King and Chinappa to Contest SRAM Invitational Semis

Joelle King takes on Delia Arnold in the SRAM Invitational

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World No.9 Joelle King and Indian No.1 Joshna Chinappa will face off in the semi-final stage of the SRAM Invitational after they progressed from their respective pools in Malaysia’s National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

King was looking to qualify in first place in Pool B after beating Egypt’s Omneya Abdel Kawy the previous day and came up against Malaysia No.2 Delia Arnold, who was roared on by a partizan home crowd and needed to win to stay in the tournament.

The opening game was the tightest of the lot, with Arnold going 9-4 up before letting King back into it as the New Zealander took it on the tie-break. Arnold wasn’t able to keep up her dogged game plan in the second and third games though and King eventually saw out the victory by a 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 scoreline.

“It may have been a 3-0 margin, but it was tough all the way,” said King.

“Delia played some great shots and had the crowd’s support. There is a vast improvement in her performance since a year ago.”

Arnold added: “Though I lost both my matches against Omneya on Wednesday [3-2] and Joelle today, I have no complaints. I will fine tune my game in my coming matches.”

King’s triumph sees her top Pool B, while Kawy finished second, ensuring that the Egyptian will take on eight-time World Champion and home favourite Nicol David for a place in the final.

Meanwhile, Chinappa, who lost out in straight games to top seed Nicol David the day before, came up against former World No.2 Jenny Duncalf in a play off for a place in the last four after Duncalf too fell to home hero David.

And it was World No.10 Chinappa who had the better of the fixture as she powered to an 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 victory, sealing her place in the next round against King.

Results: SRAM Invitational 2016 Day Three

Pool A
[4] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (39m)

Pool B
[3] Joelle King (NZL) bt [6] Delia Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 (25m)

Draw – Semi-Final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [2] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)
[3] Joelle King (NZL) v [4] Joshna Chinappa (IND)