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Sport | Egypt

Joelle King into second round of world champs in Egypt

Photo / Supplied

Women’s world no. 5 Joelle King (Ngāti Porou) has made a good start at the squash world championships in Egypt.

King, 34, won her round one match over Hong Kong’s Tsz-Wing Ton 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 in Cairo on Friday evening (NZ time) and was satisfied with her performance.

“My injury is feeling good. Obviously, after Manchester I had a little break and made sure everything was working well and had a lot of rehab. I’m just looking forward to cracking onto round two," King said following the match.

“Every tournament is a new tournament and, as fast as you think ‘I’ve got this’ and know what I’m doing, it can all come a bit unstuck and you just have to prepare for every tournament.

"Nothing comes easy, it gives you confidence, but you can’t have too much confidence. Everybody goes away and works harder and you’ve got to start each tournament as a new one.”

King faces Egyptian Yathreb Adel, ranked 38th in the world, in the second round at midnight on Sunday (NZ time).

The New Zealander has reached the quarter-finals of the world champs on five occasions and is aiming for her first semifinal appearance.

This year’s PSA world championships is the richest professional squash tournament in history, as the players battle it out for $1,100,000 in total player prize compensation to be split equally amongst the men and women, a PSA world tour report says.

Kelvin McDonald
Kelvin McDonald

Kelvin McDonald has been part of our Whakaata Māori newsroom since 2007. Formerly a researcher for Native Affairs, Kelvin has since moved across to our Online News Team where his new role as Digital Video Editor utilises his years of experience and skills in research, editing and reporting.