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Equinox Orange County Open 2013
24-29 Sep, Irvine, USA, $10k |
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29-Sep, Final:
Line lands the title in Irvine
 Top
seeded Dane Line Hansen became the 2013 Orange County
Champion at the Equinox Club in Irvine, California, as she overcame
English second seed Emily Whitlock in a marathon final.
Whitlock, back on court after a 90-minute semi-final, took the
lead and then fought back to force a decider, but it was Hansen, 11
years older than her teenage opponent, who came through to claim
a 13th WSA title.
28-Sep, Semis:
Top seeds through to final
It will be the top two seeds
who contest the final at the Equinox Club in Irvine, after
contrasting semi-final wins.
Emily Whitlock squeezed through 11/8 in the fifth after a
90-minute battle with Tesni Evans, while Line Hansen got past
defending champion Latasha Khan in straight games in little more
than a third of that time.
27-Sep, Quarters:
Tesni takes out third seed in Irvine
Wales' Tesni Evans produced the upset of the day in the
quarter-finals of the Orange County Open in Irvine as she from 2-1
down to overcome third seed Aisling Blake in a marathon 85-minute
five game thriller.
Evans joins the remaining top seeds in the semi-finals, but although
Line Hansen, Latasha Khan and Emily Whitlock all won in straight
games, none of them had an easy time of it as they took 52, 43 and
48 minutes to complete their progress into the last four.
Evans faces second seed Whitlock for a place in the final while
defending champion Khan meets top seeded Hansen.
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  Orange
County Open 2013
24-29 Sep, Irvine, USA, $10k |
Round One
26 Sep |
Quarters
27 Sep |
Semis
28 Sep |
Final
29 Sep |
[1] Line Hansen (Den)
11/9, 6/11, 11/8, 11/3 (50m)
[Q] Kristen Lange (Usa) |
[1] Line Hansen
11/6, 11/9, 11/9 (52m)
Sarah Cardwell |
[1] Line Hansen
11/9, 11/3, 11/8 (37m)
[4] Latasha Khan |
[1] Line Hansen
11/4, 10/12, 11/8, 5/11, 11/8 (80m)
[2] Emily Whitlock |
[5] Kylie Lindsay (Nzl)
11/7, 11/5, 11/4 (45m)
Sarah Cardwell (Aus) |
[6] Lucie Fialova (Cze)
11/7, 11/8, 11/8 (43m)
Megan Craig (Nzl) |
Megan Craig
13/11, 11/7, 11/7 (43m)
[4] Latasha Khan |
[4] Latasha Khan (Usa)
6/11, 11/9, 11/5, 11/6 (54m)
Olga Ertlova (Cze) |
[3] Aisling Blake (Irl)
11/3, 11/2, 11/3 (30m)
[Q] Carrie Ramsey (Eng) |
[3] Aisling Blake
11/5, 9/11, 5/11, 11/9, 11/7 (85m)
[8] Tesni Evans |
[8] Tesni Evans
10/12, 11/5, 11/8, 7/11, 11/7 (90m)
[2] Emily Whitlock |
[8] Tesni Evans (Wal)
8/11, 11/2, 11/6, 11/6 (62m)
[Q] Gaby Huber (Sui) |
[5] Lisa Aitken (Eng)
11/9, 6/11, 11/13, 11/7, 15/13 (80m)
[Q] Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) |
[Q] Kanzy El Dafrawy
11/7, 11/8, 12/10 (48m)
[2] Emily Whitlock |
Maria Toor Pakay (Pak)
11/4, 11/7, 8/11, 11/6 (40m)
[2] Emily Whitlock (Eng) |
25-Sep, Qualifying Finals:
Kristen Lange (Usa) 3-0
Cecilia Cortes (Usa)
11-8, 11-3, 12-10 (37m)
Carrie Ramsey (Eng) 3-2
Sina Wall (Ger)
7-11, 11-6, 13-11, 6-11, 11-8
(59m)
Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) 3-2 Amina Helal (Eng)
9-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7
(53m)
Gaby Huber (Sui) 3-1
Lotte Eriksen (Nor)
8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-2 (41m)
24-Sep, Qualifying Round One:
Kristen Lange (Usa) bye
Cecilia Cortes (Usa) 3-0 Karen Kronemeyer (Ned)
11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (29m)
Sina Wall (Ger) 3-0 Jaycee Spagrud (Can)
11-7, 11-3, 11/8 (28m)
Carrie Ramsey (Eng) 3-0 Sally Norgate (Can)
11-2, 11-7, 11-6 (21m)
Amina Helal (Eng) 3-0
Ivonne Diaz (Mex)
11-8, 11-7, 11-7
Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) 3-0 Larissa Stephenson (Nzl)
11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (22m)
Gaby Huber (Sui) 3-1 Menat Nasser (Egy)
8-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-8 (47m)
Lotte Eriksen (Nor) 3-0 Karina Heredia (Mex)
11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (31m)
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Round One in Irvine
Round one one the Orange County Open in Irvine saw a the top four
seeds progress, but three of them will be meeting unexpected
opposition in the quarter-finals.
Top seed Line Hansen beat home qualifier Kristen Lange in
four games, and now faces Australia's Sarah Cardwell, who
beat fifth-seeded Kiwi Kylie Lindsay in straight games.
Latasha Khan, the defending champion, kept home hopes alive
with a tough four-game win over Olga Ertlova, to set up a
quarter-final with Kiwi Megan Craig, who beat sixth seed
Lucie Fialova in straight games.
Aisling Blake and Tesni Evans will contest an
all-European quarter-final, although it took Wales' Evans twice as
long to get past Swiss qualifier Gaby Huber than it did for Blake,
the third seed from Ireland, to despatch English qualifier Carrie
Ramsey.
English hopes now lie with second seed Emily Whitlock, who
beat the in-form Maria Toor Pakay in four games, and Whitlock now
faces Kanzy El Dafrawy, the Egyptian qualifier who is
studying in the US. Kanzy was involved in the longest match of the
day as she beat fifth-seeded Lisa Aitken in an 80-minute marathon,
saving five consecutive match balls from 10-7 down in the fifth.
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 Equinox
Sports Club Irvine is hosting The Equinox Orange County Open, a
professional women’s squash event held September 24 – 29, 2013.
The tournament is part of the WSA World Tour and features
twenty-eight players from sixteen different countries competing in
this $10,000 Tour 10 event.
This is a competitive group of women, some young and new to the tour
and one finishing up her career. Admission is open to everyone and
there is no charge.
Equinox Sports Club Irvine features four international squash
courts. The tournament takes place during US Squash’s “Women’s
Squash Week.” In addition to the tournament, Equinox is hosting
a women’s squash clinic Wednesday, September 25 in the evening while
qualifier matches are being played. Some of the professional women
will help with the coaching during this event.
The number one seed for the tournament, Line Hansen from
Denmark, is currently ranked 21 in the world. She’s coming off of a
successful year in 2012, winning back-to-back titles in Australia
and earning her highest career ranking after defeating Donna
Urquhart in the Hong Kong Open last December. In March 2013, Hansen
won her 11th WSA title at the NSC Series. She is on her way to
breaking the top 20.
Emily Whitlock, the number two seed in the tournament, is
from England and one of our younger competitors. At only 19 years
old, she’s had a wealth of experience on the tour. After winning the
British Junior Open two times, she began competing as a
professional, earning excellent results as a young player. This year
she won three back-to-back titles, placing her in the world’s top
30. Her coach and father, Phil Whitlock, is the former number 8 seed
in the world.
Latasha Khan, our Equinox Orange County Open champion from
last year, is returning as our number four seed. Her first tour
title was won at this tournament in 2004. Since this victory, she
has won ten WSA tour titles, seven US national titles (a record),
and five Pan-American games medals, including two gold, one silver,
and two bronze. Khan is currently ranked 30th in the world.
Maria Toorpakai Wazir, a 22 year old born in Pakistan, is
currently number 53 in the world and the 11th seed in the
tournament. She is Pakistan’s top female squash player and had to
make some tough decisions when pursuing her squash career at a young
age. As a child in a highly conservative area of Pakistan, Toorpakai
trained and competed as a boy, since it was forbidden for girls to
be involved in sports by the local Islamic culture. At the age of
16, Toorpakai was required to provide a birth certificate to play
squash, and the truth about her gender was reveled.
Toorpakai and her family were subject to harassment and threatened
by other players since competing as a female athlete, without a veil
and in shorts, was perceived as “un-Islamic.” Though protected by
the Pakistani National Squash Federation, Toorpakai decided it would
be safer to train internationally.
After three years of writing to clubs, players, and schools without
a response, she finally heard some positive news. Jonathon Power,
former number one from Canada, invited her to train with him in
Toronto, Canada where she continues to train and play today.
When interviewing with Katie Couric in Canada about her past,
Toorpakai said the following about her decision; “I had no other
option so I decided to leave to follow my dreams.”
We have two local players, Amina Helal and Sally Norgate,
competing to qualify for a spot in the main draw.
Amina Helal studied German and French at Trinity College where she
was a four-time all-American as well as a junior and senior scholar
athlete. As the women’s squash team captain, she led the Trinity
team to two national championship titles and was twice individual
intercollegiate champion.
She is the daughter of former Egyptian squash international
competitor, Moussa Helal. Amina lives and works in Manchester,
England and has been given a local spot as she comes to California
to compete in the tournament and visit her sister, Jessica Helal, a
club member and local squash pro.
Our other local player, Sally Norgate, grew up in Winnipeg, Canada
and starting playing squash when she was 10 years old. She is a two
time Canadian Junior Champion and was a member of the Canadian
National Team that competed in the 1995 Junior World Championships
in Sydney, Australia. She moved to California to go to chiropractic
school and currently lives in San Diego where she is a Level II
squash coach.
Good luck to all of our competitors!
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