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Salazar Upsets Galvez
for Guatemala Title
National pride was at stake when fellow Mexicans Eric Galvez and
Arturo Salazar battled for the Internacional Sporta Open title after
reaching the finalin Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala.
And for the second time since their last Tour meeting in November
2008, it was underdog Salazar who prevailed.
The second seed from San Luis Potosi took the opening two games
against Galvez, the top seed.
But world No51 Galvez fought back to take the next two games to draw
level.
Salazar, ranked three places lower, held his nerve, however, and
took the decider to claim his title-winning 11-2, 11-9, 6-11, 10-12,
11-6 victory.
The success extends Salazar's unbeaten record in PSA finals,
bringing his career tally to five titles - and boost his chances of
overtaking rival Galvez in the PSA world rankings to become the
top-ranked Mexican for the first time.
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 IIl
Torneo Internacional Sporta 2010
11-16 May, Guatemala, $15k |
Round One
13 May |
Quarters
14 May |
Semis
15 May |
Final
16 May |
[2] Eric Galvez (Mex)
11/5 - 5/11 - 11/8 - 11/4
[Q] Anthony Graham (Eng) |
[2] Eric Galvez
11-5, 11-5, 11-6
[Q] Rodrigo Torres |
[2] Eric Galvez
13-11, 2-11, 15-13, 8-11, 11-6
[3] Stéphane Galifi |
[2] Eric Galvez
11-2, 11-9, 6-11, 10-12, 11-6
[1] Arturo Salazar |
[5] Chris Gordon (Usa)
11/9 - 6/11 - 11/5 - 11/4
[Q] Rodrigo Torres (Col) |
[3] Stéphane Galifi (Ita)
11/4 - 12/10 - 11/2
Maxym Leclair (Can) |
[3] Stéphane Galifi
11-9, 11-5, 11-3
[7] James Snell |
[7] James Snell (Eng)
11/0 - 11/3 - rtd
[Q] Sergio Lopez (Mex) |
Thomas Brinkman (Can)
11/8 - 11/1 - 11/5
[6] Eddie Charlton (Eng) |
[6] Eddie Charlton
11-9, 11-2, 11-6
[4] Cesar Salazar |
[4] Cesar Salazar
11-4, 11-5, 11-6
[1] Arturo Salazar |
Tiago Cabral (Bra)
11/6 - 11/4 - 11/6
[4] Cesar Salazar (Mex) |
[Q] Omar El Kashef (Egy)
11/6 - 11/4 - 6/11 - 11/9
[8] Chris Truswell (Eng) |
[Q] Omar El Kashef
11-5, 11-6, 11-8
[1] Arturo Salazar |
Matthew Serediak (Can)
11/4 - 11/4 - 11/5
[1] Arturo Salazar (Mex) |
Qualifying Finals:
Omar El
Kashef bt Adam Murrils
3/1
Anthony Graham bt Josh Cardwell
3/0
Sergio Lopez bt Nahuel Ramos
3/2
Rodrigo Torres bt Antonio de la Torre 3/0
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Quarters in Guatemala
Vyvian Lopez reports
Another amazing night at sporta Gym in Guatemala. As the Squash
games was so much entertaining for the crowds.
The first match was between the talented italian Stephen Galifi and
the english James snell. A great first game between both players
with Snell trying to conquer the T with his tight straight drives
while Galifi is trying to vary his shots and hitting more. Galifi
managed to win the first game 11/9 with a great volley cross court.
In the second, Galifi seemed to find the way to take Snell to his
game and started hitting soft tight shots at the backhand corner and
attacking with straight drops whenever he finds an opening to win
11/5.
The third one the crowd expected a comeback from Snell who started
the game hitting hard but soon he gave up trying and going for shot
to give Galifi the first spot in the semi-final. 11/9 11/5 11/3 28
mins
The second match saw the crowd's favourite Eddie Charlton playing
against the Mexican Ceasar Salazar. Both players started very well
showing a lot of skills. Salazar attacking shots made a slight
difference at the end of the game.
The second game had a great game with the englishman failed to move
him around. The third Charlton found his shots more before losing
his patience to the foavour of the dangerous Salazare to end up the
11/6. 11/9 11/2 11/6 32 mins
The third match was the No2 seed Eric Galvez of Mexico and the
Colombian Rodrigo Torres. Galvez arranged his hard shots very well.
He didn't give any chance to his opponent to get to his game. While
the Colombian was trying to hit his great lobs and drops. Galvez
fast paced game never seemed to affect his precision. The third game
Galvez made it easily before Torres Started hitting great nicks and
drop shot to win 5 points in a row. But Galvez refocused and won the
the last point easily though. 11/5 11/5 11/6 30 mins
The match of the night was between the No1 seed, the Mexican Arturo
Salazar and the Egyptian Omar El-Kashef.El Kashef started the first
game playing trying to play tight shots and attacking with his super
volleys. However, Salazar retrieved the killer drop shots with his
great speed and agility. At 4/4 Salazar started to put El Kashef
under more pressure which forced El Kashef to hit more tins to
finish up the game to Salazar's favour 11/6.
The Second game Salazar started playing with faster pace and trying
to attack more. But El Kashef seemed to be in control with his
delicate drops and lobs before Salazar started to take over again
with some great straight drives. El Kashef started hitting tins
again at the end especially at the backhand side and Salazar to the
advantage and won the game 11/6.
The third game produced great Squash from both players with great
attacking skills from both sides. Salazar looked fitter and faster
but El Kashef never gave up getting every shot with another
attacking shot. El Kashef went up 8/7 and Salazar decided to play
more defensive again. After very long rallies, Salazar won the game
while the Egyptian shot maker looked very tired. Great Squash and
sportsmanship from both players! 11/6 11/6 11/8 49 mins |
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Round One in Guatemala
Eddie Charlton reports
 The
opening match between James Snell and Sergio Lopez was a
disappointment for the locals who turned out to support the local
coach. From the opening rallies it was clear Lopez had no intention
of pushing himself hard enough to trouble Snell who was comfortably
leading 2/0 before Lopez retired for no real reason.
The second match proved to be one of the best matches of the day.
Chris Gordon got out of the blocks slowly with Rodrigo Torres
taking full advantage moving the ball in short with ease. Gordon
started to move more freely in the second but Torres again was happy
to take the ball in short much to his reward. It must be said the
Torres played extremely well today and was particularly impressive
with the quality and consistency of short ball which proved to be a
major factor and left Gordon fatigued toward the latter part of the
match.
Anthony Graham and Eric Galvez provided another great match
much to the crowds delight with Galvez coming through a tough 4 game
victory. Eric was dominant throughout the first with Anthony
struggling to execute any real game plan. The second and third games
were much better for Graham as he started to vary the pace and get
Galvez moving with a lot less fluidity. Graham took the second and
competed for almost all of the third until a few crucial errors
proved the deciding factor. Galvez ran away in the forth but Graham
competed well and can be pleased with his performance.
Next on was myself with Canadian Thomas Brinkman, I started
out slowly and Brinkman took full advantage of that. I gradually
found my length which has proved difficult on the bouncy court. I
took the first 11/8 and started well in the second to gain a 7/0
lead finishing the game 11/2. The third started well for Brinkman as
his boasts were again paying off, after a couple of longer rallies
he seamed to tire slightly which I tried to take full advantage of.
I took the third 11/5 and sealed a much appreciated 3/0 victory.
The 5pm match between my room mate Chris Truswell and Omar El
Kashef proved to be a see-saw affair not too dis-similar to El
Kashefs match yesterday. Kashef again racing to a 2/0 lead before
Truswell employed the correct tactic to trouble the shot maker. The
fourth again saw Kashef take a substantial lead and hold it all the
way through to 10/6 before Truswell staged a mini-comeback to 9/10.
Following a long rally with both players stretching corner to corner
Kashef finished the point and the match with a tight backhand drop
much to myself and the crowds disappointment. A good performance
again from El Kashef who im sure will be ecstatic to be in the
quarter finals.
Next up was Italian/Frenchman Stephane Galifi against French
Canadian Maxym Leclair. Galifi looked to be in good form
playing with class and fluidity as he can, moving the ball into all
the right areas and working Leclair. A tight second left Leclair
fatigued going into the third. Galifi always looked in control and
produced some breathtaking winners much to the crowds delight.
The penultimate match featured Mexican Arturo Salazar and
Canadian Matt Serediak. Arturo started the better using his
trademark backhand to drop to great effect. Serediak started to get
going half way through the first and continued throughout the match.
The scoreline doesn't do Serediak justice as he dominated a lot of
the rallies but struggled to provide the finishing blow. Some great
squash played by both with Salazars speed impressive throughout.
The final match featured Arturo's twin Cesar and Brazilian
Tiago Cabral. Cabral having just flown in and making to the club
just in time for his match. Cabral competed well in the first but
depleted towards the business end of the match maybe down to poor
preparation for the match.
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Late changes in Guatemala
Eddie Charlton reports
Day
two saw some much closer match ups with the crowd really getting
involved in all of the matches.
First on court was local coach Segio Lopez who took on
Argentinian Nahuel Ramos. Nahuel started out dominantly
moving his opponent around with accurately placed drops. Lopez
started to move more fluently towards the end of the match which
proved the deciding factor as he took the fifth 12/10.
Next up was Rodrigo Torres against last local hope Antonio
De La Torre. Antonio couldn't reproduce his performance of
yesterday and looked slightly impatient from the start not helped by
the fact Torres is a very capable player and rarely makes errors.
The last two matches of the evening saw the English duo Anthony
Graham and Adam Murrills bid for the final to spots in
the main draw.
First up Graham took on Australian Josh Cardwell. The first
games proved crucial as Graham staged a mini come back to take it
and never looked back. Dominating the "T" Graham dictated play with
Cardwell struggling to find any answers on a bouncy court. At 2/0 up
Graham never looked like losing and half way through the third that
was confirmed when Cardwell fell awkwardly on his ankle which led to
an injury break (which Graham made sure was kept to 3minutes!).
After the short break Cardwell to his credit came back and completed
the match to the best of his abilities but Graham proved to solid
and moved into the main draw with a 3/0 victory.
Last up was Murrills against Egyptian Omar El Kashef. Kashef
started out well with well constructed attacks and low hard kills
which left Murrills struggling to get into much of a rhythm. After a
quick fire first two games Murrills found himself struggling to keep
El Kashef from dominating rallies and firing winners at will.
The third was much better from Murrills with a combination better
length and less errors the momentum was slowly shifting with
Murrills taking the game. The fourth saw El Kashef again find an
array of winners and get a quick lead, Murrills to his credit fought
valiantly but it wasnt enough to prevent the Egyptian from grabbing
the final main draw spot.
El Kashef's reward is a match up against No. 8 seed Chris Truswell,
Anthony plays No.2 seed Eric Galvez, Rodrigo Torres faces American
Chris Gordon and Segio Lopez faces Englishman James Snell.
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Late changes in Guatemala
Eddie Charlton reports
 A
couple of late withdrawals from Miguel Rodriguez and Robin Clarke
meant that both Tiago Cabral and Maxym Leclair
benefited by claiming two last minute main draw slots.
James Snell and Chris Truswell were similarly
fortunate as they were both bumped up into a top 8 seeding.
After a small amount of confusion with the qualifying draw time and
a high volume of local traffic which left Adam Murrils and
Anthony Graham arriving with minutes to spare (by motorbike).
Locals fall in qualifying
Day one of qualifying saw an end to almost all local hopes, straight
forward victories for Murrils, Graham, Omar el Kashef and
club pro Sergio Lopez. The only casualty was No. 3 seed in
the qualifying draw Armando Olguin who lost to promising local
player Antonio De La Torre (much to the crowd's delight).
The qualifying finals line-up is as follows;
Omar El Kashef vs Adam Murrils
Anthony Graham bt Josh Cardwell
Sergio Lopez vs Nahuel Ramos
Rodrigo Torres vs Antonio de la Torre
The English duo will be looking to upset the seedings and book a
place in the main draw where they can expect to face one of Eric
Galvez, Chris Gordon, James Snell or Chris Truswell, a mouth
watering prospect.
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