Delia delivers upset number two as she overcomes Annie Au
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
Malaysia’s Delia Arnold recorded a sensational second successive upset in the Allam British Open Squash Championships – and became the first qualifier to reach the quarter-finals of the WSA World Series event in Hull – when she beat Hong Kong’s No.11 seed Annie Au in her ‘best ever’ result in today’s second round clash on the all-glass court at the Airco Arena.
Just 24 hours after ousting England’s fifth seed Alison Waters, Malaysian number three Arnold, ranked 29 in the world, recovered from a game down to beat the Hong Kong No.1 – ranked 18 places higher – 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9 in 53 minutes to reach the world-renowned event’s quarter-finals for the first time.
“That’s definitely the best result of my career,” said the 29-year-old from Selangor (pictured above, right, with Au) afterwards. “I’m really happy to be in the quarter finals of one of the biggest events in the world – the squash has been great for me so far so I just have to keep the momentum going.
“Squash originates in England so it’s amazing to be in the British Open quarter finals.
“My main goal today was to stay focused, be patient and keep the rallies going and try not to make any errors – so I think I did pretty well today.”
Arnold now has a tough task on her hands when she takes on world No.2 Raneem El Welily (right) on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.
The second seed ended fellow Egyptian Yathreb Adel’s golden run when she beat the 19-year-old qualifier from Cairo – the reigning British Universities champion – 11-5, 11-5, 12-10.
India’s hopes of a first ever women’s quarter-finalist were dashed by Camille Serme when the sixth seed from France cruised to an 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 victory in just 26 minutes over Dipika Pallikal, the No.9 seed from Chennai.
Serme, the world No.6 from Creteil, will now line up against Egypt’s fourth seed Nour El Sherbini.
Runner-up in 2012, the 19-year-old from Alexandria ended South African interest in the event when she defeated Cape Town-based qualifier Siyoli Waters 11-2, 11-8, 11-5.
Allam British Open Squash Championships, Hull, England
Women’s 2nd round (lower half of draw):
[6] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [9] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (26m)
[4] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [Q] Siyoli Waters (RSA) 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 (24m)
[Q] Delia Arnold (MAS) bt [11] Annie Au (HKG) 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9 (53m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [Q] Yathreb Adel (EGY) 11-5, 11-5, 12-10 (36m)
Picture by STEVE LINE (www.squashpics.com)