Dream fulfilled as Joey Chan takes centre stage at the Hong Kong Squash Open
- Home favourite earns the right to play in the state-of-the-art glass court
- But she has a huge task ahead of her as she takes on Egypt’s No 2 seed Raneem El Welily

Joey Chan Ho-ling has earned the right to take centre stage after reaching the quarter-finals of the Everbright Sun Hung Kai Hong Kong Open.
Chan fulfilled her dream of playing on the glass court and that’s a big deal for her having been banished to the uninspiring and characterless outside courts, which has been home to her for years.
On Friday, the 30-year-old Hong Kong favourite will mix it with the best after sending Egypt’s Yathreb Adel packing with a 3-1 victory (11-2, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) in just 34 minutes at the Squash Centre in Admiralty. Victory earned her the right to play in front of a much larger audience. Around 600 spectators will be on hand to watch her in action and she can’t wait to show her worth.

“This is the first time I beat [Yathreb] Adel in three meetings. I lost my previous two meetings against her so I’m just happy I did it today,” said the world number 19, who became Hong Kong’s sole survivor after Yip Tze-fung was beaten in the men’s last 16. “It’s not easy to beat an upcoming player like Adel. Her game is very deceptive typical of the Egyptian players.”
Chan said she had done her homework and had been quietly confident of getting one over her opponent.