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Australian Open Doubles
Championships 2009
08-10 July,
Melbourne |
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Men's
Final:
[1] Cameron Pilley/Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt [2] Martin
Knight/Campbell Grayson (Nzl) 11-9, 11-8
Women's Final:
[1] Shelley Kitchen/Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) bt [2] Kasey
Brown/Amelia Pittock (Aus) 11-9, 11-3
Mixed Final:
[1] Campbell Grayson/Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [6]
Matthew Karwalski/Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Aus)
10-11, 11-2,
11-8 |
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10-Jul, Finals:
Pilley and Boswell prevent
Kiwi clean sweep
Andrew Dent reports
Top seeds Cameron Pilley and Stewart Boswell salvaged some
pride for Australia after they beat New Zealand pair Martin
Knight and Campbell Grayson in straight games to take out
the men’s trophy at the Australian Open Doubles squash
championships in Melbourne on Friday.
After New Zealand combinations won the mixed and women’s
titles, the experienced pair of Pilley and Boswell prevented
a Kiwi clean sweep with a hard fought 11-9, 11-8 victory.
Earlier, New Zealand number one Shelley Kitchen added the
women’s and mixed doubles titles to her 2007 Australian Open
singles crown.
She teamed with Grayson to take the mixed event with a
10-11, 11-2, 11-8 win over Matthew Karwalski and Sarah Fitz-Gerald,
before claiming the women’s title alongside Jaclyn Hawkes,
beating Kasey Brown and Amelia Pittock 11-9, 11-3.
Both Australia and New Zealand used the tournament to give
their players some doubles experience.
Australian Commonwealth Games head coach Byron Davis said
the Australian players had acquitted themselves well against
strong New Zealand opposition.
“Sarah and Matt had their chances – they were up 6-0 in the
third but made too many mistakes and let it slip away,” he
said.
“Shelley and Jaclyn were just too dominant and had too much
experience for Kasey and Amelia, but from our point of view
they (the New Zealanders) are a very experienced team.
“Stewart and Cameron played particularly well to beat Martin
and Campbell in straight games.”
Davis said the championships were vital for the preparations
for the 2010 Commonwealth Games as it allowed the coaches to
try out different combinations.
He said while the New Zealand pairings were almost certainly
the ones that would play in Delhi next year, the Australians
were able to try out new partnerships and see how they
gelled.
“We’re very much in a rebuilding phase so we wanted to see
how the players performed,” he said.
“It showed that we still have just a little bit of work to
do in women’s doubles, but overall we were happy with how
they went.”
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Day Two
Results:
Men's Semi-Finals:
Pilley-Boswell (AUS) bt Arnold-Alexander (AUS)
11/10, 10/11, 11/7
Knight-Grayson (NZL) bt Frankcomb-Cuskelly (AUS)
9/11, 11/6, 11/10
Women's Semi-Finals:
Kitchen-Hawkes (NZL) bt Leevey-Heta (NZL)
11/8, 7/11, 11/7
Brown-Pittock (AUS) bt Camilleri-Urquhart (AUS)
11/2, 11/9
Mixed Semi-Finals:
Grayson-Kitchen (NZL) bt Cuskelly-Brown (AUS)
6/11, 11/5, 11/8
Karwalski-Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt Alexander-Martin (AUS)
11/0, 11/4 |
09-Jul:
Trans-Tasman rivalry on show
in Melbourne ...
Andrew Dent reports
The Australian Open
Doubles squash championships have developed into a
Trans-Tasman showdown with all three finals to feature
Australian combinations against their New Zealand
counterparts.
In what could well be a preview to the 2010 Commonwealth
Games, the cream of the two countries’ squash doubles teams
rose to the top to ensure three top quality finals.
In the men’s final, top seeds Cameron Pilley and Stewart
Boswell face Kiwi duo Martin Knight and Campbell Grayson,
the number two seeds.
The experienced pair of Pilley and Boswell were taken all
the way by younger rivals Scott Arnold and Zac Alexander
before prevailing 11-10, 10-11, 11-7, while Knight and
Grayson were pushed equally hard by Aaron Frankcomb and Ryan
Cuskelly before winning 9-11, 11-6, 11-10.
The women’s final also features the top two pairs, with
Kiwis Shelley Kitchen and Jaclyn Hawkes to play Kasey Brown
and Amelia Pittock.
The two pairs reached the final in contrasting style, with
the top seeded Kitchen and Hawkes struggling against
unheralded countrywomen Tamsyn Leevey and Lara Heta,
winning11-8, 7-11, 11-7.
On the other hand Brown and Pittock looked in great touch as
they downed Australian teammates Donna Urquhart and Lisa
Camilleri 11-2, 11-9.
Meanwhile Sarah Fitz-Gerald won the battle of the legends as
she and partner Matthew Karwalski outplayed Michelle Martin
and Zac Alexander 11-0, 11-4 in the mixed semi-finals.
Fitz-Gerald and Karwalski will take on top seeds Kitchen and
Grayson after the two Kiwis beat Brown and Cuskelly 6-11,
11-5, 11-8.
Three Trans-Tasman Finals
Gary Denvir reports
Trans-Tasman pride will be on the line at the Australian
Open Doubles Championships in Melbourne tomorrow.
The men's women's and mixed finals will all be contested by
a New Zealand and an Australian combination, with the top
seeds still on target to win all three events.
New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen and Jaclyn Hawkes are safely
through to the final of the women's event, after beating
fellow kiwis 2-1 in the semis. They will face second seeded
Aussies Kasey Brown and Amelia Pittock in the decider.
Kitchen is also involved in the mixed doubles final, teaming
up with Campbell Grayson to take on 6th seeds Matthew
Kawalski and Sarah Fitz-Gerald.
Grayson also has a busy schedule, joining Martin Knight in
the men's final against top seeded Aussies Cameron Pilley
and Stewart Boswell.
New Zealand high performance coach Anthony Ricketts says the
players have stepped up a gear from their opening day
efforts. "There has definitely been a big improvement today,
and to have teams in all three finals is exactly what we
were hoping for."
Ricketts says the time together on court is valuable for the
players with next year's Commonwealth Games in mind. "The
more competitive matches they play, the more they will get
used to the nuances of each others games and that could make
all the difference at the Games in India."
The finals get underway at 2:15 tomorrow (NZT)
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Day One Results
Men
Women
Mixed
Day One Results
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08-Jul:
Legends show how it’s done
Andrew Dent reports
Australian squash legends Michelle Martin and Sarah Fitz-Gerald
showed they had lost none of their class as they won through
to the mixed semi-finals of the Australian Open Doubles
championships in Melbourne on Wednesday.
And in a further twist either Martin, 42, or Fitz-Gerald,
40, are guaranteed a place in the final, with the two to
face off in Thursday’s semis.
Martin teamed with 20-year-old Queenslander Zac Alexander
to beat second seeds Cameron Pilley from New South Wales and
Victoria’s Amelia Pittock 11-10, 9-11, 11-7 in the
quarter-finals, before Fitz-Gerald and Matthew Karwalski
downed third seeded New Zealand pair Martin Knight and
Jaclyn Hawkes 10-11, 11-10, 11-4.
Martin and Fitz-Gerald are two of the most decorated players
in Australian squash history.
Between them they have eight World Open titles, eight
British Opens and four Commonwealth Games gold medals.
Both are in the World and Australian Squash Halls of Fame,
and they are both part of the all-conquering Australian
women’s team of the 1990s, which was this year inducted into
the Australian Sport Hall of Fame.
“I’m pretty tired – I’m not moving too well at the moment,”
Martin said. “I must admit I’m pretty surprised and I think
Sarah is too. I’m only playing because Zac didn’t have
anyone to play with so I thought it wouldn’t be right if he
missed out.”
Fitz-Gerald said she was looking forward to renewing old
rivalries with Martin.
“It should be great fun – a bit of a laugh,” she said.
“We’re sharing a room this week and we’re going out tonight
with the men’s Commonwealth Games squad, so I’d better keep
an eye on her.”
There was a minor upset in the men’s draw when fifth seeds
Alexander and Scott Arnold downed fourth seeded Wade
Johnstone and Mike Corren, but the three top seeded men’s
pairs got safely through, while there was only one first
round women’s match, with New Zealand pair Tamsyn Leevey
and Lara Heta beating Victoria’s Melody Francis and
Queensland’s Zoe Petrovansky 11-4, 11-4.
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08-Jul:
Mixed day for Kiwis in Melbourne
Gary Denvir reports
Three of the four kiwi pairings are still in the hunt for
their respective events, including mixed doubles top seeds
Shelley Kitchen and Campbell Grayson. After a first
up bye, the title favourites cruised into the semi-finals
with an 11-4 11-10 11-0 demolition of Aussie duo Steve
Finitsis and Lisa Camilleri. Kitchen and Grayson will play
fourth seeded Australians Ryan Cuskelly and Kasey Brown
in the last four.
However, fellow kiwis Martin Knight and Jaclyn Hawkes have
been knocked out of the mixed doubles event. The third seeds
have been upset in four by trans-Tasman rivals Matthew
Kawalski and Sarah Fitz-Gerald.
In the women's event, Shelley Kitchen and Jaclyn Hawkes
had the benefit of a bye in the first round and will face
fellow kiwis Tamsyn Leevey and Lara Heta in the
semi-finals. Leevey and Heta are through after a straight
games victory over Australians Melody Francis and Zoe
Petrovansky.
The second seeded pairing of Martin Knight and Campbell
Grayson also had a straight-forward first up win in the
men's doubles, thrashing Aussies Steve Finitsis and Luke
Forster 11-6 11-3 11-0.
New Zealand high performance coach Anthony Ricketts
is happy with the players efforts, describing the day as a
good learning curve:
"It was a whole new experience for Martin and Campbell in
the mixed doubles - they have both played a lot of doubles
in men's competitions but there are subtle difference in the
mixed game and they should both take plenty out of today's
matches".
He says the draw was the undoing of Knight and Leevey. "It
was a pretty tough ask to come up against Sarah Fitz-Gerald
and Matthew Kawalski first up - Sarah is still a great
player and can definitely hold her own in the doubles game."
The semi-finals get underway at midday (NZT) on Thursday.
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About
...
The 2009 Australian Open Doubles Championships, played on
full size doubles courts, will be held at the Melbourne
Sports & Aquatic Centre from 8—10 July. Doubles squash is
played on a court 2002mm wider than the standard squash
court.
From 2010, nine doubles medals will be up for grabs at each
Commonwealth Games and suddenly doubles squash has become a
major focus. The game is enjoying a wave of popularity in
the United States and is a strong contender for inclusion in
the 2016 Olympic Games.
With the Victorian Open in Melbourne the weekend prior and
the Australian Open to be held in South Australia the week
following, the Doubles Championship is in a great position
to attract Australia’s top players as well as a number of
international teams.
With the 2010 Commonwealth Games looming on the horizon it
is an excellent opportunity for some first class match
practice. The nation’s best doubles squash players will
demonstrate the speed, spectacular shot making and
breathtaking reflexes that distinguish doubles squash as one
of the world’s truly unique and exciting spectator sports.
Finals for all events will be played on Friday evening 10
July from 6.30pm. A player autograph session (for the kids)
and wine tasting (for the parents) will be held at 6.00pm
prior to the finals. Come on down and catch all the action -
admission is free!
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Day One
Results:
Men First round:
7-Steve Finitsis/Luke Forster (Qld)
bt Peter Taylor/Jake Alexander (Qld) 7-11, 11-6, 11-5
8-Steven Robinson/Rex Hedrick (Vic) bt Greg Paine/Brad Kemp
(Vic) 11-5, 11-0
Quarter-finals
1-Cameron Pilley (NSW)/Stewart Boswell (ACT) bt 8-Steven
Robinson/Rex Hedrick (Vic) 11-5, 11-9
2-Martin Knight/Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt 7-Steve
Finitsis/Luke Forster (Qld) 11-6, 11-3
3-Aaron Frankcomb (Tas)/Ryan Cuskelly (NSW) bt 6-Matthew
Karwalski (NSW)/Nathan Stevenson (Qld) 11-4, 10-11, 11-7
5-Scott Arnold (NSW)/Zac Alexander (Qld) bt 4-Wade Johnstone
(Vic)/Mike Corren (SA) 7-11, 11-9, 11-7
Women First round
5-Tamsyn Leevey/Lara Heta (NZL) bt 4-Melody Francis
(Vic)/Zoe Petrovansky (Qld) 11-4, 11-4
Mixed First round
6-Matthew Karwalski (NSW)/Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Vic) bt
Josh Cardwell/Sarah Cardwell (Vic) 11-7, 11-3
Zac Alexander/Michelle Martin (Qld) bt 7-Scott Arnold (NSW)/Zoe
Petrovansky (Qld) 11-9, 11-6
8-Steve Finitsis/Lisa Camilleri (Qld) bt Wade
Johnstone/Melody Francis (Vic) 11-3, 11-7
Quarter-finals
1-Campbell Grayson/Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt 8-Steve
Finitsis/Lisa Camilleri (Qld) 11-4, 11-10
Zac Alexander/Michelle Martin (Qld) bt 2-Cameron Pilley
(NSW)/Amelia Pittock (Vic) 11-10, 9-11, 11-7
6-Matthew Karwalski (NSW)/Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Vic) bt
3-Martin Knight/Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 10-11, 11-10, 11-4
4-Ryan Cuskelly/Kasey Brown (NSW) bt 5-Aaron Frankcomb (Tas)/Donna
Urquhart (NSW) 11-6, 11-6
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