RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s top-ranked player Maria Toorpakai Wazir was made to work hard by Egypt’s Nadine Shahin before she secured a place in the semi-finals of the Second Bahria Town International Women Squash Championship on Thursday.

In a 43-minute battle here at the Safari Club Squash Courts, Maria overcame Shahin 11-5, 12-14, 11-7, 11-4 to advance to a clash against Malaysian Teh Min Jie who was stretched to a full five sets by compatriot Rachel Arnold.

It was a pulsating match between the two Malaysians with Jie, who at 80th in the world rankings is 14 places behind Arnold, coming back from two sets down to prevail 7-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6.

It was a tough day for defending champions Sachika Ingale of India who was easily despatched by South African top seed Sivoli Waters. Waters’ aggressive approach from the start paid dividends as she needed just 22 minutes to see off Ingale 11-5, 11-8, 11-7.

In Friday’s semi-final, Waters will face Hong Kong’s Liu Tsz-Ling who had another lop-sided quarter-final victory when she beat Egyptian Farah Abdel Meguid 11-4, 14-12, 12-10 in 37 minutes.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play