Joshna enters quarters of Carol Weymuller Open

India's top ranked squash player Joshna Chinappa entered the quarterfinals of the Carol Weymuller Open, a PSA world tour event, after beating Egyptian qualifier Salma Hany Ibrahim 12-10 11-9 11-8 here.
The fourth seeded Indian will next take on Sarah Jane-Perry of England, who is seeded seventh.
Notwithstanding the straight game win, it was a close match with the Egyptian leading initially in all the three games and Joshna had to make a strong come back to turn things in her favour in a contest that lasted 38 minutes.
The two had incidentally played each other last year too in the same tournament and Joshna then also had to fight hard. She was pushed to the fifth game, which she barely managed to win.

It almost went the same way with Salma, ranked 35 in the world, leading 10-8 and all set to take the first game. But a good shot and then a stroke helped World No. 13 Joshna to equalise and from there get that extra points to gain advantage.
The second, too, saw Salma take a 4-0 lead before making it 9-6. Once again Joshna showed she was good under pressure and with some tight game seized the initiative.

Joshna was lot more assured in the third and led 8-4 after starting off with a 1-3 deficit. At the end, she raced away to grab the game as well as the match.

The other Indian star Dipika Pallikal Karthik is also in the fray and will play second seed Camille Serme later in the day.
In Chicago, Kush Kumar, who had an impressive entry as a qualifier into the main draw of the Life Time Open, another PSA world tour event, failed to advance.
The Indian, a former Indian Squash Academy trainee but now a student at Trinity college in the USA, lost to fifth seeded Charles Sharpes of England in straight games 11-6 11-7 11-6.