Latasha
Khan claimed the Goshen Open title with a straight-game win over top
seed Sharon Wee in the final.
Sharon started playing much more conventionally than she had the
rest of the week, but soon saw that she had to try to win the race
as well as run it. The rallies were long, varied, and used the whole
court, but Latasha was just too good at keeping the ball off
Sharon's racquet tonight.
Latasha's length, width, and reaction gave Sharon little to attack
on, and gave Khan enough winning opportunities to claim her first
Goshen title.
Top seeds Sharon Wee and Latasha Khan progressed to the final in
Indiana. Latasha's pressure through length, width, and pace gave
Miranda Ranieri little to work with, leading to frustration and
errors from the Canadian, and a place in the final for Khan.
Wee continued to use great touch, court sense, and anticipation as
she made life difficult for her second American teen in as many
nights. Amanda Sobhy had her moments of strength where she kept
Sharon under pressure and behind her, but was not consistent enough
to deny Sharon her second straight year in the Goshen final.
Belkys Magaly Velez (Ecu)
bye
Karina Gonzalez (Mex) v Natalie Babjukova (Cze)
11/3, 11/4, 8/11, 12/14, 11/5 (38m)
Nayelly Hernandez (Mex)
bt Katja Amir (Ger)
11/2, 11/0, 11/5 (17m)
Susannah King (Eng)
bt Lia Noguez (Mex) 11/8,
11/2/, 11/5 (21m)
19-May, Quarters: Sobhy & Ranieri make Goshen Semis
Top seeds Sharon Wee and Latasha Khan both made
comfortable enough progress in the Goshen Open quarter-finals,
beating Olivia Blatchford and Tara Mullins in straight games, but
both face unexpected opposition in the semi-finals.
Wee meets US teenager Amanda Sobhy, who overcame English
qualifier Suzannah King in five games, while Khan faces Canada's
Miranda Ranieri, who beat Welsh fourth seed Deon Saffery.
In the first match of the quarterfinals night here in Goshen began
both players started strong. With back and forth point winning, the
match seemed a toss up; Latasha and Tara hitting good solid length,
the rallies long and well thought out. Second seed Khan applied
enormous pressure on her Canadian opponent, volleying every ball
possible. Tara having applied her own pressure on Khan in the
beginning of the game, was left on her heels as Latasha finished the
game 11-8.
The experienced American pounded the backhand side with strong
length, carefully running Mullins around with working, two wall
boasts. At 7-4 to Khan, an exciting rally began. Lasting nearly 100
shots in lengths, this rally was most definitely the deciding rally
of the game. Latasha, having won that rally, went on to win the game
11-4, Mullins unfortunately putting many into the tin, clearly
discouraged from losing the marathon rally.
As the game score came 2-0, Mullins arrived on court set to come
back. Fighting to stay in it, Tara pushed herself forward to get
back to 7-8. Latasha using her signature forehand kill to apply
maximum pressure was simply too strong for Tara tonight, claiming
the match, 11-7 in the third.
Miranda Ranieri 3-1 Deon Saffery
With a long rally to start the game, Ranieri took early control of
the reins, leading 5-1. Deon, now representing Wales, was hitting
the ball well, however found herself slightly susceptible to
Miranda’s quick trickle boasts and counter drops. Miranda trudged
forward, both girls tightening their length, becoming more frugal
with their drops, winning the game with solid score of 11-6.
After a 90 second break, Saffery came out gunning, sprinting ahead
to 6-0 before Miranda had a chance to gain any of her footing.
Taking the ball in short with authority and precision, Miranda found
pressure reversal, as she struggled to retrieve Deon’s attacking
shots. The young Canadian continued to fight, clawing back to 7-10.
During this point, several retrieves were made by the deft Ranieri
and though she had initially won the rally, Saffery appealed the
pick up, and the referees denied Miranda the point, the game going
to Deon 11-7.
Tied 1-1, each of the players dug in deep forcing each rally to
become increasingly longer than the one before. Back and forth,
until about 4-4, Ranieri began to pull away, retrieving every ball,
consistently sending each shot into the four corners. Moving ahead
to 9-6 Ranieri remained in control sending Deon diving onto the
floor in several occasions. The crowd applauded boisterously as Deon
threw herself four times across the court, though in the end Miranda
won with a dying forehand drive. Ranieri claiming the game 11-6
after Deon buried the last into the tin.
Wide crosscourt lengths seem to be the favorite shot of the game as
Miranda and Deon working each other side to side, both vying for
control of the T. Each opponent having their flows and ebbs, it was
the young Canadian Ranieri who flew through at 6-6 to claim the
match 11-7 in the fourth, a good win for the seventh seeded Miranda
over fourth seeded Saffery.
Amanda Sobhy 3-2 Suzie King
Unfortunately I was unable to watch most of the match, however, my
grandmother took some notes, so I’ll be able to deduce a few things
about what happened.
It was an epic battle between the English native and the on the rise
young American. Both girls on the attack, taking it in short, Amanda
just that inch more efficient in her movement, as well as more
astute in her shot selection. Amanda won the first a comfortable
11-7, but at this point the battle had only just begun.
In the second Suzie came out more aggressive, with more confidence
in her length, forcing mistakes from Amanda. As it seesawed back and
forth, this time it was King who flew away with the game 11-6.
Sobhy soared from the start, taking a flaring lead of 6-1, unforced
errors off the serve from King, and a handful of breathtaking volley
intercept drop shots. Having taken this startling lead, Sobhy, to
Suzie’s delight, began to relax, producing a few careless shots. The
match leveled off, though Sobhy regaining her focus played to 9-6.
However, with unforced errors of her own, Sobhy tightened the gap,
King taking control, saving a game ball for Sobhy, taking the game
13-11.
Obviously using much of her energy to recapture the third game,
Suzie fell behind, as Sobhy regained her focus, applying loads of
pressure to her opponent, to win the fourth 11-2.
With only one game left to go, both girls retrieved a fire from
within, to continue on fighting. Both King and Sobhy on the attack,
were hunting the volley, Sobhy using the working boast to move the
Englishwoman around, King placing defensive counter drops. It became
sticky at 10-6 match ball to Sobhy as King continued to fight,
getting back to 8-10. However forcing a mistake from King, Sobhy
claimed the match, yet another good win for the young American, 11-8
in the fifth.
Sharon Wee 3-0 Olivia Blatchford
The first game started with Blatchford frozen in her tracks, Sharon
pouncing on the American's weak backhand length. Inhibited by poor
length, and unforced errors into the tin, Blatchford could gain no
momentum, Wee taking the ball in short, ending each rally with
either a dying length or a delicate shot short, and won the game
11-2, barely breaking a sweat.
Continuing her good play Wee brought her rhythm into the second,
however fortunately Blatchford seemed to be trying new tactics,
lifting the ball better, and executing a few short. Going back and
forth until 8-8, Blatchford manage to get ahead 10-9 with a shot at
taking the second game, however could not convert. And with a few
controversial calls, the game ended with a tight backhand ball from
Blatchford, however picked up by Wee to hit the frame and nick into
the front.
The third game began, relatively tight in score. Blatchford, burying
hard kills in the tin, allowed Sharon a lead of 7-4. Wee hitting a
few tins herself, as well as a good forehand drop by Blatchford,
allowed Blatchford back in, the American leading 8-7. As it came to
8-8 playing length down the backhand wall, Wee producing a weak
ball, Blatchford attempting to take it in hard, heard the shrilling
sound of the tin. Moving on, the experience Malaysian traversed on,
hitting a length to deep and dead for Blatchford to retrieve, Wee
winning the match 11-8 in the third.
18-May, Round One: US Juniors progress in Goshen Olivia Blatchford reports
The
first round of the Subway Goshen Open in Indiana - in the unique
setting of Jim and Karen Wellington's house - saw two of the US's
top juniors, Olivia Blatchford and Amanda Sobhy, produce
upset wins to reach the quarter-finals.
Blatchford now meets top seed Sharon Wee while Sobhy faces Suzannah
King, the English qualifier who produced the third upset of the the
round.
In the bottom half of the draw the USA's second seed Latasha Khan
meets Tara Mullins while fellow-Canadian Miranda Ranieri faces
Wales' Deon Saffery.
Deon Saffery 3-0 Tatiana Damasio Borges
Starting the game with good, solid length both Tatiana and Deon hit
their targets in the back, though with a few tight short shots as
well as two unforced errors produced by Deon, Tatiana took the lead
4-1. Clamping down, Deon leveled at 5-5. For the rest of the game
each player producing fair shares of both brilliant winners, and
ill-timed tins, Deon took the first game 11-8.
With a blaring start, Deon took immediate control with excruciating
length and the execution of several drop shots, taking the lead 6-2.
Although fighting back to 6-4 Tatiana was denied the opportunity to
attack, and Deon continued to win the game 11-5, quite comfortably
due to untimely errors from Tatiana.
The third game began again with Deon taking the reins, the ball
seeming to move at a quicker pace. The rallies became shorter, and
with a good hand, Deon lead 6-0. Again Tatiana managed to dig in,
nipping at Deon’s heals at 7-5. With the addition of Deon’s
disabling holds, it was too much for Tatiana, Deon taking the match
3-0.
Tara Mullins 3-0 Belkys Velez
Tara Mullins, proving her sixth seed status settled into the match
with a big lead in the first, controlling the T, unforgiving for any
and every of Belkys’ ill-timed drops. To take the first 11-2 she was
much aided by the native Equadorian’s unfortunately many unforced
tins.
In the beginning of the second, both players elevated their games,
especially Belkys who managed to edge ahead with a few delicate
cross drops. Tara tightening her game back up, showed excellent
patience to control 8-4.
Forcing a few tins from Mullins, Velez scrambled back to 6-9 but was
not accurate enough, as the Canadian took the game 11-6. With an
incredible pace, Tara sped her way to 9-1. This deficit was too
difficult to overcome, Mullins easing her way past Belkys 11-3, and
into the quarterfinals.
Sharon Wee 3-0 Imelda Salazar Martinez
With the pace of the ball moving rapidly, the number one seed,
showed authority over her fiery Mexican opponent. With an instant
lead 7-2, it seemed as though the game would go quickly. It was not.
Imelda, increasingly playing well though initially a step too slow
for the quick footed Sharon, rallied back, and with a small lapse in
concentration from the her Malaysian opponent, Imelda got back to
7-8. At this point a let was called, a let considered to be a
‘number one seed let’ ( most anyone else who called it would
probably not have been given this privilege.) Sharon, with her
opponent discouraged by the previous call continued to finish the
game 11-7.
Sharon buckling down, extinguishing all errors, breezed by taking
the second with control, Imelda struggling due to Sharon’s dying
length and point accurate short shots.
Deftly using her legs in every stroke, Sharon placed the ball in
every one of the four corners, denying Imelda of any opportunities.
Still, Imelda staying in with every rally, fought and fought.
Unfortunately little could be done to penetrate Sharon’s solid play,
and with brilliant shot selection the number one seed won the match
on a lovely drive to the back 11-3 in the third.
Latasha Khan 3-0 Nayelly Hernandez
Goshen’s number two seed, Latasha Khan, used her years of experience
to claim her match today 3-0. Nayelly came out strong, defending
well and putting Latasha under serious pressure as she continued to
retrieve each ball. However in sticky circumstances at 7-7 Latasha
pulled through to win the game 11-8.
Nayelly playing a very handsome game of squash kept Latasha
completely alert, however in the second game professionalism and
experience persevered as Nayelly surrendered tins, and Latasha
ceased to hit any, consistently executing to take the game 11-4.
With both players red in the face, the battle continued however it
seemed to be that Nayelly no longer had her initial full tank of
gas, and Latasha continued to pound the back corners with good
length, taking the ball in short with confidence taking the match
11-1 in the third.
Miranda Raneiri 3-0 Karina Gonzalez
The up and coming, previously inter-collegiate champion, Canada’s
Miranda Ranieri proved to be in fine form taking the first game 11-4
against her Mexican opponent Karina Gonzalez. Working the ball
around with accuracy, the speedy Canadian forced unforced errors
from Karina with good length. Karina, hitting the ball fluidly, was
unfortunately unable to interrupt Miranda’s rhythm.
Miranda’s rhythm continued into the second game, quite obviously in
her ideal performance state, Karina was unable to receive any gift
from Miranda, and due to Miranda’s tight balls, the Mexican was
unlucky in hitting a few too many tins, Ranieri claiming the game
11-2.
Gaining some momentum, Karina began the game strong, competing with
Miranda. At 4-4 Ranieri turned up the pace yet again, and
unfortunately Karina produced the balls that were wanted. Continuing
on her path, Miranda definitively finished the match 11-4.
Amanda Sobhy 3-1 Kylie Lindsay
An excellent display of the finest level squash, US Junior Amanda
Sobhy showed her potential as a squash player. Kylie, a player with
brilliant hands, was just one step too slow to overcome the American
junior. Both Kylie and Amanda playing accurate shots, each girl
effectively moving each other around the court, though when Kylie
would hit a loose crosscourt Amanda took it in, with a finishing
volley drop. Amanda squeezed by to win the game a close 11-9.
As the second game began, Amanda gained more momentum, taking time
away from Kylie, who raced around the court retrieving at full speed
Amanda finished the game 11-5.
After 2 games of tough play, Sobhy had seemed to be in control
quickly getting 6-2 ahead. But Kylie wasn’t finished. As Kylie began
to climb her way back, the young American showed the first signs of
anxiousness. Nearing the end of the game, the match turned
bloodbath. At 12-11 match ball for Amanda, the rarest thing in
refereeing occurred. Each of the three referees completely
disagreed. Stroke, No let, and Let were equally divided between each
referee. After this controversial event, Kylie went to claim the
game 14-12.
With Kylie gaining confidence one might have assumed that Amanda had
suffered a lapse in her own assurance. This was not the case. Tied
until 5-5, Kylie surrendered 4 tins to give Amanda the lead. With a
lead like this Amanda soared onward to capture the match 11-6. Most
definitely Sobhy’s best result so far.
Olivia Blatchford 3-1 Sam Cornett
Quite interestingly, I suppose I will be writing my own match
report. I’m pretty sure that’s a first, but It’s probably a really
good thing to be able to reflect about what happened from both
players aspects, you know the ebb and flow. Anyways I’m just going
to call myself Blatchford, to simplify things.
Cornett, an up and coming, Canadian Junior came out firing on all
cylinders. Flying ahead 7-1 in under a guesstimated 4 minutes,
Blatchford seemed out of sorts. Cornett, using Blatchford’s failing
start, took advantage of the American’s weak play. However,
Blatchford seemed to pull it together, getting back to 9-7. Having
managed to get it back, Blatchford got the game, Cornett quite
discouraged, the game ending 11-9.
Sam never gives you anything, deceptively tricky in the back, took a
3-1 lead early in the game. Both players enjoyed tight rallying
along the left side. However a few weak cross courts from Cornett
gave Blatchford her volleying opportunity (much to Blatchford’s
delight) Blatchford continued through with another lapse in
concentration for at 10-3 game ball, banging 2 balls into the tin,
and 2 wonderfully executed rallies by Cornett to become 10-7.
Blatchford went on to win the game 11-7.
The young Canadian, never gave up, taking complete control of the
3rd. With beautifully placed forehand drop shots, she took the game
11-4, with little competition from Blatchford.
The fourth game, beginning with Blatchford on full attacking mode,
taking in the volley short , lead the game 6-1. Though initially
flat footed Cornett fought hard, gaining her footing, though
Blatchford lead 10-5 match ball. Making yet another comeback,
Cornett got back to 8-10 with Blatchford showing signs of
nervousness, but to Blatchford luck, Sam retrieved a ball sending it
out to end the match.
Ok I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit odd writing about yourself.
However a note, Sam is a fantastic player, as well as a truly
honorable sportswoman, you probably can’t find a young player better
behaved and kinder than Sam!
Suzie King 3-0 Stephanie Edmison
Suzie King now based in Calgary Canada, put on a stellar performance
tonight, overcoming the seeded Canadian. Suzie never seemed to
falter, playing tight up the side walls, and taking the ball short
with conviction and confidence. Due to the English woman’s
consistent accuracy, Edmison was given little opportunity to attack
and control. Stephanie seemed a bit dazed by Suzie’s stinging
length. However, Edmison fought to the best of her ability, just
missing out on the first game; 11-9.
The second game, much like the first game, consisted of blistering
length from King and good retrieving by Stephanie. Both girls
battling for control, again Suzie’s persistent, brilliant, good
length put Stephanie on the defensive, where she was unable to
interrupt Suzie’s rhythm. Suzie finished the game 11-6.
Edmison, starting to show signs of fatigue was unable to pick up the
last game, as Suzie continued on strong finishing the match 11-7.
Right now its 10:53, and me and our wonderful tech- extraordinaire
Dave (he’s slaving away making every one DVD’s of their matches…I
know amazing…) are sitting here. The Wellingtons (Jim, Karen, Mia,
Wynn, Pi, and Delta –their German Shepard) have been absolutely the
definition of hospitable. They have done a fabulous job of promoting
the tournament, and have truly opened their hearts to each and every
player here.
Anyways goodnight, see you early tomorrow morning (8:45 am) that’s
the first practice court time. The front wall is one of our walls in
the apartment, the perfect alarm clock for a squash player.
