|
|
Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic 2012
27 Jan - 01 Feb, Ohio, Usa, $50k |
|
|
|
01-Feb, Final:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [3] Laura Massaro (Eng)
7/11, 12/10, 11/7,
11/8 DAVID RESTORES ORDER IN CLEVELAND, OHIO.
Matthew Lombardi reports
Photos by David Turben
 After playing two strong semifinals the previous night in the Tub O'
Towels Cleveland Classic, Nicol David and Laura Massaro knew
something had to give when they met in the final; the woman who
could dictate the pace and impose her will on the other would end up
the winner. As things turned out, neither player let the other get
into her comfort zone for long. Instead they fought a tense battle
that wound up hinging on a few crucial points.
The opening game started much to Massaro's liking -- she established
a deliberate rhythm and showed exceptional racquet work, reeling off
four winners on the way to a 6-0 lead. She followed up with two tins
and a ball out high, giving David a crack of daylight. All told the
game would see nine errors (four from Massaro, five from David),
making up half the game's points -- totals that were in stark
contrast to the near-flawless play of the previous night.
 At 4-8 down, David began to up the pace and move with more of the
characteristic spring in her step. She lost the game 11-7 (on a
service-return cross-court nick from Massaro), but the faster tempo
would prove to be a good omen for the world champion.
In the second game David took a 3-0 lead, but Massaro benefited from
two more David errors to move ahead 4-3. From there they traded
high-pressured points to 9-9, when Massaro got a fortunate
back-court nick to give her game ball.
What followed was the most memorable point of the night. Massaro was
on the offensive, repeatedly hitting near-winners that David
miraculously retrieved, at one point diving and recovering to chase
the next shot down. Ultimately one of her returns died in the back
left corner, much to Massaro's dismay. (She was further dismayed by
a debatable pickup from David, but after the match a well-timed
photo showed the shot to be good.)
David forced an error to get her own game ball, 11-10, and Massaro
nearly repeated David's retrieving heroics, hanging on for dear life
with three back-wall boasts, the last of which David polished off
with a drop nick to take the game and seize the momentum.
David didn't find the tin once in the third, and the improved
execution would be decisive in her taking the game 11-7. In the
fourth she decided to force Massaro to the front of the court, a
strategy that proved effective: David raced to a 7-1 lead, fueled
exclusively on drops and drives off Massaro counter-drops. The
Englishwoman still had some fight in her, coming back to within two
points at 9-7, but a marginal stroke gave David match ball, and
after knocking a backhand overhead into the tin, she hit an
unreachable drive that gave her the championship.
Afterward both players promised they'd be back in Cleveland same
time next year, to the crowd's cheers of approval.
|
 |
 Tub
O’ Towels Cleveland
Classic 2012
27 Jan - 01 Feb, Ohio, Usa, $50k |
Round One
29 Jan |
Quarters
30 Jan |
Semis
31 Jan |
Final
01 Feb |
[1] Nicol David (Mas)
11/4, 11/9, 9/11, 8/11, 11/7 (63 mins)
[Q] Joelle King (Nzl) |
[1] Nicol David
11/5, 11/6, 11/1 (27m)
[8] Annie Au |
[1] Nicol David
11/3, 11/4, 11/6 (31m)
[4] Madeline Perry |
[1] Nicol David
7/11, 12/10, 11/7, 11/8 (57m)
[3] Laura Massaro |
[8] Annie Au (Hkg)
w/o
Camille Serme (Fra) |
[4] Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/7, 11/9, 11/6 (35 mins)
[Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) |
[4] Madeline Perry
11/8, 9/11, 14/12, 11/3 (41m)
[7] Raneem El Weleily |
[7] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
11/13, 11/7, 11/4, 11/9 (36 mins)
Natalie Grinham (Ned) |
[Q] Donna Urquhart (Aus)
10/12, 11/7, 11/6, 13/11 (62 mins)
[5] Kasey Brown (Aus) |
[Q] Donna Urquhart
11/8, 4/11, 11/6, 11/2 (40m)
[3] Laura Massaro |
[3] Laura Massaro
11/9, 11/5, 11/6 (28m)
Amanda Sobhy |
Low Wee Wern (Mas)
11/4, 11/6, 9/11, 11/5 (53 mins)
[3] Laura Massaro (Eng) |
Amanda Sobhy (Usa)
11/3, 11/7, 11/2 (19 mins)
[6] Rachael Grinham (Aus) |
Amanda Sobhy
6/11, 11/5, 11/3, 4/1 (rtd)
[2] Jenny Duncalf |
[Q] Sarah Kippax (Eng)
11/8, 12/10, 11/7 (52 mins)
[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) |
28-Jan,
Qualifying Finals:
Joelle King bt Delia Arnold
11/7, 11/6, 11/6
Jaclyn Hawkes bt Emma Beddoes
2/11, 11/7, 9/11, 11/8, 15/13
Donna Urquhart bt Joey Chan
8/11, 6/11, 12/14
Sarah Kippax bt Aisling Blake
11/6, 9/11, 11/8, 11/1
27-Jan, Qualifying Round One:
Joelle King bt Latasha Khan
11/7, 5/11, 11/2, 7/11, 12/10
Delia Arnold bt Olivia Blatchford
7/11, 11/9, 11/7, 11/3
Emma Beddoes bt Lucie Fialova
8/11, 14/12, 11/8, 11/7
Jaclyn Hawkes bt Samantha Cornett 11/8, 11/4,
9/11, 14/12
Joey Chan bt Gaby Huber
11/4, 11/4, 11/6
Donna Urquhart bt Misaki Koayashi
11/9, 11/6, 11/8
Aisling Blake bt Samantha Teran 11/8, 9/11, 11/8, 6/11, 11/8
Sarah Kippax bt Line Hansen
11/7, 11/9, 7/11, 11/6
|
31-Jan,
Semis:
DAVID AND MASSARO SET UP
FINAL REPEAT IN OHIO
Nathan Dugan and Matthew Lombardi report
The semifinals at the Tub O' Towels Cleveland Classic were both
demonstrations of what happens when solid, world-class squash
players run up against opponents who have elevated their games to
the highest level. The evening's winners put in truly exceptional
performances.
 First up was English seasoned professional Laura Massaro
against American teen phenom Amanda Sobhy. They began play at
a deliberate trot, moving one another to the four corners of the
court. Sobhy's more attacking play brought her to a 6-4 lead, but
two tins evened the score. At that point Massaro subtly started to
up her game, raising the pace and putting Sobhy on the defensive.
The youngster responded with an impressive display of retrieval, but
that wasn't enough to keep Massaro from taking the game 11-9.
 From there on out Massaro was near flawless, putting on a clinic in
tight, straight, error-free squash. Point after point she
methodically raised the pressure on Sobhy, who tried to counter with
aggressive shot-making, but found that she was faced with three
potential outcomes, and two of them bad: she could hit an outright
winner, knock the ball in the tin, or give Massaro an opportunity to
counterattack. With unflagging focus Massaro took the second and
third games 11-5 and 11-6, booking her place in the final.
Next on court were Malaysian six-time world champion Nicol David
and Northern Ireland's Madeline Perry. From the outset David
looked every bit the best player in the world: she was patient but
ruthless, establishing good length, moving Perry from side to side,
and at the first opportunity going in for the kill, which she
executed with extraordinary precision.
Perry looked outmatched and out of sorts, dropping the first game
11-3. In the second David was more content to extend the rallies but
remained flawless, soaring to a 9-1 lead. Perhaps sensing she had
nothing to lose, Perry ramped up the attack; a series of winners
brought her to 4-9, but David then made quick work of two loose
balls to close out the game 11-4.
 In the third Perry maintained the aggressive play. Though the game
would go decisively to David, 11-6, viewers were treated to long,
fast-paced points, with Perry executing well but David covering the
court even better, time and again catching up to apparent winners
and returning them with interest. By game's end both players were
beginning to show the effects of the blistering pace. Even David,
nicknamed the Energizer Bunny, looked like she might be ready for a
new set of batteries.
Tomorrow's final has the potential to be a cracker, with both
players looking to be at the top of their games. Last year's final
featured these same two women, and Massaro came away with a rare
prize, a win over David. One suspects she'll need to put together
another near-perfect match if she's going to repeat the
accomplishment.
|
|
|
30-Jan,
Quarters:
SOBHY SETS UP A SHOWDOWN WITH DEFENDING CHAMPION MASSARO
Matthew Lombardi reports
There were two additions to play on day four in Cleveland. We are
now on-line live with the matches at ubsports.com, and Matthew
Lombardi, a writer for ESPN was in town to do a story on Nicol
David. While Matthew was at The Cleveland Racquet Club, I asked him
for a small favour – How about writing the match reports today! So
here it goes:
 Tonight’s quarterfinal play at the Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic
opened with defending champ and world #4 Laura Massaro
matched against #14 Australian Donna Urquhart.
The two tall, powerful women were intent on playing at an assertive
pace and attacking whenever the opportunity presented itself. To
start Massaro got the better of things, jumping out to a 7-0 lead,
but a few errors crept into her play, and Urquhart was able to fight
back to 8-10 before surrendering a stroke to lose the game.
She carried the momentum into the second and blasted past Massaro
with an impressive display of boasting and deception. It looked like
the makings of a see-saw battle, but Massaro came out in the third
playing more aggressively, got Urquhart on her heels, and never
looked back, taking the game 11-6. The fourth was all Massaro, 11-2,
as her precise shot-making forced a series of tins out of the
Aussie.
 Match 2 brought English world #2 Jenny Duncalf to the court
against the #24 American, and Harvard freshman, Amanda Sobhy.
Duncalf began with a continuation of the classic English play
Massaro had shown in the previous match – moving efficiently,
hitting accurate shots, and squeezing errors out of Sobhy to take
the first game 11-6. In the second the two started out trading
points, then Duncalf seemed to slow a step. That was all Sobhy
needed, as she pressed the advantage to take the game 11-5.
Down 1-5 in the third, Duncalf pulled up short on a ball, and it was
clear to everyone that she was suffering the effects of the blow to
the knee she’d received in the previous round. She stuck it out to
drop the game 3-11, then at 1-4 in the fourth offered her hand in
concession. It wasn’t the way Sobhy would have wanted to get the
biggest scalp of her career, but her own play was rock solid, and
she’s likely to give Massaro all she can handle in the semi.
 The third match of the night pitted world #3 Madeline Perry
against red-hot Egyptian #7 Raneem El Weleily, who was coming
off a win at the Greenwich Open a week earlier.
It was a contest of
strikingly different temperaments – Perry always on edge as she
darted around the court, El Weleily almost nonchalant as volley
drops rolled off her racquet. They gave the crowd another display of
aggressive squash, trading points to 7-7 in the first before a pair
of tins and a loose shot from El Weleily took Perry to game ball.
She sealed the deal 11-8 with a beautiful overhand boast.
The next two games were nail-biters. In the second El Weleily jumped
to a 9-3 lead but then lost focus; Perry fought back to 9-9, but
from there the Egyptian rose to the challenge and finished the game
off 11-9.
The third was a similar story, but with a different
result: El Weleily again had the early lead but couldn’t hold it; up
12-11, she hit a potential game-winning drop into the tin, and that
was the beginning of the end. Perry took the game 14-12, then
cruised to an 11-3 win in the fourth. Perry put in a fine
performance, but this was a night when, above all else, El Weleily
beat herself.
 The evening wrapped up with Malaysia’s
Nicol David asserting her
world #1 stature with an 11-5, 11-6, 11-1 win over #7 Annie Au of
Hong Kong.
Au played a stronger match than the score would indicate,
frequently using deft flicks and drops to put David under pressure.
But David was able to extend the rallies until she could find a
decisive advantage and finish the points off.
Now David finds herself two matches away from capturing one of the
few titles that eluded her in 2011.
Watch the semis and finals LIVE on
www.ubsports.com
|
 |
29-Jan, Round One:
DONNA’S DELIGHT AS
NICOL SURVIVES A SCARE
Nathan Dugan & Olivia Blatchford report
The first round of the Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic, provided
upsets, tension, and incredible quality, as an appreciative crowd
looked on. Thanks go to Olivia Blatchford, who was on the scene to
help report on the first three matches.
Defending champion Laura Massaro and Low Wee Wern were first
to take the court today. It was a match of great experience and
ingenuity, against that of feline movement and exceptional racket
control. Massaro, the epitome of professionalism, took substantial
control from the start, using wicked length and well placed flicks
(a killer weapon in Laura’s arsenal). The rallies of the first two
games were well contested, both players vying for control of the
front, though Massaro came out on top in both. Low showed what a
potential she has, with a taking of the third game 11-9, but with
the choice of a few poor-timed drop shots into the tin, found
herself on the losing end of a 53 minute match against the defending
champ.
 The second match on court, which was a classic battle of experience
vs. youth, began with the American youngster, Amanda Sobhy,
in full control. Rachael Grinham caught the top of the tin
far too frequently to be competitive, allowing Sobhy to settle
quickly into the match, winning the first game convincingly. As the
players traded points until 6-6 in the second, Grinham seemed to
ease into a rhythm, but was unable to penetrate Sobhy’s solid length
and intelligently placed drops. The third was more of the same as
the Harvard student was able to close out the match 3-0.
 In the all Aussie affair that took to the stage next, it was clear
from the first point that the match would showcase athleticism at
its finest. Kasey Brown edged a tight first game 12-10,
despite some fine retrieving by her tall opponent, Donna Urquhart.
Urquhart retaliated by flying out to a 7-1 lead in the second, a
lead she was able to convert into leveling the match at 1-1. A few
errors from Brown midway through the third game, was the difference
that allowed Urquhart to move into a 2-1 lead. The fourth looked to
be a different story though, as Brown picked up the pace and stormed
ahead 9-2. At this point it would have been forgiven for Urquhart to
be conceding and thinking about a fifth game, but the polar opposite
occurred, as she hit winner after winner to bring the score back to
a respectable 7-9. When Brown was the recipient of a stroke, it
looked as though we were going to a fifth, but some remarkable stoke
play from Urquhart, tied the match at 10-10. Two points later and
Urquhart was letting out a scream of triumph as she beat her fellow
AIS teammate for the first time in her career.
Jenny Duncalf progressed to the quarter finals in a match
that both she ans Sarah Kippax will sooner forget. Duncalf
controlled the first game with some deft touches to the front of the
court. The second was a much more competitive affair, and with
Duncalf holding a one point advantage at 7-6, Kippax had an open
ball in the middle of the court. It appeared as though Duncalf had
cleared, but at the last second she took a step forward, which timed
perfectly with Kippax’s downswing, resulted in a nasty blow to the
Duncalf knee. After an 18 minute layoff, Duncalf was able to
continue, but it was clear that Kippax, who was clearly mortified by
the collision, was unable to get back in the saddle.
The result that followed was a hollow victory for the world number
two.
Madeline Perry set up an intriguing quarter final encounter
with in-form, Raneem El Weleily. Perry was always a step
ahead of her opponent, as she dismissed of Jaclyn Hawkes in
three straight games. Hawkes, who had come through a tough
qualifying match on Saturday, was unable to sustain the fight that
had carried her thus far. Egyptian, El Weliely, had a slightly
tougher route through to the quarters, as the world number seven
faced a formidable opponent in world number eight, Natalie
Grinham.
 Both players like to attack the front of the court, and they did so
with abundance as wrong footing drops flew in from the back of the
court. At 11-11 in the first, Grinham again showed no concern for
the score line, as she slotted a crosscourt nick out of nowhere,
from way behind the service box, taking her to a game ball that she
was able to convert. The second was a tail of two pharaohs, as first
the good strolled into an 8-2 lead, before the bad was back to 8-7
in barely a minute! Just as quickly the dominant pharaoh was back,
completing an 11-7 tying game for El Weliely.
In the third, El Weliely was able to string together a whole game of
dominance, before once again the erraticism was to continue in the
fourth. Grinham held an a 8-4 lead, before the wizardry from the
Egyptians racket, would work seven out of the next eight points in
her favour, to progress her to the next round.
In the top quarter of the draw, there was an unfortunate situation
with French National Champion, Camille Serme, having to give
eighth seed Annie Au, a walkover into the quarter finals.
Serme had experienced a bad back spasm yesterday in practice, and it
had not healed in time for today’s match.
As predicted, Au will now play world number one, Nicol David
in the quarter finals, but the manor of her victory was far from
what the crowd expected.
You would think if six time World Champion David, was drawn to play
a qualifier in any event, the match would be a forgone conclusion.
In-form, world number 11, Joelle King, didn’t get that memo!
 David, a losing finalist here last year, looked to be out to prove a
point as she took control of the first game, winning it 11-4.
Although King provided some strong resistance in the second, David
always had her nose in front, seemingly moving into pole position.
At 6-1 up in the third, David was taking the ball noticeably earlier
than this time a year ago, and looked to be strolling into the last
eight. At this point though, King changed her tactics. Instead of
waiting for the inevitable to happen, King started attacking at
every opportunity, and despite some grueling rallies, was able to
extend the match into the next game.
A stunned crowd watched, as King produced another tremendously high
quality display in the fourth, showing just why she is now one of
the most feared players on the tour. David extended two extremely
long rallies at the start of the fifth, which showed her intentions
of being incredible hard to beat. This didn’t faze King in the
slightest though, as she moved into a 6-5 lead. The next rally was
long and extremely intense, with both players making great
retrievals.
 You could hear a pin drop as the crowd tensed with every shot. David
made an uncharacteristic error to end the point, and with a two
point cushion, the spectators may have been sensing a historic
upset. You could hear your own heart beating as the story before you
was unfolding, but the pulse started to slow, as David played a
sequence of tight shots that King could not scrape off the wall.
David won the last six points to seal the match, but the
contribution that King played was met with huge appreciation by the
crowd.
After 63 minutes, David was through, but the quality of King’s
performance shows there is a lot to come in 2012 for the young New
Zealander.
 |
|
28-Jan, Quarters:
BLACK EYED BED’S LOSES U.S. FIGHT
Nathan Dugan reports
Photos by David Turben
 Emma
Beddoes stepped on court for the final qualifying round against
Jaclyn Hawkes, with a real shiner. More purple than black, her eye
incident with Lucy Fialova, a mere 20 hours earlier, had left a
hefty mark.
This had no impact on the play however, as Beddoes stormed to an
11-2 opening first game. Hawkes decided to turn up for the second
game though, opening up an early 7-2 lead. This proved a little too
much for Beddoes to claw back as the match was all squared. Beddoes
was using the cross court drive to great effect, moving Hawkes form
side to side, and although Hawkes was covering more of the court,
the next two games were split after some tenacious resistance from
the tall Kiwi. At 7-3 down in the deciding game, it was Beddoes turn
to dig deep into the reserve tank.
 After
three of the longest rallies of the match, she was back to within a
point, with both players clearly feeling the toll on their bodies. A
fortuitous miss-hit and a Beddoes error, gave Hawkes 10-7 and her
first match ball, after almost 80 minutes of play. Beddoes continued
to press though, tying the match with a crosscourt that barely
cleared the tin, before acquiring a match ball of her own.
 The
minutes that followed had all the crowd holding their breath as the
pendulum swung. Hawkes saved match ball with a tight counter drop,
before seeing her serve attacked, with an irretrievable crosscourt
nick return. Some desperate retrieving by Hawkes in the next rally,
kept her in the match, before Beddoes kill attempt hit the red line
on the tin. At 13-12, Beddoes produce an astonishing counter drop,
after the match looked as if it would surely be over, taking us to
13-13. This is where her luck ran out though, as on Hawkes’ fifth
match ball, an attempted Beddoes kill shot, was a shade of paint to
low, giving Hawkes the passage into the main draw.
The following matches of the night provided little drama in
comparison.
Donna Urquhart took early leads in each game, looking comfortable
throughout her 3-0 victory over Joey Chan. Chan put up some
resistance at the end of the third game, but made two crucial errors
to give her opponent a main draw birth.
Joelle King looked like she was on a mission, as he brushed aside
Delia Arnold in just over half an hour. King looked to be taking the
ball significantly earlier than the prior night, giving Arnold
little time to use her front court game. She may have regretted
being in such a rush though, as she also jumped out of the Tub O’
Towels pot as first pick into the main draw, the result - a match
against Nicol David!
Sarah Kippax will be the last name in the main draw, as she took
full advantage from the effects of Aisling Blake’s heroic efforts
the night before against Samantha Teran. Kippax seemed content to
lengthen the rallies, methodically taking the first game. With Blake
at 7-3 down in the second, it looked as though it was going to be
one way traffic, but a run of seven straight points, turned the
match upside down.
Now leveled at 1-1, Blake showed renewed vigor, but with the scores
tied at 8-8 in the third, it was Kippax who showed the mental and
physical toughness, closing out the game 11-8. The third was a must
win game for Blake, so with its demise, so went the match, as Kippax
ran away with the fourth game to victory.
|
|
27-Jan, Qualifying Round One:
TERAN TUMBLES
IN CLEVELAND QUALIFYING
Nathan Dugan reports
Photos by David Turben
Samantha Teran became the first major casualty of the 2012
Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic as the seeded qualifiers struggled
tonight at the Cleveland Racquet Club.
 Teran,
a World Open semi-finalist in 2011, was unable to assert any
dominance in the early stages of her match with Irelands, Aisling
Blake. Indeed it was Blake who took the first game, with neither
player establishing substantial leads. The pattern of play was
similar throughout the match, with Blake making her biggest imprint
with tight straight drop shots, and avoiding Teran’s power game. In
a let-ridden fifth game, Blake reeled off five winners in the last
seven rallies, to secure a notable win.
Blake has one more hurdle to overcome to qualify in the form of
Sarah Kippax. It took Kippax, 48 minutes, to get through the
challenge from Dane Line Hansen. Hansen had spells of superb
attacking prowess but then also fell foul to her own muddled mind,
as she out foxed herself on numerous occasions. Kippax was the
steadier of the two which reflected in the 3-1 score line.
 In
the earlier matches of the evening, there had already been straight
forward victories for Joey Chan and Donna Urquhart,
with Urquhart made to work harder of the two by Misaki Kobayashi.
Kobayashi’s movement provided Urquhart some resistance, but she was
unable to penetrate enough with the racquet to really test the tall
Aussie. Chan on the other hand, was using her racquet work to great
effect, not allowing opponent, Gaby Huber, any time to set up for
her shots. The contest between Chan and Urquhart, will be an
interesting contrast of styles on Saturday.
On Wednesday of this week, Jaclyn Hawkes was competing in the
semi-finals at the Tournament of champions in New York. Just two
days later and it is back to qualifying in Cleveland. On paper her
match with Samantha Cornett looked relatively straight forward;
Cornett however, had not received that memo! The two looked evenly
matched in the first game with the only difference being a couple of
unforced errors from the Canadian, Cornett.
Hawkes appeared to have settled in the second and it looked as
though she was going to run away with the match. The third game
though proved to be a different story, with Cornett throwing in an
onslaught of attacking drops from the back of the court. While the
tactical change was working at times it was also fueling her
opponent if the drop was not perfect. Cornett won the third and had
four game balls in the fourth, before Hawkes closed the match out at
her first opportunity of match ball.
 Emma
Beddoes will be next up for Hawkes, after she won a physical
encounter with Lucie Fialova. Although Beddoes won the match, I am
not sure she won the contest, as it was Beddoes that left the court
with a black eye and a few bruises.
For a game and a half Fialova had looked the better of the two, with
crisp ball striking and powerful winners causing Beddoes all sorts
of problems. It was midway through the second when the momentum
changed, ironically after Beddoes was struck near the eye by her
opponent’s racquet. The match could so easily have been 2-0 in
games, had it not been for a shade of paint on the tin, but at one
game apiece, Beddoes never looked like surrendering a place in the
next round. Hopefully she will be able to see out of her left eye
tomorrow!
The final qualification place will be decided between Delia
Arnold and Joelle King. Arnold looked a little sluggish
in the first two games against young American, Olivia Blatchford.
Blatchford took advantage, attacking well to the front when the
opportunity arose. At one game all, neither player was particularly
controlling the play, with short lengths and winners to the front a
common theme for both players.
Arnold finished the third game stronger and took the momentum into
the fourth, closing out the match 3-1. The final match of the
evening, between Latasha Khan and Joelle King, gave the Cleveland
crowd the climax the nights play deserved. King flew off to a 9-0
start in the first game, and it was evident to see why she was in
the final of Greenwich just over a week ago.
Khan warmed up though, and although losing the game finished it much
the stronger of the two. This momentum carried into the second as
Khan dictated the play. The third and fourth games followed the same
pattern, as first King, and then Khan, took turns to each control a
game.
It looked as though King, the world number 11, had put the final
nail in Khan’s coffin, after a brutal rally took King into a 7-2
lead. Astonishingly, it was the 39 year old Khan, who was least
effected, winning the next six points. At 10-10, it was clearly
anyone’s game, but sometimes you need a little luck to help you
through.
Unfortunately for Khan, it was not her night, as a lucky bounce off
a short cross court length, gave King a second match ball; one she
was able to take advantage of to progress in the draw.
Seven of the top eight qualifiers progressed tonight, but it was far
from easy sailing. With five more days of squash, I am sure there
will be plenty more drama to unfold.
|
|
|
|
 26-Jan-2012
Preview
from the Cleveland Racquet Club
The world’s top ten are all competing
this week at the Cleveland Racquet Club, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
In 2011, Laura Massaro, was the star of the event, inflicting
the first loss to Nicol David for over a year.
Nicol is back again, hoping that lightning doesn’t strike twice, as
she headlines a strong field for a second consecutive year.
Qualifying starts Friday night with a draw worthy of any top class
event. World number 11, Joelle King, who reached the final in
Greenwich earlier this month, and world number 12, Samantha Teran,
a World Open semi-finalist, are among those looking to qualify for a
place in the main draw on Sunday.
|
|
|
