Waters Beats El Weleily 13-11 In Five To Reach China Semis
by Matt Wagg
October 26, 2012 - Alison Waters claimed the biggest surprise result of the Lujiazui Finance City China Open quarter-finals after defeating top seed Raneem El Weleily in a dramatic tiebreak deciding game.
The pair battled it out at the Shanghai Jinqaio Megafit Sports Club in Shanghai for 78-minutes with the experienced Waters, formerly world No.3, clinching the semi-final spot in the deciding game, 13-11. She had initially gone behind against the top seeded Egyptian but Waters’ fought back to lead after three games, even winning 11-1 in the third. El Weleily drew level again, before a marathon decider ensued, which the Englishwoman was able to close out.
Waters will face in-form Joelle King in tomorrow’s semi-final, after the New Zealander claimed a scalp of her own in defeating No.3 seed Annie Au. King has now reached at least the semi-final stage of her last three WSA events, and the world No.12 continued the best form of her career to leap to a two-game lead against the Hong Kong international. Au scraped a game back but was unable to stop King’s progression, falling just short of forcing a tiebreak in the fourth game.
At the top end of the draw, No.6 seed Low Wee Wern cut short the run of Omneya Abdel Kawy who had eliminated No.2 seed Jenny Duncalf in round one. The resilient young Malaysian twice came from behind against the former world No.4, and refused to let Kawy out of her sights. A 75-minute contest came to a head as Wee Wern claimed the last two games to finish off the contest.
Wee Wern will play experienced Australian Kasey Brown, the highest remaining seed in the competition. Brown defeated qualifier Aisling Blake of Ireland in a drawn-out three-game match. Blake had defeated No.8 seed Camille Serme in an hour-long battle in round one, but was unable to spring successive upsets to see Brown into her first semi-final round since March.
For the semi-final contests, play will be moved to the all-glass court at the Lujiazui Central Park, where Wee Wern and Brown will face each other in front of a packed audience at 19.30 local time, followed by King and Waters at 20.30.
Semi-finals:
19.30 - [6] Low Wee Wern (MAS) vs [4] Kasey Brown (AUS)
20.30 - [7] Joelle King (NZL) vs [5] Alison Waters (ENG)
Quarter-finals:
[6] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [Q] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-9 (75m)
[4] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Aisling Blake (IRL) 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (49m)
[7] Joelle King (NZL) bt [3] Annie Au (HKG) 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (61m)
[5] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [1] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 7-11, 11-4, 11-1, 8-11, 13-11 (78m)
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