Auckland Open Day 2: Harrison and Hodges Into Semis

It was a lengthy day of action at the North Shore Squash Club on Friday, with three sessions of matches taking place.

Come the close of play, defending champion Lana Harrison and No.6 seed Sophie Hodges had both caused upsets to reach the last four of the women’s Challenger 3 level competition.

Harrison, who won this event as an unseeded player in 2022, knocked out No.2 seed Winona-Jo Joyce on Friday evening. She lost the second game on a tie-break, but then dropped just a single point in the third, before taking the victory in four games. She will now face No.4 seed Abbie Palmer in the semis on Saturday.

In the top half of the women’s draw, No.6 seed Hodges downed No.3 seed Ella Lash in the last eight. The two Kiwis went the distance, with Hodges fighting back after being two games down. She was brilliant in the latter stages of the match, winning in five to set up a clash with top seed Alex Haydon, after the Australian downed Holly Shuja in three.

Twelve matches took place in the men’s event on Friday, with the second round and quarter finals all being held in one day. There were a couple of surprises in the last 16, with Hong Kong’s Wailok To and Japan’s Naoki Hayashi both knocking out seeds to reach the quarter finals.

Their runs in Auckland would come to an end in the last eight though, as the pair were knocked out by Japan’s Tomotaka Endo and New Zealand’s Temwa Chileshe, with those two set to meet in the last four. The other semi-final will see Temwa’s older brother Lwamba take on Australia’s Joseph White for a place in the final. 

The semi-finals of the event will be played on Saturday, May 20 at the North Shore Squash Club in Auckland, New Zealand. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Action from the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland/Oceania Open will be streamed live on the Squash Auckland Facebook page. 

Men’s Second Round Results: Barfoot & Thompson Auckland/Oceania Open
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Jaejin Yoo (KOR) 3-2: 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4
[6] Anthony Lepper (NZL) bt Ho Ka Hei (HKG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-7
[8] Elijah Thomas (NZL) bt Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) 3-1: 9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8
[3] Joseph White (AUS) bt Mason Smales (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-8
Wailok To (HKG) bt [4] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-8
[5] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt William Donnelly (NZL) 3-1: 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8
Naoki Hayashi (JPN) bt [7] Andes Ling (HKG) 3-2: 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-4
[2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt Lam Shing Fung (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5

Men’s Quarter Final Results: Barfoot & Thompson Auckland/Oceania Open
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt [6] Anthony Lepper (NZL) 3-1: 11-6, 4-11, 11-5, 11-5
[3] Joseph White (AUS) bt [8] Elijah Thomas (NZL) 3-1: 11-9, 11-6, 14-16, 13-11
[5] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt Wailok To (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-8
[2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt Naoki Hayashi (JPN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-7

Men’s Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, May 20
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) v [3] Joseph White (AUS)
[5] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) v [2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL)

Women’s Quarter Final Results: Barfoot & Thompson Auckland/Oceania Open
[1] Alex Haydon (AUS) bt Holly Shuja (NZL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-5
[6] Sophie Hodges (NZL) bt [3] Ella Lash (NZL) 3-2: 7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-9
[4] Abbie Palmer (NZL) bt [7] Maiden-Lee Coe (NZL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-4
Lana Harrison (NZL) bt [2] Winona-Jo Joyce (NZL) 3-1: 11-7, 10-12, 11-1, 14-12

Women’s Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, May 20
[1] Alex Haydon (AUS) v [6] Sophie Hodges (NZL)
[4] Abbie Palmer (NZL) v Lana Harrison (NZL)