Finals:

Joelle King bt Jaclyn Hawkes                11/9, 11/2, 11/5
Martin Knight bt Campbell Grayson        11/6, 11/7, 11/8

King and Knight are the Champions ...

World squash No14 Joelle King (Waikato) was able to almost play the perfect game as she won the New Zealand nationals defending her title by defeating world No17, Jaclyn Hawkes from Auckland.

Twenty-two-year-old King beat her friend and close rival Hawkes, aged 28, with surprising ease 11-9 11-2 11-5 in the final and was a little surprised herself with the scoreline at the Hamilton Squash and Tennis Club which also celebrated its 75th anniversary.

"I thought I was going to be a lot closer. I played quite well and didn't let her have a snap at it. It's quite nice to beat someone that close in the world rankings in straight games,” said King, the doubles gold and mixed doubles silver medallist at last year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

"I've been home for the past two months and it's quite nice to see the things I've been working on put into match play and come off," said King who now plays strong tournaments in Malaysia and Singapore and is targeting the world top 10 rankings.

Earlier King had accounted for Waikato player, Kylie Lindsey in straight games in the semifinals, while Hawkes beat Tamsyn Leevey of Wellington, also in straight games in what was a solid field for both the men's and the women's tournaments for a national championships featuring a large number of internationally ranked players.

The best of the women's world junior team members who depart for the junior world championships in the United States in just over a week was Megan Craig from Marlborough who reached the quarterfinals before falling to Leevey in five games.

Meanwhile in the men's final Martin Knight (North Shore) the world No47 ranked player scored a straight games win over 57th ranked Campbell Grayson (Herne Bay) 11-6 11-7 11-8, a repeat of the result from last weekend in the Central Open.

Knight won through to the final with a straight games win over Wellington's Evan Williams and Grayson had to battle a little more to overcome Kashif Shuja in four games.
  

Semi-Finals:
Jaclyn Hawkes bt Tamsyn Leevey            11/5, 11/4, 11/9
Joelle King bt Kylie Lindsay                      11/5, 11/4, 11/3

Campbell Grayson by Kashif Shuja  11/9, 11/2, 6/11, 12/10
Martin Knight bt Evan Williams                   11/5, 11/4, 11/2

Women's quarterfinals:
Joelle King (Waikato) bt Lisa Cowlard (Auckland)
      11-6, 11-0, 11-1
Kylie Lindsey (Waikato) bt Amanda Landers Murphy (BOP)
      11-9, 12-10, 3-11, 11-8
Tamsyn Leevey (Wellington) bt Megan Craig (Marlborough)
      11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-1
Jaclyn Hawkes (Auckland) beat Emma Millar (Waikato)
      11-5, 11-4, 11-9

Men's quarterfinals:
Martin Knight (Auckland) bt Lance Beddoes (Auckland)
      11-2, 11-2, 11-2
Evan Williams (Wellington) bt Paul Coll (Cantebury)
      11-8, 11-5, 14-12
Kashif Shuja (Auckland) bt Danny McQueen (BOP)
      11-6, 11-5, 11-8
Campbell Grayson (Auckland) bt Chris Lloyd (Auckland)
      11-7, 11-5, 11-7

Commonwealth stars set for
Nationals challenge in Hamilton

The New Zealand Squash Open National Championships starting on Friday in Hamilton will give a rare opportunity for the public to see the Commonwealth Games gold medallists and world No14 Joelle King and No17 Jaclyn Hawkes potentially face each other in a final for a title.

The pair, who became two of the glamour girls of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team in Delhi in 2010, won gold as a doubles combination, with King adding a silver in the mixed competition.

They are the top two seeds in the women's singles with the aim of securing the New Zealand national title. King starts her tournament with a match against Gemma Gee from Wellington and looks likely to face fourth seed Kylie Lindsay(Waikato) and world 42nd ranked player in the semis.

Hawkes takes on Northland's Sacha Poutito in her first round match with Wellington third seed Tamsyn Leevey her likely opponent in the semifinals.

Other notable players in the women's draw include three of the New Zealand women's junior team who travel to Boston in a weeks time, Megan Craig from Blenheim, Danielle Fourie (Manawatu), and 13-year-old Abbie Palmer (Nth Shore).

The men's draw is headed by top Kiwi pro, Martin Knight (Commonwealth Games silver medallist in mixed) from the North Shore club who has a world ranking of 47, ten places ahead of second seed Campbell Grayson (Herne Bay.

The pair last clashed in the final of the Central Open in Palmerston North over the weekend where Knight was the winner. Third seed is Remuera's Kashif Shuja at 79 in the world. Wellington's Evan Williams is the fourth seed in the 32-player draw which has competitors from around the country.

The tournament has additional significance as it is being held at the Hamilton Squash and Tennis Club in the club's 75th anniversary year.

 
Matches start at 5pm on Friday with play throughout Saturday and the finals on Sunday from 2.30pm.
 

Hamilton Club Site

Round Two:
from Sunday News

Men's Draw

Women's Draw