Semi-Finals: It’s England and Malaysia
In two dramatic semi-finals at White Oaks England squeezed past Hong Kong and Malaysia ousted defending champions Egypt …
[2] England 2-1 [4] Hong Kong
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#1: Laura Massaro 3-0 Annie Au 11-7, 13-11, 11-4 (35m)
#2: Alison Waters 1-3 Joey Chan 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 3-11 (43m)
#3: Sarah-Jane Perry 3-1 Tong Tsz Wing 10-12, 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 (40m)
England made it ELEVEN WWT finals in a row as they beat Hong Kong, but the match went all the way.
Laura Massaro recovered from a game down to beat Annie Au in the top string, but Joey Chan struck back for Hong Kong as recorded a great win over Alison Waters – her first in eight meetings.
In the decider Sarah-Jane Perry lost the first from 10-3 up, but took the next three to put England through to another final.
[3] Malaysia 2-0 [1] Egypt
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#1: Nicol David 3-1 #1: Raneem El Welily 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9 (54m)
#2: Low Wee Wern 3-2 Nour El Sherbini 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-9 (86m)
Malaysia beat defending champions and top seeds Egypt in a dramatic, tension filled and superb second semi-final.
Nicol David played almost error-free squash to beat Raneem El Welily in the opening match, and Low Wee Wern finally came through against Nour El Sherbini to end Egypt’s reign, Low led 2-1 but when Sherbini levelled the match the odds looked on an Egyptian win.
In a tense final game Low fought back to lead 9-7, then from 9-all took the match on two strokes and Malaysia were in their first-ever WWT final.
First up today was a 5/8 semi-final on the Glass Court
[6] USA 3-0 [8] Ireland
#1 Amanda Sobhy 3-0 Madeline Perry 11-3, 11-3, 11-3 (19m)
#2# Olivia Blatchford 3-0 Aisling Blake 11-3, 11-9, 12-10 (31m)
#3# Sabrina Sobhy 2-0 Laura Mylotte 11-4, 11-7 (12m)
USA’s win guarantees them at least a record-equalling sixth place, and a chance of a best-ever finish tomorrow …
RESULTS REPORTS/BLOGPHOTOS STREAMING
Selection of photos from today – more in the gallery..
