Waikato squash player Joelle King has been defeated in the third round of the US Open Squash Championships in Philadelphia this morning.
King, ranked 5th in the world, lost to World No. 12, Tesni Evans from Wales.
At the start of the match King was ahead, winning the first two games.
However, Evans stormed back in the last three games to knock out King and book her place in the quarter-finals.
Evans has been described as a “real fighter” and had been part of the Welsh team which trained in New Zealand prior to the Commonwealth Games, where she won a bronze medal.
The close friends had only played each other three times previously.
At the start of the competition, King had a bye in her first round. In 2017 she reached the semi-finals at the event.
King will next play in the Hong Kong Open next month.