Squash: King who would be queen

Joelle King. Photo / Richard Robinson

Commonwealth games double medallist Joelle King yesterday caused a huge upset - and continued her domination of champion Australian squash rival Rachael Grinham.

King, the 22-year-old sister of former All Black Regan King, burst on to the scene last year with her gold and silver medals in squash doubles.

But she is making her mark in world singles as well - as she showed by eliminating Grinham, the world No 5, from the Greenwich Open in New York yesterday. King upset the tournament top seed in four games to advance to the semifinals, where she will meet American Amanda Sohby.

The world No 18, from Cambridge, ensured an unexpectedly early exit for Grinham as she dismantled the Australian 6-11 11-7 11-9 14-12.

King is a four-time winner on the Wispa (Women's International Squash Players' Association) circuit, the last of them at last year's Australian Open.

She has had three-time British Open champion Grinham's number before, too, because she stunned the former world No 1 in the first round of the New Zealand Open in 2009 before tipping the Australian out of last year's Texas Open.

It was a bad day all round for the Grinham clan because Rachael's sister Natalie, who represents the Netherlands, was also directed to the exit door when the third seed was beaten by Sohby, who made the main draw via qualifying.

Sohby prevailed 10-12 11-8 11-9 11-7 to book her date against King.

King's progress in New York began in the first round when she saw off New Zealand team-mate Jaclyn Hawkes, who is ranked places above her.