10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (66m)

[4] Raphael Kandra

2nd-Feb, Semis:
Taylor Martin reports

Our semi-final matches here in Medicine Hat have come to an exciting close, the results from today are as follows:

Jan Koukal beat Farhan Zaman 3-0
                    11-8, 11-6, 11-7 in 44 minutes.

These two players had extremely different playing styles, Zaman with his front court finess could not find purchase with Koukal's methodical containment. After an injury in the second game of the match, Koukal turned over to force Zaman to play at the pace he chose.

Raphael Kandra beat Andrew Schnell 3-1
                   5-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 in 58 minutes.

This match set off some serious fireworks, even though the scores did not express a great match the rallies told a different story. Playing similar game plans had these two warriors bounding around the court like animals.

Kandra's excellent volley kept Schnell on his toes and definitely put some miles on the young Canadian. Some of the greatest rallies came in the fourth game when both players played repetitive short shots followed by explosive gets. An excellent show of sportsmanship and athletic ability.

Tomorrow Jan Koukal (the number 1 seed) squares off against Raphael Kandra (third seed) for the first ever Gas City title.

1st-Feb

Quarters - Taylor Martin reports

Andrew Schnell beat Scott Arnold 3-0
                        11-3, 11-3, 11-5 in 35 min.

Andrew came out and played a stronger game than his first round. Cutting the ball in and moving with lightning speed around the court. The speed of Schnell's feet did not allow Scott's attacks to gain purchase, this may have been the quickest match of the day but it was full of good strong rallies.

Raphael Kandra beat Reuben Phillips 3-1
               11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9 in 58 min.

This was a great match to watch, Raphael put on pressure from the beginning and didn't let up. Reuben kept in the game with determination and grit, but the ball placement of Kandra taxed him by the end.

Farhan Zaman beat Dane Sharp 3-1
               6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 in 55 min.

This was a very fast paced game with great rallies of offence. Dane played very strong but Farhan's persistant attacks overwhelmed the Canadian to win the match.

Jan Koukal beat Richard Birks 3-1
               12-10, 11-13, 11-5, 12-10 in 52 min.

Jan showed the true fundamentals of squash in his second game, keeping pressure on with simple shots and slowing the game down in defence when he was in trouble. Richard stayed in strong but could not capitalize enough from Jan's steady play.

1st-Feb

First Round - Taylor Martin reports

We have finished the first round here in Medicine Hat, we had an exciting day of squash matches and they came out of the wash as follows:

Andrew Schnell won over Matthew Serediak 3-1.
        12-14, 11-1, 11-6, 11-9 in a 40 min match. The only Canadian vs Canadian match of the day went in Andrews favour. After a shaky start he was able to draw in and put the pressure on after the first match. He looks in great form to carry on into the weekend.

Jan Koukal beat Michael McCue 3-1.
        11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5 in a 41 min match.

Dane Sharp beat Christopher Binnie 3-0.
           11-5, 11-6, 11-3 in a 46 min match. This match was a bump and grind battle between these two players. Dane was able to keep his unforced errors to a minimum and kept up the pressure to chisel out a 3-0 victory.

Raphael Kandra beat David Letourneau 3-1.
         8-11, 11-1, 12-10, 11-6 in a 53 min match. Even though David lost the match he played amazing, this was the best match of the day with fast paced rallies and a definite chess game strategy aspect involved. Raphael came out on top with an 11-1 score in the second game even though there were some of the best rallies of the match.

Scott Arnold beat Thomas Brinkman 3-2.
       11-13, 11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6 in the longest match of the day at 62 minutes. This was an evenly matched battle that could have gone either way. Thomas made a few errors in crucial rallies that set him back, but overall they both played very well.

Reuben Phillips beat Tyler Hamilton 3-0. 13-11, 11-5, 12-11 in a 40 min match. Each match between these players was quite even, Reuben was able to seal up the games with a few finely placed back side wall knicks that took Tyler off his edge.

Farhan Zaman beat Gavin Lee Perrett 3-0. 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 in a 34 min match. Even though this match was the quickest it had by far the most aggressive rallies. Farhan did not wait a rally before going for nicks, Gavin did an amazing job of retrieving the ball and following it up with an equally aggressive attacks. The number of times full out splits were done to retrieve a ball by both players made every spectators legs hurt. This was an amazing match to watch especially being so early on in the tournament.

Richard Birks beat Jonathan Geekie 3-0. 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 in a 45 min match. These players really battled it out to start the tournament. This match really could have gone either way, with long testing rallies and smart play they put on a great show to start off the day.

Andrew Schnell beat Scott Arnold 3-0. 11-3, 11-3, 11-5 in 35 min. Andrew came out and played a stronger game than his first round. Cutting the ball in and moving with lightning speed around the court. The speed of Schnell's feet did not allow Scott's attacks to gain purchase, this may have been the quickest match of the day but it was full of good strong rallies.

Raphael Kandra beat Reuben Phillips 3-1. 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9 in 58 min. This was a great match to watch, Raphael put on pressure from the beginning and didn't let up. Reuben kept in the game with determination and grit, but the ball placement of Kandra taxed him by the end.

Farhan Zaman beat Dane Sharp 3-1. 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 in 55 min. This was a very fast paced game with great rallies of offence. Dane played very strong but Farhan's persistant attacks overwhelmed the Canadian to win the match.

Jan Koukal beat Richard Birks 3-1. 12-10, 11-13, 11-5, 12-10 in 52 min. Jan showed the true fundamentals of squash in his second game, keeping pressure on with simple shots and slowing the game down in defence when he was in trouble. Richard stayed in strong but could not capitalize enough from Jan's steady play.