Paul Coll and Joelle King through to the quaterfinals

Paul Coll and Joelle King are through to the quarterfinals of the New Zealand Squash Open in Tauranga after straight game wins in the second round.

King ranked No 5 in the world moved past Australian Jess Turnbull in 42 minutes with an 11-3, 11-9, 11-6 triumph after easing through the first game. 

 

However Turnbull ranked 70 showed some resolve and variety in her game in the second and third sets.

 

“I was 5-love up in the first. It took me by surprise how well I was hitting the ball. She’s a tricky opponent and ranked a lot lower than me, but I feel she has a good skills. She’s one of those players that if you’re not accurate enough she’ll put the ball away. But I’m happy to come away with a win,” said 34-year-old King who was unbeaten during the Nations Cup teams event and is feeling positive going into the PSA NZ Open.

 

“It’s a new tournament. Last week I felt like I was on a roll, but last week is gone. You have to come out and expect the lower ranked players to come out and have a go at you. 

 

“Being here at home there’s a lot of expectation. People want to see us in final and go through the draw. I’m just trying to do everything right. Sometimes you’re beaten by a better player on the day, that’s just sport in general, but I’m going to be doing everything I can to stop that happening,” said King who now plays American Sabrina Sobhy in the quarters on Thursday night.

 

King has beaten Sobhy on all seven occasions they have played, including the three times this year, however Sobhy is known for her speed around the court and running every shot down. 

 

Earlier men’s world No 2 Coll beat Brownell ranked 59th 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 in 42 minutes to progress to the quarter-finals where he will face sixth seed Adrian Waller (England) at 6.45pm tomorrow (Thursday).

 

Manawatu’s Kaitlyn Watts had a second round loss to the Welsh sixth seed Tesni Evans at the Devoy Squash Club in Tauranga in three games,11-2 11-2 11-5.  

 

Meanwhile there were a number of significant upsets in the both the men’s and women’s draws in other second round matches as men’s fourth seed Miguel Rodriguez (Colombia) ranked 13th was beaten in straight games, albeit 16-14, 12-10, 16-10 by Canadian David Baillargeon while Argentine Leonardo Romiglio won a marathon five game match over fifth seed Saurav Ghosal (India). 

 

Eighth seed Sebastien Bonmalias from France was also beaten. He lost in straight games to American Andrew Douglas. In the women’s draw there was a surprise with Japan’s Satomi Wantanabe ranked 48 in the world accounting for third seed and 10thranked Salma Hamy from Egypt. 

 

Thursday is the first half of the quarterfinal schedule with the second half on Friday. 

 

Thursday 10 November schedule:

 

6pm, Women’s quarters:  Satomi Watanabe (Japan) v (5) Tinne Gilis (Belgium) 

6.45pm Men’s quarters: (1) Paul Coll (New Zealand) v (6) Adrian Waller (England), 

8pm Women’s quarters: (1) Joelle King (New Zealand) v (8) Sabrina Sobhy (United States)

8.45pm Men’s quarters: (8) Adulla Mohd Al Tamimi (Qatar) v David Baillargeon (Canada)