Source / Squash New Zealand
Joelle King (Ngāti Porou) has been beaten by world no. 1 Nouran Gohar of Egypt in the semi-final of the British Open in Birmingham.
While King, 34, did win seven of the opening eight points in the second game, she was well beaten by Gohar, 11-3, 11-9, 11-1 in 33 minutes.
It is the second successive year the world no. 4 has been knocked out of the open at the semifinal stage.
Gohar did, however, have a huge incentive to win through to her fourth consecutive British Open final.
“Coming into the semi-final, I had it in the back of my mind that the PSA keep reminding me that if I lose this then I’ll lose my world no.1 spot! They’ve reminded me about four times this week!” Gohar exclaimed after the match, a PSA world tour report said.
The 25-year-old was full of praise for King, who she has beaten the last seven times the pair have met, five of those in semi-finals.
“All credit to Joelle – she’s played amazing squash this week and I had to be on my toes to bring something higher than an ‘A’ game and be ready for everything she was going to throw at me.
"She’s had her whole team here so it gives her a lot of support and in my mind I was ready for a fight."
Win or not, King continues to be adored by fans everywhere.
"Gohar was on a mission, Top 4 in British Open Joelle King always super proud of you n love you heaps," one fan wrote on Squash New Zealand's Facebook page.