Wales number one Joel Makin - now inside World's top 10.

Joel Makin And Tesni Evans Come Through Second Round Tests At World Championships

Tesni Evans and Joel Makin are into the third round of the World Championships in Chicago after both came through tough battles.

Cardiff-born Evans came from one game down to beat Hong Kong’s Liu Tsz-Ling in the second round of the $500,000 women’s event.

No 10 seed Evans triumphed 10-12, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 in 37 minutes.

The 26-year-old, who is now based in Rhyl, will face England’s No 6 seed Sarah-Jane Perry for a place in the last eight at Union Station.

Evans, who is five places below Perry in the latest world rankings, beat her rival on the way to reaching the US Open semi-finals last October.

Tesni Evans. Pic: Simon King/Replay Images.

But Perry turned the tables at their last meeting in Hong Kong when she won a tense five-game battle in November.

Makin will face No 11 seed Saurav Ghosal of India in the men’s last 16 round as a reward for coming through an 82-minute marathon.

The 24-year-old from Haverfordwest won 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in a hard-fought second-round contest against Egypt’s Youssef Soliman.

It was the second five-game battle in a row for Makin who beat Hong Kong’s Yip Tsz Fung in the first round on his court comeback.

The Birmingham-based player is making his return after being forced out of the Tournament of Champions in New York in January with an ankle injury when leading No 6 seed Karim Abdel Gawad.

Makin is eight places below World No 11 Ghosal in the rankings after a successful few months before the injury struck.

 

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