Chinappa Charges On In Dayton

Joshna Chinappa scored a significant scalp for the second day in a row when she fought back from two games down to upset fourth seed Rebecca Botwright in the women's quarter-finals of the EBS Dayton Open in Dayton, Ohio, in the USA.

The 20-year-old from Chennai beat her English opponent 6-9, 9-10, 10-8, 9-4, 9-3 to set up a semi-final clash with Omneya Abdel Kawy, the top seed from Egypt who beat USA's Latasha Khan 9-2, 9-2, 9-5.

The other women's semi-final will be an all-New Zealand affair between Jaclyn Hawkes and Shelley Kitchen. Hawkes, the fifth seed, upset England's No3 seed Lauren Briggs 9-6, 9-2, 7-9, 9-6, while second seed Kitchen despatched Mexico's Samantha Teran 9-0, 9-3, 9-4.

There was notable Indian success in the men's qualifying finals when Saurav Ghosal beat Mexican Eric Galvez, ranked 17 places higher, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0). The 20-year-old from Chennai will meet Egypt's third seed Karim Darwish in the main draw.

Thierry Lincou is top seed in the $50,000 PSA Tour event. The former world number one from France is expected to meet Egypt's Ramy Ashour in the final - in what would be a repeat of their quarter-final clash in last week's Windy City Open in Chicago.

Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [7] Latasha Khan (USA) 9-2, 9-2, 9-5
Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt [4] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) 6-9, 9-10, 10-8, 9-4, 9-3
[5] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt [3] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-6, 9-2, 7-9, 9-6
[2] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [8] Samantha Teran (MEX) 9-0, 9-3, 9-4

Men's qualifying finals:
Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Eric Galvez (MEX) 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0)
Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 11-6, 5-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5
Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 11-1