India's campaign in US Open squash ends as Chinappa bows out

Philadelphia, October 10: India's interest in the US Open Squash Championships ended as Joshna Chinappa lost to world No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry 5-11, 8-11, 10-12 in the third round of the PSA World Tour Platinum tournament at Drexel University's glass courts.

Chinappa, who saw compatriot Saurav Ghosal losing to world No.1 Mohamed El Shorbagy at the same stage, came into the match 1-2 down on the head-to-head record but the two were meeting for the first time in almost two years.

And Perry hit an array of different angles to draw Chinappa out of position, before driving into the back corners to to send Chinappa out of the tournament in the 28-minute encounter.

"I think she had a really good start in the first game and found the back of the court earlier than me," said Perry.

🗣️ Reaction from @SJPerry15 after she booked her place in the @USOpenSquash quarter-finals for the first time!

More here 👉 https://t.co/it9jfA2ZPM #USOpenSquash #squash pic.twitter.com/wZOWYBKDqf

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) October 9, 2018

"She's such an attacking player and has had some really good results, particularly recently, so I'm really glad to get off in three.

"I have never actually won a match on the [U.S. Open] court before. I was ecstatic last week but obviously this is a new week and a new tournament and there are even more quality players here in addition to the ones from last week," the 28-year-old added.

In the quarterfinals, Perry will take on world No.12 Tesni Evans, who overturned a two-game deficit against New Zealand's Joelle King.

🗣️ Reaction from @tesnievans after she came from 2-0 down to reach her first quarter-finals at the @USOpenSquash 💪

Reports & more here 👉 https://t.co/SPUPkYjZtV #USOpenSquash #squash pic.twitter.com/xZ0K5dmPTC

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) October 9, 2018

Evans had beaten Commonwealth Games gold medalist King in their last meeting during May's Allam British Open, but she found herself down in the opening two games after a bright start from King, with Evans struggling to contain the World No.5.

However, a virtuoso fightback from Evans saw her play some spell-binding squash as she took control and she came back to record a 7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 victory for a place in what would be a first ever PSA World Tour Platinum semi-final for the 25-year-old from Rhyl.

There were also wins for England's Laura Massaro and last year's runner-up Raneem El Welily, with the duo seeing off Malaysia's Nicol David and United States No.1 Olivia Blatchford, respectively,

Third round results:

[12] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [4] Joelle King (NZL) 3-2: 7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (69m)
[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (28m)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [9] Nicol David (MAS) 3-2: 12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7 (56m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [14] Olivia Blatchford (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (32m)

Quarterfinal line-up

[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v Amanda Sobhy (USA)

[12] Tesni Evans (WAL) v [8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)

[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)

(With inputs from PSA)