Joelle King Wins Hong Kong Open

A career-best win for Kiwi squash professional and current Commonwealth Games champ, Joelle King.

The world No.7 won the Hong Kong Open yesterday evening beating the world No.2 Raneem El Welily of Egypt for her first Platinum rated tournament victory.

Thirty-year-old King from the Waikato seemed to play with a completely focused attitude on court winning the first game with ease 11-4 in just nine minutes, however the second game was a real battle with scores locked at 10-10 before the Kiwi came through 12-10. The final game had the Egyptian looking strong and taking the lead on several occasions as the players then traded game points. Eventually King held strong on a number of lets to win the third game 19-17 for a total match time of 48 minutes.

The win means King becomes the fourth New Zealand woman to win the prestigious title in Hong Kong. She joins Dame Susan Devoy, Leilani Rorani and Carol Owens as winners.