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Richards takes
Persian Gulf Cup title
Photos and quotes from Sima Pad-Bod
[1] Tom Richards (Eng) bt [3] Steve
Coppinger (Rsa)
11/5, 11/2, 14/12 (34m)
Top seed Tom Richards claimed the
inaugural Persian Gulf Cup title in Iran's Kish Island with a
straight-game win over Steve Coppinger, the third seed, in the
final.
“Tom got off to a very good start in
the first two games. I couldn’t catch him after that.
"I was disappointed not to win the third, to give me a chance to get
back into the match…he played better today and deserved to win.”
”Firstly I just want to say thanks to Steve for a fair and enjoyable
final, played in right spirits. I’m delighted to have won.
"I feel I played well today, although I was a little bit lucky to
win the third game. I want to thank Saqib and all his staff for
running the tournament very well. I hope to be back next year.”
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I’ve been talking to the sponsor of
the tournament, Mr. Alborzi (CEO, Kish Sports and
Recreation), the other day, asking him about Kish Squash, this
tournament and future plans. Here you can read a few lines of this
interview ...
 ”Having
many different sports events here is of course one the most
important highlights of the Kish Free Zone Organization’s agenda.
Squash is one of the most popular sports in Kish. We’ve taken this
sports into schools and now we have many junior players. Although
it’s been a short time since Squash has developed in Kish, we’re
proud that our boys and girls are listed in the top five of the
national rankings. But the only thing that Kish Squash lacks is the
a number of well-experienced coaches who can lead our players to the
international level. There are two reasons why right now most seats
are empty here. First is that this tournament was held in a very
short notice, and the second is that right now there are many sports
events being held in Kish including Beach Volleyball World Cup,
that’s why it couldn’t get more publicity.
Squash is a great sport and hopefully we’ll be able to hold many
bigger tournaments in the future.”
CEO, Kish Sports and Recreation
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 Kish
Persian Gulf Cup 2009
10-15 Mar, Kish Island, Iran $10k |
Round One
12 Mar |
Quarters
13 Mar |
Semis
14 Mar |
Final
15 Mar |
[1] Tom Richards (Eng)
14/12, 11/7, 11/9 (34m)
Chris Truswell (Eng) |
[1] Tom Richards
11/4, 11/6, 11/4 (27m)
Gary Wheadon |
[1] Tom Richards
11-4,11-6,11-6 (33m)
[7] Joe Lee |
[1] Tom Richards
11/5, 11/2, 14/12 (34m)
[3] Steve Coppinger |
[8] James Snell Eng
12/10, 11/9, 9/11, 11/6 (51m)
Gary Wheadon (Rsa) |
[4] Adil Maqbool (Pak)
11/2, 11/6, 11/6 (15m)
[Q] Alireza Sanaei (Iri) |
[4] Adil Maqbool
12/10, 8/11, 11/9, 13/11 (48m)
[7] Joe Lee |
[7] Joe Lee (Eng)
11/1, 11/9, 11/2 (24m)
[Q] Ahmad Hawas (Egy) |
Aqeel Rehman (Aut)
11/9, 11/6, 3/11, 12/10 (35m)
Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) |
Aqeel Rehman
7/11, 11/7, 11/4, 11/7
[3] Steve Coppinger |
[3] Steve Coppinger
11-6,9-11,11-7,11-6 (43m)
[2] Dylan Bennett |
[Q] Farhan Zaman (Pak)
11/4, 11/5, 11/6 (29m)
[3] Steve Coppinger (Rsa) |
[Q] Mazem Gamal (Egy)
11/4, 11/5, 11/5 (29m)
[6] Shaun Le Roux (Eng) |
[Q] Mazem Gamal
6/11, 11/9, 5/11, 11/9, 12/10 (72m)
[2] Dylan Bennett |
Mohammad Reza Sadeghpour (Iri)
11/4, 11/6, 11/5 (17m)
[2] Dylan Bennett (Ned) |
Qualifying
finals:
Ahmed Hawas (Egy) bt Seyed
Mohammad Hossein Sanaee (Iri) 9-11,11-7,11-8,12-10 (39m)
Alireza Sanaei (Iri) bt Colin Ramasra (Tri)
12-10,12-14,12-10,11-9 (51m)
Mazen Gamal (Egy) bt Josh Cardwell (Aus)
11-9,11-7,11-5 (29m)
Farhan Zaman (Pak) bt Anson Kwong (Hkg)
11-8,11-7,12-10 (34m)
10-Mar, qualifying round one:
Ahmed Hawas (Egy) bt
Mohammad Amin Saedi (Iri)
11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (16m)
Seyed Mohammad Sanaee (Iri) bt Mohd Amin Atayi Kha (Iri)
11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9 (38m)
Colin Ramasra (Tri) bt Sohail Shameli (IRI)
8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 12-10 (37m)
Alireza Sanaei (Iri) bt Saeed Ketabforoush (Iri)
11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 10-12, 11-7 (45m)
Josh Cardwell (Aus) bt Mohammad Hossei Jafari Nadoushan (Iri)
11-6, 13-11, 11-7 (37m)
Mazen Gamal (Egy) bt Navid Malek Sabet (Iri)
11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (21m)
Farhan Zaman (Pak) bt Ali Ketabforoush (Iri)
11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (15m)
Anson Kwong (Hkg) bt Mahyar Abrishami (Iri)
11-2, 11-7, 11-7 (12m)
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Coppinger powers to
Persian Gulf Cup Final
Photos and quotes from Sima Pad-Bod
South African Stephen Coppinger claimed a surprise place in the
final of the Kish Persian Gulf Cup after upsetting second-seeded
Dutchman Dylan Bennett in the semi-finals at the Kish Olympic Squash
Centre in Kish Island, Iran.
The UK-based third seed battled for 43 minutes to beat fellow
24-year-old Bennett 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 to earn his seventh
appearance in a PSA final.
Coppinger will face event favourite Tom Richards after the
Englishman from Surrey despatched St George's Hill club-mate Joe Lee
11-4, 11-6, 11-6 in 33 minutes.
Richards, 22, from Walton-on-Thames, is celebrating his fourth PSA
final.
 “I’m
very happy that I’m in the final. I know Joe very well. We train
together. It was always going to be a tough match. I feel like I
played well. Hopefully I can play well tomorrow as well.”
 ”Obviously
I was a little tired from yesterday’s match, but once I started
going I felt pretty well on court. When we were close like six all
or seven all he played the big points up to eleven better than me
and that was the difference today.”
 ”We
both started very slowly, very conservative. He’s a very dangerous
player from the middle of the court so I tried to keep him at the
back not to give him any chance to attack. I’m happy to win tonight,
looking forward to tomorrow’s match.”
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Lee sets up surprise
all-English semi in Iran
Joe Lee, the sixth seed from Surrey, set up a surprise all-English
semi-final in the Kish Persian Gulf Cup when he upset fourth-seeded
Pakistani Adil Maqbool in the quarter-finals at the Kish Olympic
Squash Centre in Kish Island, Iran.
The London-born 19-year-old battled for 48 minutes to overcome
Maqbool, ranked 37 places higher in the world, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9,
13-11 in the third men's Tour event to be staged in Iran this year.
Lee will now face St George's Hill club-mate Tom Richards, the event
favourite who despatched unseeded South African Gary Wheadon 11-4,
11-6, 11-4.
The other semi-final will feature South African Stephen Coppinger
and Dutchman Dylan Bennett. Third seed Coppinger recovered from a
game down to beat Austrian Aqeel Rehman 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7,
while second seed Bennett was taken the full distance before
overcoming Egyptian qualifier Mazen Gamal 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9,
12-10 in 72 minutes.
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”I played all right. I
had a good start in the first game, I had a good lead of 9-5 and it
helped me win that game. Steve came well into the game, from five
all in the second game I became weaker, he took control more and
more. In the third I was too weak and I gave it away too easily.
"The fourth was better I played more simple…I was 5-10 down but I
came back too late, he played better and made me work too much…it
was a good game.”
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 ”The
first game was pretty bad, I lost it badly 4/11. I wasn’t there, it
was quite tough with the crowd cheering him when I hit down or out.
I had to deal with it, I was really bad mentally. In the end I was
5/10 down, I tried to hang in there and save six match points.”
 ”That
was a tough one! It is obvious that he is much more experienced than
me, but I really worked hard the past period with my coaches back in
Egypt. It’s just been almost six months that I’ve joined the PSA
circuit.
"I’m a bit disappointed as I was 10/5 leading in the fifth game but
this is life! All credit to him, he is very well-experienced.
I really want to thank the crowd here in Iran, the people are
amazing I wish I could have won at least for them…and also thanks to
the organizers.”
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”I
think I played pretty well today. Gary played badly. I did all the
basics right and stopped him from playing his game, as I was always
in the front. Looking forward to playing Joe! We live two minutes
away from each other back home, and now we’re playing thousands of
miles away!”
”It
is my first tournament after my injury in January…I hadn’t been
training since then and I’ve put on 15 kgs! I just started training
a week ago. I feel glad with the way I played. I was leading all the
games but didn’t have the stamina to finish them off. Overall I’m
pretty happy. He played really well and I wish him the best of luck
tomorrow.”
