E Gouna-World N0 4 King Crash out on Day four

New Zealand’s World No.4 Joelle King and Egypt’s World No.5 Nouran Gohar crashed out of the 2018 El Gouna International at the second round stage after they fell to Hong Kong’s Annie Au and England’s Alison Waters on day four of the PSA World Series tournament held on the banks of Egypt’s Red Sea.

King, a double gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games in Australia earlier this month, twice took the lead against Au only to see her opponent fight back on both occasions to unsettle the Kiwi.

King’s accuracy began to fade as she fatigued and she gifted Au a series of strokes, before the player from Hong Kong took full advantage to complete a surprise 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 victory.

“I can see Joelle is a little bit tired because she’s come here to play after the Commonwealth Games,” said Au.

“Today I just told myself to be more patient, concentrate more, try to make the rallies longer and then, when there are opportunities, take the ball short.

“I had to be really careful because when I played a loose shot, Joelle would whack the ball and I would struggle, so I tried to focus and be patient.”

Au will face World Champion Raneem El Welily in the next round after the Egyptian saw off the threat of England’s Sarah-Jane Perry – who lost out to King in the Commonwealth Games singles final – by a 3-1 margin.

Meanwhile, England’s World No.10 Alison Waters will join Au in the next round after she prevailed in a five-game battle with Egyptian World No.5 Nouran Gohar.

The match was a stop-start affair throughout with the referee called into action on a number of decisions but Waters, who had been pegged back from 2-1 up, managed to retain her composure to close out a big victory that will see her clash with World No.3 Nour El Tayeb in the next round after she beat compatriot Hania El Hammamy.

Waters said: “I am happy with the result as I played her a couple of times and didn’t manage to get a win.

“Today, after the Commonwealth [Games], I didn’t feel any kind of pressure and I felt pretty confident.”