New Zealand's Joelle King has upset second seed and world No.2 Nouran Gohar of Egypt in straight games in the quarter-finals of the PSA Squash event in Cairo.
Photo: What Nathan Saw
Gohar has had a tough time with injury since the restart of the PSA World Tour following the Covid-19 enforced tour suspension and struggled with her movement around the court, while world No.8 King appeared fresh after a relatively easy match the previous round.
The Egyptian 23-year-old had battled through back-to-back five-game battles and struggled against King, 32 who had a take no prisoners approach to the clash which took 39 minutes.
It is the first semifinal of a PSA World Tour event for King since the restart. "She's been World No.1 and is World No.2, I knew it was going to be tough and that she would give it everything she had," said King.
"I just tried to push the pace and make it as physical as I could to try and push her mentally. I think I played really well, there were a few points here or there [that weren't as good], but I've got to be happy with that.
"It's about trying to do your best, I think, that's the attitude I've approached this week with. You know you've done the work but sometimes you go on court and it doesn't happen. I came with a different attitude this week, I feel really good out there and I'm having fun while I'm doing it.
"I hope I'm on the way up. You get some little testers along the way and I've had some tough, tough losses in the last year. Hopefully they're a distant memory and I'm back on the rise."
King will take on English fifth seed Sarah-Jane Perry for a place in the title decider.
King has a 7-2 win/loss record against Perry, although their last two results were shared.
The match is scheduled for 6am Saturday NZT.