King reigns after ‘emotional’ Manchester win
Joelle King broke her title drought with a comprehensive win over England’s Sarah-Jane Perry to claim the Manchester Open.
The victory was a confidenceboosting performance against one of her main rivals for the Commonwealth Games title and with the world championships looming on May 13-22 in Cairo, Egypt.
The 11-8 11-8 11-9 result in 41 minutes was her second Manchester Open title after her 2019 success.
‘‘I’m actually quite emotional,’’ King, 33, said. ‘‘It’s been a long time since I won an event, a lot has happened in my life since then.
‘‘I’ve been through a lot of downs and to be at this point winning a tournament against the calibre of players we have on tour means so much.
‘‘It’s nice to have so much support, some of my team aren’t here and my body is in bits, so it’s just so nice and emotional.’’
King has had to endure a lot during the global pandemic. The result was reward for her persistence as she claimed her first victory since her last title in Manchester.
‘‘It’s been three years since I’ve seen anyone in my family, and I love them, this is what all the sacrifices are for,’’ said King who will return home for the New Zealand championships in July.
‘‘I wanted to give my squash everything that I have, and this one is for them and to everyone who stood by me. When you’re doing well there’s so many friends and people, but it’s those that are there when things aren’t doing so well that mean so much.’’
King can start her world championships preparations with renewed confidence.
‘‘Everyone has the world championships at the top of their minds. I’m choosing to miss the other tournaments to be at my best for that, but everyone will go about it in different ways so let’s see what happens,’’ she said.
King started the Manchester final strongly, finding her targets
with accuracy and stretching Perry into all four corners of the court to take the opening game 11-8 in just nine minutes.
She continued this momentum into the second game, taking time away from her English opponent and firing the ball short with pace.
Perry had to find something different in the third game to give herself a lifeline in the match but started poorly as King ran out to a 5-2 lead.
Perry gathered some momentum to claw back to 8-9 but after a solid rally from the Kiwi world No 5, King had two championships balls. She converted at the first attempt for a sweet victory.
‘‘It’s been three years since I’ve seen anyone in my family, and I love them, this is what all the sacrifices are for.’’
Joelle King