Joshna Chinappa storms into China Open quarterfinal

Shanghai, September 6: India's Joshna Chinappa stormed into the quarterfinals of the JP Morgan China Open Squash Tournament after beating Australia's World No.17 Donna Lobban 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 in a 36-minute encounter at the SECA Academy.

In the round of eight, the Chennai girl will take on France's fifth seeded Camille Serme.

The world No.16 has been in sizzling form in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) sanctioned tournament.

First, the 31-year-old beat Australia's Donna Lobban 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 in the opening round.

That was followed by a hard-fought 4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8 win over New Zealand's fourth-seed Joelle King in the second round.

Two other Indians crashed out in the opening round itself.

🗣 Reaction from @NicolDavid after she booked her China Open second round berth courtesy of a win over @DipikaPallikal ⬇️https://t.co/gpvQxlDqO2 #squash pic.twitter.com/wHxvSdxQCl

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) September 5, 2018

Dipika Pallikal Karthik fell to Malaysia's eight-time world champion Nicol David, while Harinder Pal Sandhu went down to Qatar's Abdulla Al Tamimi.

Chinappa, won two medals (team silver, singles bronze), at the recently concluded Asian Games in Indonesia would be eyeing a good show against Camille in the quarterfinals.

The matches are being held in the incredible glass court at the Peninsula Shanghai - which overlooks Shanghai's famous Bund - and SECA Academy.

The China Open is the first PSA World Tour Gold tournament to be played under the new Tour structure - which came into effect on August 1 - meaning that the top eight seeds in both the men's and women's events receive a bye into round two.

India's Saurav Ghosal was one of the beneficiaries as he received a bye to the second round.