Massaro and Waters exit Women's World Championships

Two of the four English players left in the 2017 Women’s World Championships played their second round matches today - but neither Laura Massaro nor Alison Waters will play any further part in the competition after bowing out 3-1 to Tesni Evans and Nouran Gohar.

The exit of England’s No. 1 and World No. 4 Massaro was the shock of the competition to date, as an inspired performance by Welsh No. 1 Evans saw her prevail over four games that lasted more than an hour and a quarter.

25-year-old Evans - a dozen world ranking places below 2013 World Champion Massaro - upset the odds from the outset by winning the first game 11-5 in just nine minutes. She then doubled her advantage by claiming the second 11-8, albeit over twice the duration.

Massaro dug deep after going 9-6 down in the third, to win 11-9 and halve the arrears - before a 23-minute fourth game, punctuated by lets, strokes and two video decisions, saw Evans edge victory 13-11 on her fourth match point with an exquisitely tight front-of-court shot.

There was no disguising Evans’ delight at reaching the quarter -inals for the first time - a feat not achieved by a Welshman since Alex Gough 10 years ago. But for a disappointed Massaro, departure from the Championships represents the first time that the 34-year-old has failed to reach the last eight in ten years. Evans said,

“I kept on wondering throughout the match if today would be my day - and it was.”

“I had quite a lot of control in the first two games. But by the end of the third, I was edgy to the max and Laura wasn’t giving me anything.”

Just as that match had pitted the English and Welsh No. 1s against each other, the earlier tie between a pair of national No. 3s went the way of Egypt, as Waters was defeated by Gohar.

With five world ranking places separating the two players, 20-year-old World No. 5 Gohar established an early advantage by shading a tight first game 12-10 - but Waters got back on level terms after putting her opponent under greater pressure to claim the second 11-8.

Gohar responded with a brilliant mix of aggressive drives and tight boasts to race home 11-2 in the third with some comfort. And, despite a battling fightback by Waters, a closely-fought fourth game - featuring three player reviews and a video decision - also went the way of the young Egyptian 11-8.

“It was a very, very tough match,” said Gohar, who has reached the semi -finals of the last two World Championships.

“Alison is very experienced, and I have so much respect for her. We have the same type of game, as we like to hit the ball hard and put pace on it - so there were lots of long rallies.”

World No. 10 Waters, 33, was philosophical in defeat, after falling in the Second Round for the third successive World Championship.

“After two close games, I wasn’t quite consistent in the middle of the match,” she said.

“You can’t afford to play anything loose against Nouran, as she’ll put it away.

“But I’ve really enjoyed playing in front of a home crowd. Hopefully I’ll come back next year and put a good show on.”

England’s hopes are now pinned on Sarah-Jane Perry and Victoria Lust, who play in the second round tomorrow against, respectively, Joelle King and Raneem El Welily.

Results

[5] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [10] Alison Waters (ENG): 3-1 12-10, 8-11, 11-2, 11-8 (50m)

[16] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [4] Laura Massaro (ENG): 3-1 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11 (77m)