WORLD SQUASH NEWS
RESULTS: Bright Lights Women's Las Vegas Squash Open, Las Vegas, USA
Quarter-finals:
[1] Linda Charman (ENG) bt [6] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-4, 9-0, 9-6
Lara Petera (NZL) bt [7] Sharon Wee (MAS) 3-9, 9-7, 9-4, 9-4
[3] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [Q] Melanie Jans (CAN) 9-2, 9-7, 9-6
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [8] Nicol David (MAS) 9-6, 8-10, 9-1, 8-10, 9-2
Wee Peters Out To Petera
New Zealand's unseeded Lara Petera maintained her good form in the Bright
Lights Women's Las Vegas Squash Open in the USA when she despatched
seventh-seeded Malaysian Sharon Wee in a four-game quarter-final at ClubSport
Green Valley in Nevada.
The 24-year-old from Auckland, who knocked out fourth seed Annelize Naude in
the opening round, beat Wee 3-9 9-7 9-4 9-4 and now meets England's top seed
Linda Charman in the semi-finals
Charman, the world No3 from Eastbourne in Sussex, defeated Hong Kong's Asian
Games champion Rebecca Chiu 9-4 9-0 9-6.
It was a bad day for Malaysia as twice world junior champion Nicol David also
made her exit from the WISPA World Tour event, but not before taking her
second-seeded opponent Vanessa Atkinson the full distance.
David is playing in her first WISPA event since May last year - only two
weeks after beginning a new training regime in the Netherlands with
Australia's former world No2 Liz Irving, the Dutch national coach.
The 19-year-old from Penang twice pegged back the Dutch No1 in a
closely-contested tussle in Las Vegas, but Atkinson ultimately prevailed 9-6
8-10 9-1 8-10 9-2 to take her anticipated place in the last four.
Her semi-final opponent will be England's British champion Cassie Jackman,
the third seed from Norfolk who ended the run of Canadian qualifier Melanie
Jans in a 9-2 9-7 9-6 scoreline. Whilst Jackman is seeded below Atkinson,
the Englishwoman and former world champion has since risen above her opponent
to six in the latest world rankings.