India’s Joshna Chinappa stunned fourth seed Joelle King of New Zealand to seal a place in the semi-final of the Oracle Netsuite squash Open, a world tour gold event in San Francisco. The 33-year-old, seeded eighth, notched up a 11-9, 6-11, 11-3 win over the World No 6 in the quarter-finals on Friday night.
Chinappa will meet top seed and world No 1 Raneem El Welily of Egypt on Sunday. Chinappa had a bye in the first round and an easy 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 win over unseeded Melissa Alves of France for a place in the quarters.
Against King, Chinappa’s record is inferior but came out guns blazing this time. Showing assurance and keeping a good length in her returns, the Indian matched her opponent stroke for stroke.
Even though Chinappa slipper in her second game, when King seemed to return to her aggressive ways, the former did not let momentum slip. Responding to her big win, Cyrus Poncha, the SRFI Secretary General said, “This is a brilliant start to the season for Joshna. We wish her more success ahead.”
