Indian ace Joshna Chinappa stormed into the semi-final of the Cleveland Classic squash tournament after beating Annie Au of Hong Kong in Cleveland. Chinappa won 3-6, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6 in the match played on Saturday night.
The tournament is a Professional Squash Association World Tour bronze event. The fifth seeded Indian had to dig deep into her reserves to stop the fighting Hong Kong player, seeded fourth, in a close match that lasted nearly an hour.
While Annie was relying on her consistency with the lobs and drops, Chinappa countered with hard shots, straight lines and volleys. The Indian would go on to be on the ascendancy towards the end of the contest.
Earlier, Chinappa had a bye in the first round and an easy second round win after her Egyptian opponent Menna Nasser sustained an injury and retired. Menna was trailing 0-3 in the second game after losing the first 10-12.