New Zealand's Joelle King is into the last eight at the PSA World Tour Squash Open in Cairo after beating Canada's Hollie Naughton in straight games.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The world No.8 started strongly as she aimed to maintain her one hundred percent record over 20th ranked Naughton.
She held a solid lead in the mid-point of the first game, however Naughton did manage to fight back to be level at 9-9, before King won the final two points to take the game.
Naughton could only muster a couple of points in the second game, as King took complete control of the match, doubling her advantage.
he left-handed Naughton started to play better in the third game, but it wasn't enough, as the King was able to round out the victory in straight games 11-9, 11-2, 11-9 in just 30 minutes.
"The tour is changing. There are a lot of players making their breakthrough and Hollie had a great win yesterday. I had to play good squash and keep her contained. I thought I played well. There were still a few patches that I wasn't happy with but overall it was a good performance," King admitted.
"I think that the first, I had a good lead. There was a rally that I took lightly at about 9-5 and it gave her momentum and she came back. That is probably the difference, I managed to get over the line in the first to keep that momentum.
"Obviously, winning the first game is a mental advantage. If you can close the first out and come out strong in the second, you can develop a run of points but when you are competing against another good player, they are trying their hardest to break it. It is hard to get momentum and it is also hard to stop it."
She will be in the first quarter-final of the tournament will face either England's Alison Waters or Egypt's second seed Nouran Gohar for a place in the last four.
