Malaysian squash star Rachel Arnold defeats Nele Gilis for first time to reach China Open quarterfinals, where she faces top seed Hania El Hammamy.
MALAYSIAN squash player Rachel Arnold produced a stunning upset to reach the China Open quarterfinals with a victory over fifth seed Nele Gilis.
The world number 16 secured a 3-1 win (11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6) in 44 minutes at the Shanghai tournament.
This marked Arnold’s first-ever victory over the Belgian after losing all five of their previous encounters.
She now faces the formidable challenge of top seed Hania El Hammamy in the quarterfinals.
The Egyptian world number two has defeated Arnold in all five of their previous meetings.
Meanwhile, Aifa Azman narrowly missed out on joining Arnold in the last eight after a dramatic five-game battle.
The Malaysian fell 11-6, 11-8, 3-11, 2-11, 13-11 to Egypt’s Salma Hany in a 55-minute thriller.
Younger sister Aira Azman also exited the tournament with a straight-games defeat to third seed Amina Orfi.
The Egyptian dominated their encounter 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 to advance.
In the men’s competition, Ng Eain Yow suffered a straight-games defeat to Egypt’s Mohamad Zakaria.
The Malaysian lost 11-5, 13-11, 11-6 in a 64-minute contest. – Bernama
