|
|
 Australian
Closed Championships 2009
06-08 June, Brisbane |
08-Jun:
Alexander & Urquhart take maiden
titles
Andrew Dent reports
Finals:
[3] Zac Alexander (Qld) bt [5] Craig Rowland (Qld)
4-11, 11-7, 13-11,
11-9
[1] Donna Urquhart (NSW) bt [2] Lisa Camilleri (Qld)
13-11, 6-11, 11-6,
11-8
Zac Alexander and Donna
Urquhart claimed their first national senior titles when
they took out the men’s and women’s trophies at the
Australian Closed Squash Championships in Brisbane on
Monday.
Alexander saw off the challenge of veteran Queenslander
Craig Rowland while Urquhart beat a determined Lisa
Camilleri.
Alexander, the 20-year-old from Brisbane, is the reigning
Australian junior champion and was facing a player 18 years
his senior in Monday’s decider.
Rowland has not played on the professional tour for over two
years but he was once ranked as high as seven in the world
and that class was evident on his way to the final as he
downed fourth seed Steve Finitsis and top ranked Scott
Arnold along the way.
He started well against Alexander and another upset looked
on the cards when he took the first game, but he relaxed at the start of the second, allowing
Alexander the first seven points and although he fought back
he left it too late and the third seed levelled at one game
apiece.
Alexander started strongly in both the third and fourth as
he began to move Rowland all over the court.
Rowland never gave up but he slowed down as the match wore
on and wasn’t able to put the pressure on his younger
opponent, eventually succumbing in four gruelling games.
“He started pretty well and put it all into the first game,
trying to put me off,” Alexander said.
“I steadied the ship after the first and figured out what I
was trying to do. I tried to work him around a bit more and
get him tired.
“He’s such a good player from years ago – I mean all that
experience means he’s never going to give up, he’ll always
try different things to outsmart me. For instance he started talking to me in the fourth game to
try and distract me, but I knew that was coming.”
Rowland conceded Sunday’s five game semi-final win over
Arnold had taken its toll.
“I felt quite good coming in this morning but I was probably
one or two steps too slow,” he said.
“Probably not playing too many matches recently counted
against me but I can’t be disappointed – this is my first
tournament in two years and I made the final.”
Urquhart went into the tournament in a rich vein of form,
having won two titles already in 2009 and making the main
draw of the Seoul Open earlier in the week, where she pushed
second seed Rachael Grinham all the way in a first round
defeat.
She somehow won the first game in Monday’s final after
facing six game balls at 4-10 and although Camilleri fought
back to win the next game, Urquhart controlled the play in
the third and fourth.
She said she was fortunate to get away with a win,
especially after her slow start.
“I was so lucky to win that first game,” she said.
“I had a terrible start, it took me to get to game ball down
to stop hitting stupid shots.
“I just kept it together and she made a few errors. In that
first game I just hung in there and got lucky. The second game there were a few errors and I got sucked
into trying to hit the ball too hard, but once I started to
play at my pace and slow down a bit I started getting the
ball to the back of the court and getting it where I wanted
it, and I started controlling the rallies.”
Camilleri was left shaking her head at letting the first
game slip when she seemed to have it in the bag.
“I got to game ball and just changed my game plan,” she
said.
“I started going cross court and going for shots when I
didn’t do that to get to 10-4.
“I kind of lost the plot a little bit and Donna caught up,
and then she got a bit of a roll on – it’s hard to keep
momentum after that.”
|
|
Men's Semi-finals:
5-Craig Rowland (Qld) bt 1-Scott Arnold (NSW) 12-10,
7-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-5
3-Zac Alexander (Qld) bt 2-Matthew Karwalski (NSW) 9-11,
11-4, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3
Quarters:
1-Scott Arnold (NSW) bt Sam Fife (Qld) 11-7, 11-3,
11-7
5-Craig Rowland (Qld) bt 4-Steve Finitsis (Qld) 11-3,
11-8, 11-8
3-Zac Alexander (Qld bt 6-Jake Alexander (Qld) 11-7,
11-8, 11-5
2-Matthew Karwalski (NSW) bt 7-Ben Werchon (SA) 6-11,
11-3, 11-2, 11-3
First round:
1-Scott Arnold (NSW) bt Matt Hilton (Qld)
11-4, 11-8, 11-6
Sam Fife (Qld) bt 8-Wes Cusick (NSW)
11-8, 11-5, 11-9
5-Craig Rowland (Qld) bt Courtenay West (Qld)
11-7, 11-4, 11-6
4-Steve Finitsis (Qld) bt Kevin Ryan (NSW)
11-3, 11-5, 11-4
6-Jake Alexander (Qld) bt Harry Londy (Qld)
11-3, 11-9, 11-4
3-Zac Alexander (Qld bt Alex Gough (NSW)
11-2, 11-2, 11-2
7-Ben Werchon (SA) bt Adam Morgan (Qld)
11-8, 13-15, 11-9, 11-9
2-Matthew Karwalski (NSW) bt Ben Harris (Qld)
11-6, 11-3, 11-4
Women's Semi-finals
1-Donna Urquhart (NSW) bt 4-Jane Kennedy (NSW)
8-11, 8-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-2
2-Lisa Camilleri (Qld) bt 3-Melody Francis (Vic)
11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6
First round
1-Donna Urquhart (NSW) bye
4-Jane Kennedy (NSW) bt Zoe Petrovansky (Qld)
11-1, 11-5, 11-5
3-Melody Francis (Vic) bt Sue Williams (Qld)
11-0, 11-7, 11-5
2-Lisa Camilleri (Qld) bye
|
07-Jun:
Rowland rolls back the years
Andrew Dent reports
Queensland veteran Craig Rowland stunned his younger
rivals to reach the final of the Australian Closed Squash
Championships when he downed top seed Scott Arnold on
Sunday.
Rowland will play fellow Queenslander Zac Alexander
in Monday’s final after the 38-year-old from Rockhampton
outlasted Arnold 12-10, 7-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-5.
Alexander was also forced to five games as he beat second
seeded Matthew Karwalski 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3 in
the first semi-final.
But the main talking point was Rowland, who has been in
virtual retirement for the past two-and-half years after a
successful professional career which saw him reach number
seven in the world.
Earlier in the day Rowland beat fourth seed Steve Finitsis
in straight games 11-3, 11-8, 11-8, but he admitted he
hadn’t thought of reaching the final before the tournament
started.
“I’ve not been playing much of late so I was just happy to
have a hit with the boys and see where I was fitness-wise,”
he said.
Arnold took the match to Rowland and looked on track for a
win when he opened up a 2/1 lead, only for Rowland to take
control and comfortably win the final two games.
“Generally I get stronger as the match goes on,” he
explained. “I was able to control the game towards the end
and I found the right pace I wanted to play at. I think the
younger guys get a bit nervy playing me ... they are anxious
to beat me.
“I’m just happy to be back and it certainly gives me an
incentive to try and play a bit more.”
Rowland will give away 18 years to Alexander in Monday’s
final but the 20-year-old from Brisbane will have to be on
top of his game if he wants to claim his first senior
national title.
He looked in top form as he beat younger brother Jake 11-7,
11-8, 11-5 in the quarter-finals, then recovered from a slow
start to down the higher-ranked Karwalski.
Alexander looked to have wrapped the match up when he led
10-8 in the fourth before a contentious call on match ball
denied him the win.
He lost concentration and the next three points before
recovering to overwhelm a fatigued Karwalski in the fifth.
“I was thinking about it too much rather than getting on
with it, but it’s good that I finished strong in the fifth,”
he said. “I had a bit of a slow start, I wasn’t moving right
and made a few too many errors.
“I was coming back at the end of the first but it was a bit
too late, but I figured my game out from there.”
The women’s final will be between top seed Donna Urquhart of
New South Wales and second seeded Queenslander Lisa
Camilleri.
|
|
06-Jun:
Urquhart comes back to avoid
huge upset
Andrew Dent reports
Top seed Donna Urquhart came from two games down to
beat Jane Kennedy and avoid a major shock in the
semi-finals of the Australian Closed Squash Championships in
Brisbane on Saturday.
Urquhart, the world number 29, appeared in deep trouble when
she lost the opening two games against the 32-year-old from
Sydney, but she stepped up a gear in the next three games to
win 8-11, 8-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-2.
Kennedy, 32, is a former South African junior who has just
joined the international tour after recovering from a
serious Achilles injury soon after she moved to Australia
three years ago.
She is ranked 200 places below Urquhart on the world
rankings but there was no sign of nerves as she played some
delightful shots to constantly have the top seed on the back
foot.
However, she went off the boil at the start of the third and
Urquhart needed no second invitation, taking control of the
match and easing to a comfortable win.
 "I
felt a bit out of it at the start because I only arrived
back from Korea yesterday. I was looking for easy winners at
the start and because I was feeling so flat I just wanted
end it quickly.
"But there’s no easy way out – you still have to play
properly, you’ve still got to play a good length first, and
after losing those two games I realised that and went back
to basics.
"She was really quick, especially at the start of the match
and she was picking up my short shots, once I went long and
set the rallies up it was better."
Kennedy was left ruing a
missed opportunity.
"I really don’t know what happened," she said. "I was 2-0 up
and going well but then Donna picked up her game – she
picked up the pace and played really well.
"I need to play top quality opposition more often, if I
could play someone like Donna once a week my game would just
improve so much.”
 Urquhart
will play second seeded Queenslander Lisa Camilleri
in Monday’s final after Camilleri downed Melbourne’s
Melody Francis in four games.
Camilleri took the first game then surrendered the second
before dominating the Victorian to take the match 11-5,
11-13, 11-7, 11-6.
The cream rose to the top of the men’s draw as the top four
seeds all notched up easy wins.
Scott Arnold, Matthew Karwalski, Zac
Alexander and Steve Finitsis looked a class apart
as they dominated their younger opponents.
Arnold downed Matt Hilton 11-4, 11-8, 11-6, Karwalski beat
Ben Harris 11-6, 11-3, 11-4, Alexander was too good for Alex
Gough 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 and Finitsis overwhelmed Kevin Ryan
11-3, 11-5, 11-4.
Alexander will play his younger brother Jake in Sunday’s
quarter-finals, the first time the pair will have met in
tournament play
|
|
|
