Annie Au Wing-chi made history yesterday by becoming the first local player to reach the quarter-finals of the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open.
Au beat New Zealand world No 11 Joelle King 12-10, 2-11, 11-9, 11-6 at the Squash Centre to reach the next round where she will face Rachael Grinham, the veteran Australian world No 5, for a chance to play in the outdoor show court at the Cultural Centre piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui. In a tough-fought, occasionally bad-tempered match, Au had just enough to see off the challenge of the tall, powerful King in 58 minutes, recovering from an error-strewn second game in which she gifted her opponent point after point.
It caps a superb year for the 22-year-old, who broke into the world's top 10 for the first time in May and is currently ranked No 7.
'I feel very happy,' she said, smiling. 'I think today I played OK, but I put a bit too much pressure on myself. All my shots were hitting the tin and I made too many mistakes and let her come back into it after the first game. I just told myself to be relaxed, 'You've still got the chance to beat her just don't give up', and then I came back.
'I felt quite a lot of pressure because this was my best ever chance to make the quarter-finals. Everybody had that expectation I could be the first one to do it, so I felt it. But I have to thank the crowd who gave me so much support.
'The crowd was really important, they gave me so much encouragement, especially in the third game when I was 5-2 behind and they kept pushing and pushing me.'
Grinham edged a topsy-turvy five-game match against 12th seed Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand.