Bengaluru, March 13: India's Joshna Chinappa stunned England's No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry 11-4, 6-11, 14-12, 11-9 to storm into the quarterfinals of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Black Ball Open in Cairo, Egypt.
Joshna, who had upset Malaysia's eight-time world champion Nicol David 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 in the round-of-16, continued her impressive run in the $107,000 prize-money tournament being held at Cairo's Black Ball Sporting Club.
For a place in the semifinals, Joshna will take on New Zealand's world No.5 Joelle King, who rallied to Wales' world No.10 Tesni Evans 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8.
India's No.1 Joshna had not secured a victory over the Englishwoman since the 2012 Chennai Open, with Perry winning the last three encounters.
However, the Chennia-based girl made sure to reverse her bad fortune as she prevailed in a tight battle to win in 50 minutes.
"It was a hard game from the beginning until the end," Joshna told PSA website following her victory.
🗣️ "I think I was a bit better mentally than I have been in our previous matches. I was more focused, more consistent and I was able to stand long rallies."
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 12, 2019
Reaction from India's @joshnachinappa after she reached the @BlackBallSquash quarters 🇮🇳https://t.co/WtTUYB8WCi pic.twitter.com/6Ov1CVnHVh
"It was really close in all the games and I'm fortunate to be on the winning side.
"What made the difference today was I think that I was a bit better mentally that I have been in our previous matches. I was more focused, more consistent, and I was able to withstand long rallies," the 32-year-old added.
Pre-quarterfinal results
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 13-11, 11-4 (30m)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Yathreb Adel (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (24m)
[8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Salma Hany (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-9 (31m)
Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [4] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 12-10, 11-4 (32m)
[3] Joelle King (NZL) bt Tesni Evans (WAL) 3-1: 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 (51m)
Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 6-11, 14-12, 11-9 (50m)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (25m)
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Alison Waters (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 12-10, 11-3 (27m)
Quarterfinals draw
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [7] Laura Massaro (ENG)
[8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
[3] Joelle King (NZL) v Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
(With PSA inputs)