Rachel, Aira upset top Egypt players to reach China Open semis

PETALING JAYA: National squash players Rachel Arnold and Aira Azman will take on each other in the semi-finals of the China Open after stunning their respective Egypt opponents.

The world No. 30 Rachel delivered a power-packed performance to stun top seed and world No. 8 Rowan Elaraby of Egypt 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 in the last 16 at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Centre in Shanghai.

It was her third victory over the Egyptian in their six meetings, following two consecutive defeats in the US and Singapore Opens in 2022.

World No. 35 Aira was stretched to the limit by Egypt’s world No. 20 Sana Ibrahim before triumphing 2-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-3, 11-6 in another quarter-finals match.

Rachel will be looking to maintain her fine run in the tournament, while Aira will be eager to end her winless streak against her compatriot, who has triumphed in their previous meetings – Malaysia Squash Tour V in 2018, SRAM PSA 7 (2021) and Ace Malaysia Squash Cup (2023).

“Aira will be playing with no pressure too,” said Rachel.

“She is a young and upcoming player, but I think it’ll be a good match.”