Tesni Evans produced the biggest win of her career to send England’s No 1 seed Laura Massaro crashing out of the Commonwealth Games.

The Cardiff-born Rhyl-based Welsh squash sensation triumphed 3-1 to reach the semi-finals on Sunday where she will face another English opponent in Sarah-Jane Perry.

Evans’ win was her third in a row against her higher ranked opponent but she told Dai Sport that they did not come bigger than this one.

The 25-year-old said: “That was a huge match, probably the biggest match I’ve ever played yet.

“In an arena like that, the Commonwealth Games, that was a massive, massive match.

“I have got a really big desire to do well so it comes naturally for me to be quite fired up all the time.”

Evans, ranked No 12 in the world as opposed to Massaro, No 7, raced into a two game lead winning 11-8, 11-8 at the Oxenford Studios.

Massaro pulled one game back winning the third 11-5.

But Evans drew on her two previous victories against her rival – including on her way to the British title – to triumph 15-13 in a tetchy fourth game.

Evans had three match points before sealing the killer point to the delight of a huge Welsh contingent in the crowd.

She added: “I don’t know what she is thinking but maybe my style doesn’t suit her.

“I’ve tried to build on the last couple of times I’ve played her, but it’s never easy. She is the toughest player to play by a mile on the tour.

“Beating her the last two times was a big help, I knew it would be close but I think it gave me the edge towards the end.

“It was tense. I was so near the finish line and she was trying not to let me get there.

“It always happens in matches when it gets that close.

“It did feel a bit tense out there, but it was England v Wales. I looked at the back of the court at some point and there were a lot of Welsh people and a lot in the crowd.

“Being Welsh, against England it’s always our biggest rivalry and we don’t have the whole package England get so we fight for our lives and that’s what I did.

Massaro had beaten Evans in their five previous encounters before suffering the three successive defeats.

She said: “It is an uphill battle from 2-0 down and I didn’t execute things right. I found my way back a little but by that point she was just a little bit more confident.

“She has improved a lot but sometimes these lower rank girls have an improvement and it takes a few matches for you to play them to realise the improvements they have made.

“The Tesni that I played a year-and-a-half ago isn’t the Tesni that I’m playing now.”

Evans will now face world No 8 Perry in the semis knowing she is edging closer to becoming the British No 1.

She added: “I don’t think I’ve ever beaten her and we’ve played quite a lot.

“She is a very good player, it will be another tough opponent which I’ll have to think about tonight.

“But winning a match like that against the favourite will give me a lot of confidence going into the next round.

“I am going to give it everything.”
Endig