Cleveland Classic Day Two Round-Up: Ho Knocks World No.8 Perry Out To Book Quarter-Finals Spot

World No.36 Tomato Ho produced the biggest shock of round two of the Cleveland Classic as she dispatched World No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry to progress to the quarter-finals, claiming a 3-2 victory at the Cleveland Racquet Club.

Ho, who defeated Hana Ramadan yesterday to book her place in round two, came firing out of the blocks when she took the first game emphatically 11-3.

A slippy surface caused a brief pause in play, but that didn’t stop Perry levelling the match when she clinched the second 11-7.

Ho responded well again to regain the lead in the third, before Perry forced a decider when she took the fourth 11-6. With nothing separating the two for much of the final game, it was Ho who was able to pull away and cause an upset by dumping the No.4 seed out of the tournament.

“Last time I lost to her (Sarah-Jane Perry), so this time I just relaxed,” she said.

“I have to change my flight ticket as my flight is tomorrow morning! I’m so surprised that I won the first game 11-3 and it’s a perfect surprise.

“I think she might not have been ready for it as I had my match yesterday and she had a bye, so maybe she wasn’t ready.”

No.2 seed Amanda Sobhy avoided an early exit from the tournament as she managed to overcome a spirited fightback from Emily Whitlock to win 3-2.

Sobhy, the US No.1, looked to be cruising into the last eight when she claimed the first two games 11-9 and 11-1, but Whitlock provided the perfect riposte to going two games down with 11-4 and 12-10 victories. However Sobhy sealed the decider 11-5 to advance to the last eight.

“I think she (Emily Whitlock) played really well in the third and fourth,” said Sobhy afterwards.

“Her shots were firing and we’ve played before and she’s beaten me before when I was 2-0 up, so that was in the back of my mind.

“I told myself to find my targets in the fifth a bit more and relax, take the pace off and try to stretch her by taking it point by point. I’m just glad that I was able to keep the lead in the fifth and finish strong.”

Meanwhile, Olivia Clyne beat No.5 seed Nele Gilis, on the Belgian’s 250th match on the PSA World Tour, 3-1 to reach the quarter-finals, Tesni Evans overcame Alexandra Fuller and Olivia Fiechter saw off Hollie Naughton.

Defending champion Georgina Kennedy beat Melissa Alves to progress, and top seed Joelle King prevailed 3-0 against Jasmine Hutton.

The quarter-finals of the Cleveland Classic 2023 will be played on Friday February 3 at the Cleveland Racquet Club, with the action streamed live on psaworldtour.com

For more on the Cleveland Classic, you can visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

Results – Round Two: Cleveland Classic 2023

[1] Joelle King (NZL) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (33m)

[6] Olivia Fiechter (USA) bt Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-2: 6-11, 11-3, 11-2, 5-11, 11-8 (47m)

Olivia Clyne (USA) bt [5] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-1: 11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5 (43m)

[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 3-1: 11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8 (58m)

Tomato Ho (HKG) bt [4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-2: 11-3, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 (51m)

[7] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 3-1: 3-11, 14-12, 11-7, 15-13 (53m)

[8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-1 : 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 (44m)

[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Emily Whitlock (WAL) 3-2: 11-9, 11-1, 4-11, 10-12, 11-5 (45m)

Draw – Quarter-Finals: To be played February 3

[1] Joelle King (NZL) v [6] Olivia Fiechter (USA)

Olivia Clyne (USA) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)

Tomato Ho (HKG) v [7] Tesni Evans (WAL)

[8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v [2] Amanda Sobhy (USA)