Tesni Sails Through But Joel Bows Out After Hong Kong Epic

Tesni Evans took just  29 minutes to come through her second round match at the $164,500 Hong Kong Open.

But Joel Makin’s run was ended in the second round after a marathon battle against England’s Declan James that lasted 85 minutes – the longest of the tournament so far.

Evans, the world No 9 but seeded 12 for the event at the Hong Kong  Squash Centre, saw off Gloucester’s Julianne Courtice 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 in just 29 minutes.

The Cardiff-born, Rhyl-based player will now face old rival and No 8 seed Sarah-Jane Perry in the third round.

Evans beat England’s Perry for the first time on her way to an historic appearance in the US Open in Philadelphia last month.

The world No 6 from Birmingham needed four sets to see off Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy (8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8) in 40 minutes in her second round encounter.

The seeded duo had both been given first round byes.

Haverfordwest-born Makin took a 2-1 lead in sets against James after winning the first 16-14 and third 11-8.

But James – ranked 14 places higher than Birmingham-based Makin at 16 in the world – came though the fierce scrap after winning the final two sets 11-6, 11-8 with Evans, pictured below, watching her countryman from the stands.

Longest match of the tournament so far sees @declanjames1 come through …

Declan James (Eng) 3-2 Joel Makin (Wal)   14-16, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8 (85m) pic.twitter.com/BbcU8MmFjP

— HK Squash (@HKsquash) November 20, 2018