[4] Joelle King (NZL) 3-0 [8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (32m)
So today, the All Black was on her best focus from the first point, taking the first game 8/1, 9/3 11/5 in 8m. A better start for the English in the second, but Joelle is just too clinical and she confirms 11/5 in 8m.
Another good start for Gina in the third, 3/0, caught up 4/4, again goes ahead, 8/4, but Joelle doesn’t want a long match. She fights and chases the shots, finding some crispy winners, and levels 8/8, 9/9, closing the game 11/9 in again 8m.
I have to say after the drama of the previous match, this one was a bit of fresh air…
Joelle:
“If you look at Gina’s results so far this season, being 2-0 down means nothing to her. I was very aware of that and at 8-4 I didn’t want to give her any confidence. Even if I was going to lose that game I wanted to find a way back into it. I think I played that 9-9 point pretty well and just stayed strong until the end of the match.
“I don’t like being one of the three bridesmaids to the winner and that’s happened on quite a few occasions. This year I’m just enjoying playing squash. I think it’s quite a challenge facing someone like Gina who is so physically strong, she’s one of our future stars, for sure.
“Nouran is class. She’s No.1 in the world for a reason. We’ve had some really tough battles over the years and she’s come out on top in the last five. I like playing on this court, I think it suits my game and it’s quite fast off the front wall.
“Being up against the World No.1 in the semi-finals of a big event is always exciting and I’ll see what I can do.
