New Zealand’s Ella Lash defeated former World No.1 Rachael Grinham in straight games in one of three seeding upsets in the quarter-finals of the World Championship Oceania Qualifying Event in Australia.
Lash defeated No.3 seed Grinham, 47, to set up a meeting with top seed Alex Haydon in the semi-finals. The No.5 seed came through her bout by an 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 scoreline in 23 minutes of action. Haydon, meanwhile, dropped just 11 points on her way to victory over No.7 seed Remashree Muniandy of Australia, needing just 19 minutes on court before booking her spot in the last four of the event on the Gold Coast.
The other semi-final match in the women’s draw will see No.2 seed Sarah Cardwell take on No.4 seed Erin Classen after both players came through their respective quarter-final matches. Australia’s Classen showed strong resolve to overturn an early deficit against No.8 Sze Yu Lee and walk off court after four games and 29 minutes of play. Cardwell, meanwhile, took victory over No.6 seed Madison Lyon by an 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 scoreline.
In the men’s draw, Australian duo Nicholas Calvert and Rhys Dowling both scored seeding upsets as they came through their quarter-final matches against No.3 seed Elijah Thomas and No.4 seed Anthony Lepper in straight games, respectively. Calvert will now meet top seed Joseph White for a spot in the final after the Australian came through his meeting with Tate Norris by an 11-5, 11-4, 11-1 scoreline in 42 minutes.
The final match of the day saw No.2 seed Temwa Chileshe battle back from a game behind to seal victory over No.7 seed Dylan Molinaro. Despite losing the opener 11-8, Chileshe showed his class to win the following three games, 11-5, 11-9, 11-2, to progress to the last four and set up a meeting with No.6 seed Dowling.
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Results: Men’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Joseph White (AUS) bt [8] Tate Norris (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-1 (42m) [5] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) bt [3] Elijah Thomas (NZL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (40m) [6] Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt [4] Anthony Lepper (NZL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (37m) [2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt [7] Dylan Molinaro (AUS) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-2 (67m)Draw: Men’s Semi-Finals
[1] Joseph White (AUS) v [5] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) [6] Rhys Dowling (AUS) v [2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL)Results: Women’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Alex Haydon (AUS) bt [7] Remashree Muniandy (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-5 (19m) [5] Ella Lash (NZL) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (23m) [4] Erin Classen (AUS) bt [8] Sze Yu Lee (AUS) 3-1: 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (29m) [2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) bt [6] Madison Lyon (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (24m)Draw: Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Alex Haydon (AUS) v [5] Ella Lash (NZL) [4] Erin Classen (AUS) v [2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS)
