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World No. 20 Joshna Chinappa continued to impress as she sealed her place in the semi-finals of the prestigious $50,000 Carol Weymuller Open in New York on Saturday. The Indian national champion, who had qualified for this event, edged past fellow qualifier Salma Hany of Egypt 11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9.
Four wins in a row for Joshna Chinappa at Carol Weymuller Open
World No. 31 Salma Hany had come to this match riding high on confidence after upsetting the World No. 3 Laura Massaro in the first round. She got off to a great start and built a 6-2 lead, punctuating rallies with lovely drops.
But Chinappa was familiar with Hany’s game, having beaten the Egyptian in their last meeting at the Macau Open qualifiers in September. She soon wrested the momentum from Salma and levelled the game at 7-7.
The Egyptian, however, inched ahead 9-7, but the Indian national champion held her nerves well to win the next four points and grab the opening game 11-9.
The second game started with some fierce, hard-hitting rallies and it stayed even till 4-4. As Joshna failed to make some pickups after that, Salma surged ahead 7-4.The Indian gave a great fight, but the Egyptian was too determined. She played an error-free game for the rest of the game to seal it 11-8.
Joshna Chinappa started the third game brilliantly and with a stroke, she led 4-2. But Salma Hany stormed back to take the next six points and soon had an 8-4 advantage. Joshna finally snapped the streak to make it 5-8 but Salma was too strong and soon wrapped it up 11-5.
In the fourth game, it was the Egyptian who was in command early as she led 6-4. With the aid of a stroke, a relentless Joshna evened things at 6-6. The two players then put up a superb exhibition of their tremendous athleticism and Joshna edged ahead 9-8. With beautiful touches in the forecourt, she grabbed the fourth game 11-8 to enforce a decider.
Joshna started the fifth game more confidently to build a lead of 3-1. After many lets, Salma grabbed the next point by smartly drawing the Indian to the forecourt and then putting the ball away out of Joshna’s reach.
The World No. 20 continued to build mini leads, but the 31st ranked Salma kept coming back with some wonderful placements of the ball and then had her own slender lead of 7-6.
With a stroke, Joshna was back at 7-7. She then hit some incredibly aggressive shots that had Salma scrambling all over the court. The tactic worked as the Egyptian got worn out after that. Chinappa had two match balls at 10-8 and even though Hany saved one, Chinappa closed out the match on her second match point.
Out of her four matches (two in the qualifying rounds and two in the main draw), this was Joshna’s third match in a row at the 2015 Carol Weymuller Open that went the distance.
Former World No. 4 next up for Joshna
Joshna will face wildcard Joelle King of New Zealand for a place in the final. The former fourth-ranked King ousted the sixth seed Sarah-Jane Perry in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
The semi-finals are scheduled on Sunday.
