“You
come on with a plan but that could change any second and it keeps
changing throughout the entire match so you have to adapt and you have
to find a way to win.”
In
the Men's draw Omar Mosaad, who impressed in his straight-games second
round win over the in-form Paul Coll, continued a recent resurgence to
defeat Peruvian Diego Elias and set up an all-Egyptian
last four clash with Ali Farag, the current World No.5.
Former
World No.3 Mosaad finished runner-up at the 2015 U.S. Open during what
was his breakthrough event before embarking on a run of poor form that
saw him fall to a current 10-year ranking
low at No.31, but he produced a performance worthy of his former
ranking to halt the charge of the rising 20-year-old talent.
“I really enjoy playing here,” said Mosaad.
“I
love to be in Philly and I love the atmosphere here. I’m enjoying the
crowd and I’m really pleased to be through to the semi-final here for
the third time.
“At
this level you just have to think about each match, I started in
qualification and then I made it through to the main draw because Ramy
[Ashour] and Greg [Gaultier] pulled out of the event.
I’m really happy to get through and I just want to thank my coaches and
everyone around me and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Farag
meanwhile will compete in the semi-finals of a World Series event for
just the second time in his career after coming through a brutal
five-game 87-minute encounter with Fares Dessouky.
"It
was pure guts that got me the win today," said Farag. "Squash wise he
was the better player but I'm just so happy to be through.
“The
first three games the ball was flying and I thought he adapted to it
better than I did because I just couldn’t find any rhythm.
"I hope I can keep it going tomorrow.
It's another battle with a good friend. Omar and I play at least twice a
week and it's so good to see him back. He's been working hard and
deserves to be
where he is."
Results - Quarter-finals (Bottom Half): Men's 2017 U.S. Open
[4] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [8] Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-2: 10-12, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8 (87m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Diego Elias (PER) 3-1: 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10 (70m)
Draw - Semi-finals
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [3] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[4] Ali Farag (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Results - Quarter-finals (Bottom Half): Women's 2017 U.S. Open
[11] Joelle King (NZL) bt [8] Alison Waters (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 11-3 (43m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [5] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-1: 11-13, 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (46m)
Draw - Semi-finals
[10] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [4] Laura Massaro (ENG)
[11] Joelle King (NZL) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
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