As the second seed, the 26-year-old from Kempen was eliminated in the first round. In the second round she defeated Germany’s Saskia Beinhardt (PSA 69) in three sets (11-5, 11-4 and 11-6). In the last eight, Gilis will face the winner of the match between Malaysia’s Aina Amani (PSA 63) and Hong Kong’s seventh seed Tsz-Wing Tong (PSA 46).
On Wednesday, top seed Nele Gilis (PSA 5) qualified for the quarter-finals with a three-set (11-4, 11-7 and 11-8) win over Malaysia’s Low Wee Vern (PSA 79). She will face fifth seed Lucy Beecroft (PSA 28) of England on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.
The Gillis sisters are the two top-ranked players in New Zealand after losses to American Amanda Sobie (PSA 4) and New Zealand titleholder Joel King (PSA 8). Both players are battling injuries.
Last week, Nele Gillis reached the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open Squash, a PSA World Tour event with a platinum label ($190,000). In November she won the Singapore Open (PSA World Tour Gold/$112,500) in the final defeating sister Tin.
The New Zealand Open is the last leg of the PSA World Tour before the season finale Masters Squash. Eight players of the year can participate. The tournament is traditionally held in June of the following year. Nelle Gillis is currently ranked fourth in the Masters rankings, while Tinne Gillis is ranked seventh.
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