26-Aug, Final:
Waters takes Matamata title
Gary Denvir reports

Disappointment for New Zealand squash star Joelle King.

The world number 13 has fallen just short of adding another WSA World Tour title to her resume, beaten in a five game thriller by England's Alison Waters in the final of the Matamata Open.

King twice fought back from a game down to be level at 2-all at one stage, with the fifth game decider promising to be a nail biter.

Cheered on by a partisan Waikato crowd, King pushed Waters all the way, but the former world number three weathered the storm to grind out an 11-5, 8-11, 15-13, 7-11, 13-11 in a grueling 83 minute encounter.

It is the fifth WSA title Waters has claimed since returning to the court earlier this year after recovering from a serious knee injury.

Massive match today. Alison did unbelievably well to back up three days in a row, three matches over an hour!

She did well to stick in in the end when Joelle had matchballs in the fifth and kept her composure well.

Joelle was unlucky today but played well all tournament and can be very proud of her effort ... she gave it everything.

Very happy with how the tournament went....was an absolute pleasure having all the girls here and I know everyone at the club thought they were all fantastic.

 11/2, 11/8, 11/5 (36m

[4] Joelle King

11/5, 8/11, 15/13, 7/11, 13/11 (83m

Alison Waters

9/11, 11/7, 11/13, 11/7, 11/5 (78m

[5] Low Wee Wern

22-Aug, Qualifying Finals :

Line Hansen (Den) 3-1  Amanda Landers-Murphy (Nzl)   11/1, 11/9, 5/11, 11/5 (30m)
Lisa Aitken (Sco) 3-1 Siyoli Waters (Rsa)                     16/14, 8/11, 11/7, 11/6 (65m)
Tesni Evans (Wal) 3-0 Olga Ertlova (Cze)                               11/9, 11/8, 11/7 (31m)
Amanda Sobhy (Usa) 3-0 Megan Craig (Nzl)                           11/2, 11/4, 11/4 (17m)

21-Aug, Qualifying Round One:

Lisa Aitken (Sco) bt Chloé Mesic (Fra)                     11/3, 11/0, 11/4 (18m)
Megan Craig (Nzl) bt Genevieve Lessard (Can)        11/8, 11/3, 11/6 (24m)

25-Aug, Semis:
Commanding King to face dangerous Waters
Gary Denvir reports

A superb performance from New Zealand's Joelle King in the semifinals of the WSA World Tour's Matamata Open.

The world number 13 is through the final after a convincing straight games win over fellow Kiwi Jaclyn Hawkes. Fourth seeded King started strongly, taking the first game with ease, and never took her foot off the gas as she racked up an impressive 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 victory in just over half an hour.

"Pleased to get through in three, Jax has been playing so well all week. The job isn't done yet, looking forward to playing tomorrow in front of a home crowd !!!!!"

Joelle King 

Her opponent in the final is the resurgent Alison Waters from England.

Waters is on the comeback from a serious knee injury, but looked none-the-worse-for-wear in a marathon five game victory over fifth seeded Malaysian Low Wee Wern.

The former world number three twice bounced back from a game down to win 9-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 11-5 in a grueling 78 minutes.

"Pleased to win a tough five setter with Wee Wern today!

"She played really well and I had to dig deep to get it back after being 2-1 down!

"Really pleased to be in the final and looking forward to playing Joelle tomorrow."

Alison Waters

King will be keen to avenge the one and only time the two finalists have met on tour, with Waters winning in straight games back in January 2010.
  

24-Aug, Quarters:
Upsets galore in Matamata quarters
Gary Denvir reports

Upsets galore in the second round of the Matamata Open on the WSA World Squash Tour.

New Zealand's Joelle King is the only top four seed safely through to the semifinals, on a day for the underdogs in the rural Waikato town. King advanced with a regulation 11-6, 11-3, 12-10 victory over seventh seeded Australian Donna Urquhart.

"Really happy to get through 3-0 against Donna, she's always a tough opponent," said King

But, it was carnage as far as the other seeds are concerned.

Top seed Madeline Perry met her demise at the hands of New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes. Perry had won their last three encounters on tour, including a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the Irish Open in April.

However, eighth seeded Hawkes made the most of home advantage to rack up a comprehensive 11-9, 11-3, 11-4 victory. Hawkes will square off with King in the semifinals tomorrow, guaranteeing a home presence in the title decider on Sunday.

"I played really well tonight," said a delighted Hawkes. "I felt good and was attacking the ball better than ever.

"It's very exciting for me to play so well in front of my friends and family."

"Looking forward to the semis tomorrow playing jax who played Awesome tonight. One kiwi in the final!" added Joelle.

The seedings also had little bearing on what happened in the bottom half of the draw. Fifth seed Low Wee Wern put paid to second seed Annie Au's title hopes with an 11-8, 3-11, 11-8, 12-10 victory, while England's Alison Waters accounted for third seeded Aussie Rachael Grinham 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 11-5.

"Tough match with Rach tonight! Kept in front in the first two games and then in the 3rd and 4th she was on fire!!!," said a relieved Waters.

"Cross court drops, drops, everything was flying in!! Not a lot I could do!

"Got back in front in the 5th and a few tough rallies at 5-5 which I won meant I got a few points ahead and that was the difference in the end!"

Low was happy too: "Really happy to beat Annie today. I have not beaten her in 7 years! No kidding! But I was a bit lucky as well she made a few errors at crucial points."
  

Draw & Results

22-Aug, Qualifying Finals:

An impressive performance from American Amanda Sobhy in the qualifying finals of the WSA world squash tour's Matamata Open in New Zealand.

Sobhy cruised into the main draw with a crushing 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 victory over rising Kiwi star Megan Craig.

The former world junior champion now faces the stiff task of upsetting third seeded Australian Rachael Grinham in the opening round, but after making the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last weekend her confidence will be sky high.

Denmark's Line Hansen is also safely through to the main draw, after an 11-1, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5 win over New Zealander Amanda Landers-Murphy, while Scotland's Lisa Aitken and Tesni Evans from Wales won the other two spots up for grabs.

"It was a bit of a funny match. She was clearly struggling with an injury and after I won the first game comfortably I dropped in intensity and she managed to get back into the match.

"Looking forward to playing Joelle tomorrow, we have not played in ages."



"Welllllllll I think that match had a bit of everything, what with Siyolis cramping and my blood injury! I found it hard to relax and settle down.

"I'm glad it's over and I'm through to the main draw. I have the honour of playing Mads tomorrow, looking forward to it!"

 

"Happy to win today and get through, especially in three... Enjoyed it out there with a really good amount of people into watch.

"Kyles doing a great job in organising it all and look forward to playing tomorrow!"

The first round gets underway at midday tomorrow.

20-Aug, Day One:
Qualifying under way in Waikato

It was a quiet start to the WSA $35k Matamata Open with two qualifying round one matches and wins for Kiwi Megan Craig and Scotland's Lisa Aitken.

""Glad to get through to the next round of qualifying," said Lisa. "Feeling sharp and looking forward to getting out there tomorrow against Siyoli.

Kylie [Lindsay, the Tournament Director] doing a great job so far," added the Scot.