King in round 2 action against Egyptian 20-year-old Farida Mohamed. Source / Squash NZ
Joelle King (Ngāti Porou) has lost her semifinal to world no. 2 Egyptian Nouran Gohar at the Black Ball Open in Cairo this morning (NZ time).
King played some "fantastic squash" from the outset to go one up against the 24-year-old, taking out the first game 11-5 with some accurate and powerful shot making. It was the first game that her opponent had dropped all year.
However, Gohar fought back, drawing equal (11-8) in the second and then edging ahead 2-1 in the third.
In the third game, King had opportunities to go ahead herself but a number of long rallies took the game to 12-12 and finally the Egyptian winning 14-12.
Semifinal action from today's match
In the fourth game, Gohar seemed to have just a bit more zip in her shots as she won 11-5 to seal the match 3-1 in 59 minutes.
Gohar will now take over the world no. 1 ranking at the beginning of the month.
King won her way through to the PSA World Tour tournament semifinal after making light work of world no. 4 USA's Amanda Sobhy in the quarterfinals 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 in 31 minutes.
Black Ball Women's Squash Open 2022 - QF Roundup: Joelle King vs Amanda Sobhy. Source / YouTube
Earlier in the open, King won a drama-filled second-round clash against Egyptian 20-year-old Farida Mohamed 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 11-13, 9-3, after her opponent was forced to concede the match following a knee injury.
The New Zealander was the only non-Egyptian in the semifinals and was beaten by Gohar in the semifinals of the Windy City Open in Chicago at the beginning of the month.