Upsets Continue in WSA Tub O-Towels Classic by Howard Harding February 4, 2014
- Hong Kong qualifier Annie Au will take part in the final of the
Women's Tub O'Towels Cleveland Classic after sensationally producing
her third upset in as many days when she overcame fourth seed Alison
Waters in the semi-finals of the Women's Squash Association Gold 50
event marking its fourth year at Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland,
Ohio, USA.
Left-hander Au, ranked
13 in the world, started her giant-killing Cleveland campaign in the
opening round when she defeated England's No7 seed Jenny Duncalf. The
24-year-old continued her demolition of English opponents by dismissing
world No2 Laura Massaro - before lining up Londoner Waters to be her
third British victim!
Au twice came from
behind to take the match into a fifth-game decider, then squandered two
match-balls to Waters from 10-8 before finally clinching her fourth to
take the match 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-2, 13-11.
"In the second I tried
to slow down the pace," explained Au (pictured above, left, with
Waters) later. "Gives me time to set up my shots," added the Asian
champion, now in the 18th Tour final of her career.
World No4 Waters added: "We both had times when we were controlling the match. We both played our best in the last game."
Au's opponent will be
fellow Asian Nicol David, the world No1 from Malaysia. The top seed
reached the Classic final for the fourth year in a row after ending
Egyptian qualifier Nour El Tayeb's run, beating the 20-year-old world
No27 from Cairo 11-7, 12-10, 11-4.
After losing the first
game, underdog El Tayeb upped the pace in the second and led 7-2 and
10-7 before David reeled her in to take the game after a tie-break.
"When down 10-7 'keep in that mindset'," said David (pictured above, left, with El Tayeb) later. "Make every point count."
El Tayeb added: "If I had won that second game, it's hard to say what would have happened."
The win takes David into the 92nd WSA Tour final of her illustrious career - and her eighth in a row.
RESULTS: Women's Tub O'Towels Cleveland Classic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Semi-finals: [1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 [Q] Annie Au (HKG) bt [4] Alison Waters (ENG) 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-2, 13-11
