Kiwis To The Fore Squash Pro Tournament In Auckland

A solid first round for local players at the the US$5,000 Court Tech PSA Women’s Classic at Squash XL Club in Avondale, Auckland.

Waikato junior, Anika Jackson scored the upset of the round with a win over sixth seed Liu Kwai Chi from Macau in straight game to set up a clash with top seed and world No.53 Christine Nunn from Australia.

Nunn made the third round of singles at the Commonwealth Games and is coached by former world champ Sarah Fitz Gerald but had an initial battle in her first round match against Kiwi qualifier Ellie Epke.

Epke, 20 had a game point at 10-8 in the first set but eventually lost 13-11, 11-7, 11-3 in 28 minutes.

Other Kiwis to win included seventh seed Emma Millar over her Korean opponent in straight games while third seed Abbie Palmer from Northland won in four games against Singaporean qualifier Sneha Sivakumar.

Top ranked New Zealand junior Kaitlyn Watts won her first two games in straightforward fashion, but in the third it was her opponent Gigi Yeung who fought back from 7-10 down to equalise before the hometown player won 13-11.

Watts will now play second seed Vanessa Chu from Hong Kong who accounted for Kiwi wildcard Casey Owen  in straight games.

First round results:

(1) Christine Nunn (Australia) bt (Q) Ellie Epke (New Zealand) 13-11, 11-7, 11-3 (28 mins),

Anika Jackson (New Zealand) bt (6) Liu Kwai Chi (Macau) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (17 mins),

(7) Emma Millar (New Zealand) bt You Jiyoung (South Korea) 11-3, 11-2, 11-3 (15 mins),

(4) Jemyca Aribado (Philippines) bt (Q) Alexandra Haydon (Australia) 11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (18 mins),

(3) Abbie Palmer (New Zealand) bt (Q) Sneha Sivakumar (Singapore) 11-6, 11-3, 8-11, 12-10,

(8) Au Yeong Yhann (Singapore) bt Min Gyeong (South Korea) 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7 (28 mins),

(5) Kaitlyn Watts (New Zealand) bt (Q) Gigi Yeung (Macau) 11-5, 11-6, 13-11,

(2) Vanessa Chu (Hong Kong) bt (WC) Casey Owen (New Zealand) 11-4, 11-0 11-1.