US Champion Kahn Boosts Local Interest In Apawamis

Latasha Khan, the six-times US National champion, boosted local interest in the main draw of the Women's Apawamis Open by overcoming Australia's Kasey Brown in the qualifying finals of the first WISPA Gold event of the New Year in Rye, New York.

Khan's 9-6 9-7 9-7 takes the 33-year-old from Seattle into the first round, where she will meet former world champion Vanessa Atkinson, the second seed from the Netherlands.

Atkinson is expected to face her successor as world champion in the Apawamis final on Monday. Malaysia's top seed Nicol David, who beat Atkinson in the World Open semi-finals in Hong Kong en-route to winning the title in December, will face the world number two's compatriot Annelize Naude in the first round.

Qualifying finals:
Engy Kheirallah (EGY) bt Alana Miller (CAN) 9-2, 9-1, 9-0
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Karen Kronemeyer (NED) 9-2, 9-0, 9-2
Latasha Khan (USA) bt Kasey Brown (AUS) 9-6, 9-7, 9-7
Fiona Geaves (ENG) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 10-8, 9-3, 9-6