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Richmond Open 2014
15-19 Apr, Virginia, Usa, $10k |
Chinappa takes Richmond title
Kristen Lange reports
It was a thrilling week of matches as both Rachel Grinham and
Joshana Chinappa fought hard to make it to the final of the
first ever Richmond WSA Open.
 Today’s
match was a battle as Rachel and Joshna both played amazing squash
during the course of the week. The final was Rachel's 65th tour
final of her career, a number most players would feel extremely
lucky to have next to their name, and Joshana's 16th tour final,
also a very impressive number. Head to head Rachel had a 5-0 lead
over her opponent, however statistics and head to heads mean nothing
once the players entered the court let their racquets do the
talking!
Starting the first game Grinham came out swinging, firing her way to
a 6-2 lead, however Chinappa surged back through consistent play to
level the game off at 6-6. From here it was a battle to 11, with the
lead oscillating between the two players until a couple unfortunate
mistakes gave Chinappa the first game 11-9. Continuing to ride the
momentum Chinappa, in a matter of minutes created a 6-1 lead over
Grinham.
 She
continued the fast pace that gave her this lead and even though
Grinham scored a few more points she was not able to counter the
pace and accuracy of Chinappa as she won the 2nd game 11-5. The
start of the 3rd game was once again all Chinappa as she quickly
sailed to an 8-2 lead over Grinham. Never one to be counted out
Grinham fought her way back to 8-8, however it was a case of too
little too late as Grinham made three critical errors to give
Joshana her first win over the courageous Australian in a stunning
3-0 shocker of a match.
This week displayed some amazing squash and the crowd at The Country
Club of Virginia certainly got their fill of women’s squash. On
behalf of WSA and the players thank you to CCV for the amazing venue
and hospitality. WSA showed some of their best squash this week, and
truly inspired the audience, empowered all involved and entertained.
Kristen Lange
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  Richmond
Open 2014
15-19 Apr, Virginia, Usa, $10k |
Round One
16 Apr |
Quarters
17 Apr |
Semis
18 Apr |
Final
19 Apr |
[1] Rachael Grinham (Aus)
11-5, 11-3, 11-3
Belen Etchechoury (Arg) |
[1] Rachael Grinham
10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5
[5] Sabrina Sobhy |
[1] Rachael Grinham
8-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (45m)
[4] Siyoli Waters |
[1] Rachael Grinham
11-9,
11-5,
11-8 (40m
[2] Joshana Chinappa
9th WSA title for Chinappa |
[5] Sabrina Sobhy (Usa)
11-8, 11-5, 11-3
Alicia Rodriguez (Mex) |
[7] Kristin Lange (Usa)
11-7, 11-9, 11-3
Ivonne Diaz (Mex) |
[7] Kristin Lange
4-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-13, 11-3
[4] Siyoli Waters |
[4] Siyoli Waters (Rsa)
11-2, 11-5, 11-5
Diana Garcia (Mex) |
Larissa Stephenson (Nzl)
11-8, 11-7, 11-4
[3] Latasha Khan (Usa) |
[3] Latasha Khan
11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4
[6] Sarah Cardwell |
[3] Latasha Khan
11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (27m)
[2] Joshana Chinappa |
Colette Sultana (Mlt)
11-4, 11-9, 11-6
[6] Sarah Cardwell (Aus) |
Catalina Pelaez (Col)
11-8, 11-6, 11-5
[8] Cecilia Cortes (Usa) |
Catalina Pelaez
11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7
[2] Joshana Chinappa |
Fernanda Roicha (Arg)
11-2, 11-8, 11-6
[2] Joshana Chinappa (Ind) |
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Top seeds through to Richmond final
Kristen Lange reports
After the high intensity and excitement of yesterday's matches a
full house packed into the bleachers at the Country Club of Virginia
ready for the top 4 seeds to battle it out for the special chance to
take one of the two final positions in the first ever WSA Richmond
Squash Open.
The first match on court featured the crowd favorite Siyoli
Waters of South Africa versus the speedy Rachel Grinham
of Australia, this match was followed by the only remaining American
in the draw from Seattle and truly a tour veteran Latasha Khan
versus the lengthy Joshana Chinappa of India. Both matches
lived up to the hype, producing yet again another spectacular
evening of squash.
In the first match of the evening, Waters came out strong, hitting
her targets and finding her depth. Grinham struggled to get the ball
past the far reach of Waters, allowing for Waters to sneak by and
win the first game 11-8. However Grinham came out strong in the
second, misdirecting Waters finding her nicks and forcing the ball
wider and thus out of her reach.
At 7-8 Waters serving a small change in momentum came as Waters hit
some deft cross court drops from deep in the forehand corner to give
herself a 9-8 lead, however after some killer length and an
unfortunate but fair stroke Grinham took the second game 11-9. The
third game was all Grinham, as she moved Waters around the court
this way and that, leaving her flat footed through some amazing
holding and hitting. Unfortunately for Waters she found the bottom
of the tin a few too many times, aiding Grinham to an 11-4 win in
the 3rd game.
The fourth started out a dog fight with both players pushing the
ball to the front and lifting it to the back to create good
position. However at 3-3 Grinham took charge and surged to an 8-4
lead over Waters. Even though Waters fought till the end there was
nothing she could do to abate the onslaught of incredible shots
executed by Grinham as she went on the win 11-7 in the 4th
Grinham bt Waters 8-11 11-9 11-4 11-7 45min
The first game between Chinappa and Khan was an exhibition on how to
use the boast, and at times overuse the boast as both players hit
their fair share. However it was due to the more consistent depth
and front court deception that Chinappa took the first game over
Khan 11-7.
The second game saw a continuation of the accurate depth followed by
front court decision making out of Chinappa. Khan to her credit
never stopped moving and pushing for every shot, forcing Chinappa to
work for each point. A few sketchy stroke situations brought
Chinappa to a 10-5 lead over Khan, after a short comeback Chinappa
took the second game 11-8.
The 3rd game was all Chinappa as Khan was playing a risky game of
taking the ball in early and fast, unfortunately Chinappa was all
over the shots which were not finding their respective targets and
falling short. Off of two unfortunate shots into the tin by Khan,
Chinappa took the third and final game of the evening 11-5.
Chinappa bt Khan 11-7 11-8 11-5 27min
Tomorrow will be an exciting matchup between the first and second
seeds of the tournament Rachel Grinham and Joshana Chinappa. Once
again everyone in the crowd was awed and exhilarated by the amazing
squash exhibited by all the athletes in the tournament thus far.
Kristen Lange
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Quarters in Richmond
Kristen Lange reports
It was a great day of matches in Richmond as all the seeds were
stretched to their limits by the respective 7, 6, and 5 seeds as
well as the Columbian.
Starting off the day was the imposing South African Siyoli Waters
and the feisty American Kristen Lange. Lange started out the match
strong, going for shots, finding her targets and aiming for some
great nicks, she took the game 11-4. However in the second game
Waters struck back imposing her will and aggressive style of play
taking the game 11-4. The third game was much the same as the 2nd
with Waters taking the loose cross courts thrown over by Lange and
forcing the ball down.
The fourth game saw an epic battle with Lange finally straightening
out her shots and finding the proper length followed by accurate
drops to take the game in a tight 13-11. However, in the fifth game
it was all over for Lange as the more experienced Waters took
control, volleyed everything into the front corners or pounded the
ball to the back thus taking the 5th game 11-3, earning Lange the
opportunity to ref the next match also going to 5 and surpassing the
one hour mark.
Waters bt Lange 4-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-13, 11-3
Up next was Latasha Khan the experienced and wily veteran of the
game vs the young jack rabbit who flies and throws herself across
the court Sarah Cardwell. The match was close from the beginning
with both players playing a steady paced game not wanting to make
the error first, at 9-9 Latasha squeaked by to take the game 11-9.
However in the 2nd with both players sprinting and making some
amazing gets Cardwell was the one to just squeak ahead winning 11-9.
The 3rd game saw the experienced Khan create some amazing
opportunities for herself going for some incredible winners that
even the speedy Cardwell could not return. She took that game 11-3.
Cardwell never one to back down continued to fly across the court,
wowing the crowd with hip breaking splits, pushing Khan to her
limits once again and won the 4th 11-9. Sadly the 5th game was all
Khan, she once again opened up the court beautifully and created the
opportunity to use her experience and incredible hands to push some
amazing winners into the front two corners. Cardwell never stopped
fighting and had a last minute comeback to gain a couple more
points, however the accuracy of Khans shots were too much and she
won 11-4 in the fifth.
Khan bt Cardwell 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4
The evening continued in spectacular fashion as the former world
number one Rachel Grinham took centre court vs the reigning US
National Champion Sabrina Sobhy. The first game saw a lot of amazing
retrievals from both players and incredibly accurate shots from
Grinham, however Sobhy never giving up kept pushing, forcing a few
crucial errors out of Grinham and taking the game 12-10.
The next game saw Grinham come out shooting, taking everything in
short or throwing in deadly lobs which Sobhy could simply not
return. She took the game 11-4. In the 3rd game both players came
out moving amazingly well across the court with Sobhy pushing
forward and pounding Grinham’s shots back or holding and
misdirecting the extremely agile Grinham. However, holding steadier
in the latter stages of the game, the veteran took it 11-8.
To start the 4th both players came out shooting and sprinting around
the court, keeping the first few points tight, but at 4-4 the
experienced Grinham pulled ahead with her ability to move the ball
around the court whilst disguising the shot so well that at times
Sobhy seemed stuck in place. After some incredible squash and a last
minute dive by Grinham she goes on to win the match 11-5 in the 4th.
Grinham bt Sobhy 10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5
The fourth and final match of the night saw the senior attending
Trinity and hailing from Columbia Catalina Palaez take on the number
2 seed Joshna Chinappa from India. As expected this was a match
showcasing both woman’s abilities to take the ball into the front
court as well as an extraordinary amount of holding and hitting.
The cat like Catalina took pace off the ball to bring her shots in
short, however the long and tricky Joshna did well at counter
attacking her shots, and pushing the pace of the game to a level
where Palaez could not play her game as much as she willed. Chinappa
took the first and second games in similar form 11-5 and 11-5.
Starting the third the young Columbian came out strong taking a 4-2
lead mainly built on tight drop shots and some amazing cross court
nicks. She maintained her lead the entire game through very smart
changing of pace and some beautiful shot making, putting Chinappa on
the run.
Off of an unforced error brought on by a beautiful backhand drop
shot Palaez took the 3rd game 11-9. The fourth game started out with
both players moving the ball around the court, at 3-3 Chinappa moved
ahead briefly to a 5-3 lead. After that Palaez fought hard but the
more consistent Chinappa went on a run winning the next 6 of 8
points and earning herself 6 match balls. After saving three match
balls, and another dive at the front court by Palaez, Chinappa
closed off the match 11-7.
Chinappa bt Palaez 11-5 11-5 9-11 11-7
The sheer athleticism displayed in all the games today made for
quite an amazing day of squash for both the players watching and the
members. Excited to see the matches tomorrow as this has been some
of the
Kristen Lange
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