King misses out on quarterfinals
The quarterfinals of a PSA World Series tournament again proved elusive for top Kiwi squash player Joelle King this season, after fighting hard but coming up short in the second round of the Tournament of Champions in New York yesterday.
In the third of the five most prestigious tournaments on the PSA calendar, the world No 10 from Cambridge was ousted by English world No 5 Laura Massaro in the event held at Grand Central Terminal.
Fourth seed Massaro, who spent the first part of last year as world No 1, was far from her best and was made to come from 2-1 down, but showed impressive resilience and mental fortitude as she eventually wore King down over an hour and four minutes, to win 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3.
Seeded 10th for the tournament, King had cruised to an 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 firstround win over Natalie Grinham - the former Australian world No 2 who was since playing under the Netherlands flag and was retiring from the sport after this tournament.
But it was the second round which again proved her downfall, as had been the case in the first two World Series tournaments of the season - the Hong Kong Open last August, and Open in October.
In between the rest of the PSA Tour events, there are two of the World Series tournaments remaining for the season the Windy City Open in Chicago next month, followed by the British Open in Hull in March.
Meanwhile, top Kiwi men’s player the US Paul Coll will be out to continue his giantkilling run when he lines up in the quarterfinals in New York. The 24-yearold West Coast-raised Cantabrian, who has risen to No 20 in the world, is on a 10-match winning streak and faces Englishman James Willstrop - a former world No 1, but who now sits at No 11 today.