City of Greater Shepparton International: Heo Stuns No.2 Seed Joshi to Reach Semi Finals

Korea’s Mingyeong Heo is through to the sei finals of the City of Greater Shepparton International after coming from behind to shock No.2 seed Urwashi Joshi of India.

With a 62-place gap in the rankings between the pair, there was little surprise when World No.131 Joshi took the lead with an 11-8 win in game one.

Heo, however, responded brilliantly, dominating the next two games to move into the lead with 11-3, 11-4 victories, before completing the comeback with an 11-8 win in the fourth game.

The 27-year-old will face Japan’s Risa Sugimoto after the No.5 seed came back from a game down to beat Korea’s Yura Choe.

In the other semi final, Malaysian top seed Yasshmita Jadishkumar will face unseeded Australian Sze Yu Lee, with Jadishkumar beating Australian No.6 seed Erin Classen 3-1 and Lee overcoming compatriot and wildcard Courtney Scholtz 3-0.

In the men’s draw, the top four seeds progressed to the semi final.

No.1 seed Rowan Damming was forced to do things the hard way by New Zealand’s Joel Arscott, recovering from going a game down to win 3-1. He’ll face No.3 seed Ravindu Saksiri of Sri Lanka, who mounted a comeback of his own to come from 0-1 and 1-2 down to win 3-2 against Australian wildcard Benjamin Ratcliffe.

In the other semi final, New Zealand’s No.2 seed Temwa Chileshe beat France’s Brice Nicolas 3-0 to set up a meeting with French No.4 seed Laouenan Loaec, who overcame Denmark’s Theis Houlberg in a tight encounter.

You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook.

Results – City of Greater Shepparton International 2023 Men’s QF
[1] Rowan Damming (NED) bt [6] Joel Arscott (NZL) 3-1: 5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 (50m)
[2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt [8] Brice Nicolas (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (42m)
[3] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI) bt [WC] Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) 3-2: 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2 (53m)
[4] Laouenan Loaec (FRA) bt [7] Theis Houlberg (DEN) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10 (49m)

Draw –City of Greater Shepparton International 2023 Men’s SF
[1] Rowan Damming (NED) v [3] Ravindu Laksiri (SRI)
[4] Laouenan Loaec (FRA) v [2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL)

Results – City of Greater Shepparton International 2023 Women’s QF
[1] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt [6] Erin Classen (AUS) 3-1: 5-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (31m)
[7] Mingyeong Heo (KOR) bt [2] Urwashi Joshi (IND) 3-1: 8-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8 (24m)
Sze Yu Lee (AUS) bt [WC] Courtney Scholtz (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-7 (18m)
[5] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) bt Yura Choe (KOR) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (36m)

Draw – City of Greater Shepparton International 2023 Women’s SF
[1] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) v Sze Yu Lee (AUS)
[5] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) v [7] Mingyeong Heo (KOR)