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21-Feb-10:
Kasey cruises to Dayton title
Charlie Johnson reports
 The
2010 version of the EBS Dayton Open finished up today in front of a
packed gallery made up of patrons, sponsors, club members and lots
of junior players and their parents in town for the Midwestern Jr.
Squash Championships. They were treated to a clinic on how to
control a match, put on by the top seeded Kasey Brown of Australia.
Although England's Sarah Kippax kept it close in game one, it was
clear that Kasey planed to dominate the T, dominate the front of the
court, and dominate the match. Both of the first two games had some
incredible rallies, where Sarah was fighting hard to find the form
she had last time she played Kasey and took her to five games, but
she just couldn't find it.
Down two games and love-six in the third, Sarah still managed to win
the hearts of the gallery with one incredible rally to score her 1st
point of game 3. After a long rally of drives up and down each wall,
Kasey got a loose ball front right that she played in short & tight,
somehow Sarah got there from the back left, redropped & tried to
recover, Kasey dropped it in front right again incredibly tight &
Sarah dug deep, changed directions and went back in to make another
great save and re-drop that went a little left of Kasey, who then
played it backhand again in REALLY TIGHT front right while Sarah was
scrambling back to the T. Sarah incredibly made it back into the
front right corner again, stretched out beyond belief, and redropped
again. Kasey reared back to drive a hard cross court with a swing
that reached almost back to the crowd but as soon as Sarah played
the drop, she exploded back toward the middle of the court and
somehow got the tip of her frame on the canon shot that Kasey fired
and played down front left low for a winner: the gallery ERUPTED! It
was a great finish to a great point.
Although Sarah won only two more rallies in the match, she continued
to battle hard and everyone appreciated he great athleticism and
professional play of both players. At the awards ceremony, Sarah was
gracious in defeat and thanked the sponsors for supporting the event
and thanked this promoter for all the attention to the players needs
over the course of the event. Kasey echoed this thanks and also
mentioned how great it was to see the strength of jr. play on site
and how it illustrates the growth and popularity of the game. Both
player promised to come back next year when we again host the Dayton
Open in conjunction with the largest junior tournament in the
Midwest.
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 EBS
Dayton Open 2010
16-21 Feb, Ohio, Usa, $21k |
Round One
18 Feb |
Quarters
19 Feb |
Semis
20 Feb |
Final
21 Feb |
[1] Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/5, 7/11, 11/6, 11/8 46
Miranda Ranieri (Can) |
[1] Kasey Brown
11/6, 8/11, 11/5, 13/11 (55m)
[6] Alana Miller |
[1] Kasey Brown
14-12, 11-5, 11-7 (38m)
[5] Joelle King |
[1] Kasey Brown
11/9, 11/6, 11/3 (31m)
[3] Sarah Kippax |
[6] Alana Miller (Aus)
11/9, 11/6, 12/10 39
Melody Francis (Aus) |
[4] Line Hansen (Den)
11/9, 11/6, 11/8 29
[Q] Imelda Salazar Martinez (Mex) |
[4] Line Hansen
11/4, 11/6, 11/5 (34m)
[5] Joelle King |
[5] Joelle King (Nzl)
11/2, 11/8, 11/5 26
Alexandra Norman (Can) |
[Q] Genevieve Lessard (Can)
11/2, 11/3, 11/2 16
[7] Lisa Camilleri (Aus) |
[7] Lisa Camilleri
11/5, 11/1, 11/9 (28m)
[3] Sarah Kippax |
[3] Sarah Kippax
11/6, 12/10, 11/9 (32m)
[Q] Olivia Blatchford |
Elise Ng (Hkg)
12/10, 11/1, 11/6 21
[3] Sarah Kippax (Eng) |
[Q] Carolyn Russell (Can)
11/1, 8/11, 11/6, 12/10 44
[8] Miranda Ranieri (Can) |
[8] Miranda Ranieri
11/8, 11/, 11/6 (38m)
[Q] Olivia Blatchford |
[Q] Olivia Blatchford (Usa)
11/3 rtd
[2] Latasha Khan (Usa) |
17-Feb, Qualifying Finals:
Carolyn
Russell (Can) bt Ivonne Diaz (Mex)
11/7, 11/5, 11/? (32m)
Imelda Martinez (Mex) bt Merhan Amr Mahmoud (Egy)
11/6, 11/5, 11/8 (29m)
Genevieve Lessard (Can) bt Graciela Lopez-Perex (Mex) 12/10,
11/9, 7/11, 11/6 (39m)
Olivia Blatchford (Usa) bt Thaisa Serafini (Bra)
11/8, 9/11, 9/11, 11/3, 11/9 (52m)
16-Feb, Qualifying
Round One:
Carolyn Russell (Can) bye
Ivonne Diaz (Mex) bye
Merhan Amr Mahmoud (Egy) bt Carrie Hastings (Eng)
2/11, 8/11, 11/3, 11/5, 11/9
Imelda Martinez (Mex) bt Kimberley Palterman (Zim)
11/2, 11/2, 11/3
Genevieve Lessard (Can) bt Mel Lin Ong (Usa)
11/7, 11/5, 11/5
Graciela Lopez-Perex (Mex) bt Belkys Magaly Velez (Ecu)
11/7, 11/5, 11/7
Thaisa Serafini (Bra) bt Katja Amir (Ger)
11/4, 11/4, 11/3
Olivia Blatchford (Usa) bye
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20-Feb-10:
11 STRAIGHT HOURS OF SQUASH AT THE
DAYTON SQUASH CENTER TODAY!
Charlie Johnson reports
The Dayton Squash Center was a beehive of activity today as the
Midwestern Jr. Squash Championships were in full swing. Over 100
kids were playing matches from 8 in the morning 'until 7 tonight.
Along the way, they were able to watch high quality professional
women's squash as the Semi-Final matches of the $20,000 EBS Dayton
Open took place during the mid-day of this junior event.
In the first semi-final match, # 1 seed Kasey Brown of
Australia was pushed hard in the opening game by Joelle King
of New Zealand. They played long, impressively physical rallies,
trading points until finally Kasey pushed through to win this long
game in a tie-breaker at 14-12. Joelle seemed a bit let down in the
second game after all the energy expended in the first game that
lasted well over 15 minutes, but kept it even, again trading winning
rallies until the game got to 5 all and Joelle then let Kasey go on
a 6 point run to win the game. The third & final game was similar to
the 2nd: long, punishing rallies from each player, trading points up
to 7-all and then Kasey broke away and won the last 4 games to take
the match and secure a place in tomorrow's championship.
The large crowd on hand, consisting of
patrons & sponsors, parents of all the junior players on hand for
the Jr. Championships, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, many of the junior
players who were watching wide-eyed at the previous match, now saw
one of their own, 17 year old American player & qualifier Olivia
Blatchford (ranked # 70 in the world) step on court to battle
world # 28 Sarah Kippax of England (our # 5 seed) for a place
in the championship match.
Olivia seemed at bit nervous at first, and as in her qualifying
match, dropped the first game due to mistakes made that can be
attributed to the situation. One of her previous coaches (while at
Heights Casino in Brooklyn, Julian Wellings, now head professional
at the Birmingham Athletic Club with a strong junior program here
for the JR. tournament) was on hand for the match and helped coach
her: he got her to settle down and Olivia found her game, fighting
hard in the second but still lost 10-12 in the second. Sarah, up 2-0
in the match and winning the 1st two points of the 3rd game, still
had her hands full as Olivia ran off 5 straight points to go up 5-2,
giving breath to her hopes to keep playing. The crowd, especially
the kids, were urging her on and she gamely fought on to 9-all but
Sarah pushed through to win the last 2 points and joined Kasey in
tomorrow's championship match.
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Sunday's Championship
takes place at the Dayton Squash Center at 12:30 and is open to the
public but preferred seating is reserved for patrons and sponsors.
At the same time tomorrow, we have some of the Midwest's (and some
from outside the Midwest!) most talented junior squash players
playing semi-final and final matches in all divisions.
These days, there is a lot of criticism on the lack of physical
activity for kids in the U. S. but if you want to see the opposite
story, come out and watch 9 & 10 year old players run around like
squirrels on steroids chasing the squash ball to win a point; see
polished older kids play squash at a level that was unseen here in
the Midwest until recent history; and come see the pure enjoyment of
athletic competition and spirit of sportsmanship that the sport of
squash fosters.
I've been playing, teaching, & coaching for over 20 years and this
is as good as it gets!
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19-Feb-10:
Tests & Upsets in Dayton quarters
Charlie Johnson reports
A night of tests and upsets. In our opening match, # 1 Seed Kasey
Brown from Australia was challenged by Canada's Alana Miller in a 55
minute match that was easily the crowd favorite of the night.
Alana has played in all 4 WISPA events held as part of the EBS
Dayton Open and has won the hearts of local squash fans. She played
well, fought hard, won game two using her stature to cut balls off
and stay on the T and out front, but ultimately lost on a
heartbreaking great shot from Kasey who was up 12/11 in the fourth
game with match ball. Both players were gracious and thanked the
spirited crowd for their support.
In our second match of the evening Joelle King of New Zealand (#5
seed) pulled off a mild upset defeating # 4 seed Line Hansen of
Denmark. I say "mild" because, despite the seeding difference, from
the outset, Joelle, at least this night, seemed to be the player
with the most control. She hit shots with more definition and put
constant pressure on Line. There were long rallies where each girl
tried to over power the other (hence the 34 minute match with a
fairly routine score), but in the end, power with control beats
power every time!
Our third match saw # 3 seed Sarah Kippax of England cruise past
Australia's Lisa Camilleri but it was the final match of the evening
that provided the story of the night. Qualifier Olivia Blatchford,
the 17 year old American who benefited from a injury default win
last night over fellow American & # 2 seed Latasha Khan, proved that
she might be a force to be recognized with. She was a bundle of
energy tonight, flying around the court and on top of that, seemed
to really be at home on our show court as she found the nick
frequently on her drops and attacking shots. After the match, she
seemed very excited about her win and it will be a great test to see
how she plays tomorrow afternoon in her semi-final match against the
experienced Sarah Kippax.
18-Feb-10:
Blatchford Progresses In Dayton
US teenager Olivia Blatchford progressed unexpectedly to the
quarter-finals of the Women's EBS Dayton Open - but the success was
at the expense of injured compatriot Latasha Khan in the first round
at Dayton Squash Centre in Dayton, in the US state of Ohio.
"Feeling something had been wrong for a while with her upper left
leg - quadriceps area – Latasha thought it felt good enough to play
our event and not withdraw, but in the first game she knew something
was seriously hurting her and the feisty American qualifier Olivia
Blatchford played hard to win the first game 11- 3," said tournament
organiser Charlie Johnson.
"Not wanting to disappoint the crowd, Latasha tried to continue but
it was just too painful. She retired after losing the first three
points of game two."
Blatchford, a 17-year-old qualifier from New York, will now face
Miranda Ranieri, the eighth seed from Canada who also overcame a
fellow countrywoman, qualifier Carolyn Russell, 11-1, 8-11, 11-6,
12-10.
In another national clash, top seed Kasey Brown was stretched to
four games before beating fellow Australian Amelia Pittock 11-5,
7-11, 11-6, 11-8.
The world No12 from New South Wales will now face Canadian Alana
Miller, the sixth seed, for a place in the last four.
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