1:47 am
14 Nov 2024

Perry Progresses Into Singapore Semis

31 Jul 2008

Unseeded Madeline Perry achieved her best run in a major tournament since recovering from a serious head injury last year when she reached the semi-finals of the Women's CIMB Singapore Masters after beating Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu in straight games in today's quarter-finals of the $53,500 WISPA World Tour Gold squash event in its second year at the Kallang Squash Centre in Singapore.

The former world No6 from Northern Ireland was in sublime form - beating former Asian Games champion Chiu 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 to reach her first WISPA Gold event semi-final since February 2006.

Perry, currently ranked 15 in the world, now faces favourite Nicol David, the world number one from Malaysia who is expected to win her eighth Tour title in a row in Singapore.

David showed her class in the final match on the all-glass court, convincingly beating Jenny Duncalf of England. After being pushed to a tie break by the fifth seed in the second game, the 24-year-old from Penang took the match 11-4, 13-11, 11-6.

"It certainly wasn't easy in there and Jenny put up a good fight - but she made a couple of flaws in between where I got the chance to quickly seize the opportunities and take control of the game," said the Malaysian star.

"I will continue to perform to the best of my abilities for the semi-finals and look forward to having as exciting a day as I did today."

Earlier Rachael Grinham, the third seed from Australia, kept up her fine form in the tournament by beating England's No8 seed Alison Waters to be the first person to reach the semi-finals. The world champion dropped the first game before coming back to take the next three games to win 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.

The Cairo-based Queenslander now faces Egyptian number one Omneya Abdel Kawy after the seventh seed ended the sensational run of Isabelle Stoehr in five games. The unseeded French champion was unable to match the display she showed 24 hours earlier against second seed Natalie Grinham, going down 6-11, 11-1, 11-3, 13-15, 11-5 to the higher-ranked Kawy.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 11-4, 13-11, 11-6
Madeline Perry (IRL) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 11-7, 11-8, 11-9
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [8] Alison Waters (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7
[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 6-11, 11-1, 11-3, 13-15, 11-5