Annie Au Wing-chi will fulfil a lifelong dream this evening when she steps into the outdoor glass court at the Cultural Centre piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui to take on world No1 Nicol David in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Squash Open.
Having become the first local player to reach the quarter-finals of the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial event, Au went one better yesterday after a superb five-game win over third seed Rachael Grinham, the former world No1 and world champion.
'It's the best win of my career, it's the first time I've got into the semis of a Gold 60 event, so I'm so happy,' said Au, who recovered from 2-1 down to dominate the last two games and beat the veteran Australian 8-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-4 in front a packed crowd at the Squash Centre.
It briefly looked like Joey Chan Ho-ling would join her in the last four as she bravely fought back from two games down against Raneem El Weleily, but the Egyptian world N8 edged the fifth to win 11-7, 11-3, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8.
'I'm really looking forward to playing in the glass court,' said world No7 Au. 'I've been wishing to play there for years, watching it in Tsim Sha Tsui and Hollywood Plaza. I'm from Hong Kong and to play in front of the Hong Kong people is a great honour.
'I used to go when I was younger to Hollywood Plaza to watch and it was always a dream. I like playing in glass courts anyway, and it's so special to have it there near the harbour. Now we've got to make some plans, my family didn't expect I would get to the semi-final, so they haven't bought any tickets.'
The only cloud on the horizon is that if it rains, matches will be moved to the Squash Centre. Organisers will decide in the afternoon.