Chinappa Chops Blake In LA Upset

Joshna Chinappa pulled off one of her best results of the year on the opening day of action in the Women's Epstein Becker & Green Los Angeles Open when she upset Ireland's No7 seed Aisling Blake to reach the quarter-finals of the WISPA World Tour event at the LA Athletic Club in Los Angeles, USA.

The unseeded 20-year-old from Chennai in India fought back from two-games-to-one down to defeat Blake, ranked 38 in the world, 9-4, 6-9, 0-9, 9-7, 9-7 in 68 minutes.

Chinappa now faces third seed Raneem El Weleily for a place in the semi-finals after the teenager from Egypt crushed England's Jenna Gates 9-1, 9-1, 9-1 in just 19 minutes.

Natalie Grainger, the reigning US champion, and Latasha Khan, a former seven-times winner of the title, carried domestic hopes through to the last eight. Top seed Grainger was too strong for Canadian qualifier Tara Mullins, beating the 30-year-old from Toronto 9-1, 9-0, 9-2.

"It's only the second time I've played a real top player. I handled the pace ok, but it was the ball accuracy that was the difference," explained Mullins to www.squashsite.co.uk . "It's so hard to get her out of position. I did it a few times but not enough to win a game. I gave her too many loose balls and she just put them away."

Khan also despatched a Canadian - beating Carolyn Russell, from Vancouver, 9-4, 9-1, 9-7.

"There were lots of long rallies, but I didn't have to move too much, she was putting a lot of shots into the middle," said Khan, from Seattle. "I just had to stay focused. It's always a bit physical when you play Carolyn, you just have to not let it get to you."

1st round:
[1] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [Q] Tara Mullins (CAN) 9-1, 9-0, 9-2 (19m)
[8] Runa Reta (CAN) bt [Q] Neha Kumar (CAN) 9-2, 9-3, 9-0 (25m)
[4] Lauren Briggs (ENG) bt Kirsty McPhee (ENG) 5-9, 9-1, 9-6, 9-2 (37m)
[5] Latasha Khan (USA) bt Carolyn Russell (CAN) 9-4, 9-1, 9-7 (39m)
Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt [7] Aisling Blake (IRL) 9-4, 6-9, 0-9, 9-7, 9-7 (68m)
[3] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Jenna Gates (ENG) 9-1, 9-1, 9-1 (19m)
[6] Manuela Manetta (ITA) bt [Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 9-2, 9-3, 9-7 (28m)
[2] Samantha Teran (MEX) bt [Q] Karen Kronemeyer (NED) 9-2, 9-2, 9-6 (42m)