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Storming on and off the court!
Ramon Chan-a-Sue reports
After a fairly routine first round of the Delaware State Open,
quarter final night provided some intriguing matchups on court while
off court , one of the most powerful snow storms to hit the Delaware
region is decades was just beginning. However the action on court
immediately grabbed the attention of the members of Vicmead Hunt
Club who came out in the stormy weather to see what this WISPA event
was all about.
The first match on between Canadians Alexandra Norman and
Samantha Cornett proved to be a thrilling and exciting affair
featuring two players whose games match very evenly, with both
players moving well to retrieve the other shots , complemented by
drops and volley drops. Norman the number four seed for this
tournament , came out strong in the first game by forcing the pace
with a couple of long rallies including a twenty shot rally where
both players moved in and out of offence and retrieved balls from
each corner of the court before Cornett tinned a back hand cross
court drop attempt.
This moved Norman to 5-2 and looked like it help turn the momentum
in the game as she stretched it to a 9-2 lead with some help due to
unforced errors from Cornett. A small resistance from Cornett at the
end of the game where she played a bit more patient but this was all
for naught as Norman, forced the pace again and got a error and a
loose ball to put away in the front right corner. The second game
saw Cornett coming out more aggressive, hitting with more pace and
using her reach to cut anything off with impeccable volley drops.
She also cut down her errors and the match was all tied up at one
all. In the third game, Cornett continued along the same lines
cutting the loose balls off and taking advantage of Norman’s loose
length, as a result of her better length. She won quite a few points
using the x-court drop from the back left corner catching Norman
lingering too far behind the “T”.
After taking the third game , it looked like the night would start
off with an upset , but Norman picked up the pace once again and
looked to extend the rallies with constant hitting up and down the
backhand side and just waiting for Cornett to make the mistake which
she did especially on her x-court drops which were working in the
earlier games, but were either hitting the tin or sitting up for
Norman to put away.
At 2-2 all it was anyone’s match and both players came out playing
tactical squash waiting on the other to make an error or for the
loose ball, and so the score went back and forth until Cornett
leading 5-4 in the fifth , and having gotten Norman to play a loose
boast, tinned her drop shot to even the score at 5-5. This look to
give Norman a boost and she went on the win the next two points on
some very nice cut offs, one off a loose x-court and a very delicate
volley drop. From there she closed out the match with a couple of
mistakes from Cornett.
The next on was two teenagers Amanda Sobhy and Salma Nassar.
Sobhy , the teenager coming off her first WISPA title a few weeks
ago in Philadelphia and the number two seed , looked every bit the
player that everyone who knows US squash is raving about. For a 17
year old she has a very mature game, but don’t mistake that for
boring because it is anything but. With nice holds and a deadly
front court game, she will definitely be a main stay of US squash
for as long as she wants. Nassar, possesses a similar game but
tonight she made too many errors and when she was not hitting tin,
Sobhy was making her pay for any loose balls.
Following Sobhy on court was her junior worlds team-mate , Olivia
Blatchford who was taking on the hard hitting Aussie Melody
Francis. Blatchford’s precision game was just too much for
Francis as she used the Australian’s pace against her to hit tight
length and drops shots. Complicating matters for Francis was that
she could not hit a straight drop without hitting the tin, and then
she was made to pay by Blatchford for over hitting her length. This
led to a straight set win for Blatchford and a date with the number
one seed in the semi finals.
The final match of the night , saw the number one seed Miranda
Ranieri and Amelia Pittock of Australia. Pittock is a
relative veteran in this tournament and uses that experience along
with a good blend of volley drops and hard driven length. However,
her opponent tonight bases her game on getting a lot of balls back
and making her opponent pay with long rallies. Although the game
scores were close, the general pattern was the same, with Ranieri
building up just enough pressure at the back end of the games to get
the errors from Pittock. She also advanced in three straight games
and a date with Blatchford in the semi finals.
So it's USA vs CANADA in both semi finals, could this be a preview
of a senior women’s world championship tie in the Fall?
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FINAL
[2] Amanda Sobhy bt
[1] Miranda Ranieri
15/13, 11/9, 8/11, 14/12
STOP PRESS:
Semis postponed to Monday due to bad
weather
"Two foot of snow has fallen, a state of emergency declared, and
they are spending today digging themselves out!"
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 Delaware
State Open 2010
03-07 Feb, Vicmead Hunt Club,
Wilmington, $6k |
Round One
04 Feb |
Quarters
05 Feb |
Semis
07 Feb |
Final
07 Feb |
[1] Miranda Ranieri (Can)
11-4, 11-8, 11-6
[Q] Alexis Saunders (Usa) |
[1] Miranda Ranieri
11-7, 11-9, 13-11
[5] Amelia Pittock |
[1] Miranda Ranieri
11/2, 5/11, 11/7, 4/11, 11/7
[6] Olivia Blatchford |
[1] Miranda Ranieri
15/13, 11/9, 8/11, 14/12
[2] Amanda Sobhy |
[5] Amelia Pittock (Aus)
9-11, 11-7,11-4,11-2
Pamela Anckermann (Gua) |
[3] Melody Francis (Aus)
11-4, 11-8,11-6
Tina Rix (Eng) |
[3] Melody Francis
11/8, 11/8, 12/10
[6] Olivia Blatchford |
[6] Olivia Blatchford (Usa)
11-8, 11-6, 11-6
Thaisa Serafini (Bra) |
Genevieve Lessard (Can)
11-7, 11-7, 11-6
Samantha Cornett (Can) |
Samantha Cornett
11/6, 4/11, 7/11, 11/7, 11/8
[4]
Alexandra Norman |
[4]
Alexandra Norman
11/9, 14/12, 9/11, 11/5
[2] Amanda Sobhy |
Mei Lin Ong (Usa)
11-3,11-7,11-4
[4] Alexandra Norman (Can) |
Salma Nassar (Egy)
11-8,11-9,12-10
[8] Carrie Hastings (Eng) |
Salma Nassar
12-10, 11-9, 11-7
[2] Amanda Sobhy |
Marhan Amr Mahmoud (Egy)
11-3,11-7,11-1
[2] Amanda Sobhy (Usa) |
Qualifying:
ALEXIS SAUNDERS (USA) bt
KATJA AMIR(GER) 11/6,11/3,11/1
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Under way in Wilmington
Ramon Chan-a-Sue reports
After one qualifying this morning, the draw of the 2010 Delaware
State Open presented by Wilmington Trust is now completed. Alexis
Saunders(USA), a US junior team member to the Junior Women's World
Championships in India and local wildcard claimed the final
qualifying spot by defeating Katja Amir of Germany.
The final score was 3-0 with Saunders looking in total command. She
will now move on to play the number one seed from Canada Miranda
Ranieri later in the day..
The main draw got off to a straight forward start with all the seeds
advancing without too much bother. Local wildcard qualifier Alexis
Saunders , after making an unexpected entrance to the main round
this morning ran dead smack into the number one seed from Canada
Miranda Ranieri and while playing consistent squash did not have an
answer for Ranieri’s higher pace and array of shots from all corners
of the court.
The most entertaining match of the night featured Aussie Melody
Francis and England’s Tina Rix. Francis from the outset was
determined to keep the pace high with Rix trying to match her shot
for shot but in the end the Aussie’s ability to mix in a wicked
working boast to go along with the powerful backhand drives
eventually saw her through in straight games.
Tomorrow’s quarter final match ups will feature two young lefties ,
one from the USA , Amanda Sobhy and the other from Egypt, Salma
Nassar. This could be a start of a new rivalry as both players are
very fast and adept at holding the ball, and possess the court speed
to catch up to anything their opponents throws at them.
The other interesting match-up should be the number one seed Ranieri
against Amelia Pittock, the number five seed and former top 30
player now residing in the US. It is sure to come down to a battle
of who is the fittest player.
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Happy 19th Samantha!
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