|
|
Richmond Open 2015
13-18 Apr, Richmond, Usa, $10k |
|
18-Apr, Final:
[2] Samantha Cornett
(Can) 3-2
[3] Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn)
7-11, 16-14, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6
Cornett wins thriller
Patrick Chifunda Reports
Sam Cornett is the 2015 Richmond Open champion after
winning a thrilling five-game battle with lomg-time adversary Misaki
Kobayashi to collect her sisxt WSA title.
 "What
a match today. I watched Misaki yesterday and she was putting in
some great shots. I know what she is capable of since the last time
we played in a final she chopped me up. I knew I was going to have
to play tight and offensive squash. Right from the start it was
tough. The only thing that saved me was that she went short a bit
too soon in patches throughout the match. I probably was doing the
same if I'm honest, and it made it for such an even match.
I'm so happy to have played some of my best, smartest, and grittiest
squash today all at the same time.
The crowd was awesome and excited about the matches all week long,
and it was a great group out to watch today. Misaki and I stayed
with the Urbans and they were nervously sitting on the fence,
cheering for both of us!
 We
have been so well taken care of here in Richmond, playing at a
beautiful club, staying with lovely families, and enjoying great
weather.
Thanks so much to Patrick and Winston and Janet and everyone who put
so much effort into the week. It's been an awesome one!"
Sam and I have played each other many times and today Sam played
really well and forced me to make a lot of errors. Great week of
squash in Richmond.
 |
 |
  Richmond
Open 2015
13-18 Apr, Richmond, Usa, $10k |
Round One
15 Apr |
Quarters
16 Apr |
Semis
17 Apr |
Final
18 Apr |
[2] Samantha Cornett (Can)
11-6, 11-6, 11-9
Kelsey Engman (Usa) |
[2] Samantha Cornett
11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 11-5
[Q] Marie Stephan |
[2] Samantha Cornett
11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8
[4] Nouran El Torky |
[2] Samantha Cornett
7-11, 16-14, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6
[3] Misaki Kobayashi |
[8] Diana Garcia (Mex)
11-8, 11-8, 11-6
[Q] Marie Stephan (Fra) |
[7] Catalina Pelaez (Col)
11-4, 11-3, 11-9
Nabilla Ariffin (Mas) |
[7] Catalina Pelaez
9-11, 11-4, 11-2, 8-11, 11-6
[4] Nouran El Torky |
[4] Nouran El Torky (Egy)
12-10, 11-3, 11-5
Alicia Rodriguez (Mex) |
Melina Turk (Can)
11-1, 11-2, 11-4
[3] Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) |
[3] Misaki Kobayashi
11-3, 11-3, 11-4
[5] Vanessa Raj |
[3] Misaki Kobayashi
11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4
[1] Tesni Evans |
Reyna Pacheco (Mex)
11-7, 11-3, 11-5
[5] Vanessa Raj (Mas) |
Ivonne Diaz (Mex)
11-9, 11-6, 11-8
[7] Nikki Todd (Can) |
[7] Nikki Todd
9-11, 11-2, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6
[1] Tesni Evans |
Georgina Stoker (Eng)
11-9, 11-7, 11-7
[1] Tesni Evans (Wal) |
14-Apr,
Qualifying:
Marie Stephan (Fra) 3-2 Melissa Alves (Fra)
11/5, 14/12, 6/11, 3/11, 11/7
|
18-Apr, Semis:
It's Cornett and Kobayashi
Patrick Chifunda Reports
Sam Cornett 3-1 over
Nouran El Torky
This match had many tense periods for both players. One would go up
in points, and then the other would claw her way back. The first was
close and both women looked nervous; Sam pulled through with a
little more patience.
Nouran disappeared for the second game and Sam looked very in
control, but then Nouran came back stronger in the third. She made
less mistakes and played better and more patient length to get the
game. The fourth was close, Sam went far ahead towards the middle of
the game by stepping up the court, but Nouran wasn't finished and
put together a great string of points.
A boast error from Nouran on match ball put Sam into the final
tomorrow.
"I'm happy with how I played today and I hope to do more of the
same tomorrow! Not done yet. Just waiting for my opponent now."
Misaki Kobayahi 3-2 over Tesni Evans
A seesaw five game battle. Two young viewers described it as "close
and intense, high tension". Everyone was on the edge of their seats,
and no one knew who would take it. Misaki was playing tight drops
from the start, which were either perfect or into the tin.
Tesni had to tighten up her length and step up the court to take the
match to Misaki. Both players' concentration levels fluctuated
throughout the match, and it brought us to a fifth. Misaki went
ahead to 7-3, but not without some amazing rallies.
At 8-4 to Misaki there was an injury break for Tesni, and after that
it was all Misaki with her great short game.
"Pleased to get through the tough battle against Tesni. Looking
forward to the final tomorrow.
|
|
16-Apr, Quarters:
Nice Battles in the Quarters in Virginia
Patrick Chifunda Reports
Sam Cornett 3-1 over Marie Stephan
 A
good match with the girls moving all over the court. Marie started
out making a lot of errors, but then switched to good length in the
second and it was Sam's turn to make errors. After the second Marie
looked to tire a bit and Sam started playing the rallies out to take
the win.
"Happy to be through to the semis tomorrow. Marie had a great
tournament so I'm pleased to get through that feeling good for
tomorrow. I made too many errors but finished strong with smart
squash in the end."
Misaki Kobayashi 3-0 over Vanessa Raj
 Misaki
overpowered Vanessa and threw in tons of boasts that Vanessa was
slow to react to. A very strong performance from the Japanese number
1.
"It was my first time playing Vanessa, but we used to train
together when I was based in Malaysia. I knew her style and I had a
plan, and I'm glad it worked. I'm excited to play the semi final
tomorrow."
Nouran El Torky 3-2 over Catalina Pelaez
 Catalina
started out firing, hitting hard and taking control of the pace of
the match. After the first the crowd was a bit quiet, as Nouran ran
away with the next two games. Catalina started strong in the fourth
with graceful drops, and kept it up. She played great length and
drops to take it to a fifth, and a shout out to the CCV crowd is
definitely required here! They were sending her energy through the
glass. It got her through the fourth, but it wasn't enough for the
fifth as Nouran sped ahead to 4-0. It was an exciting game but
Nouran was stronger and took the match.
"It was my first time playing Cata but I've seen her play before.
She is such a great player and is always going to be hard to play.
She is such a fighter player, dangerous to play especially when in
front of her home town crowd. When I got to match ball I don't know
why I remembered the match of Ramy and Shorbagy and I was so afraid
to lose. I am soo happy to be in the semis and I will give it
everything tomorrow inshallah."
Tesni Evans 3-2 over Nikki Todd
Tes started out slow in the first game and made errors, while Nikki
played quite consistent especially towards the end of the game. In
the second, Tes played great slow length and got on the ball a lot
earlier and won an easy game. She started out similarly in the
third. Nikki played better length than in the second which gave her
a lot more opportunities. 2-1 Todd. In the fourth, Tes played basic
squash and got herself back in, and Nikki made errors. At 4-9 to Tes,
Nikki mounted a comeback and played tighter, but Tes had pulled
away. In the fifth the girls exchanged errors at the start until Tes
pulled away with better length and drop combinations.
"It was a tough battle, she played really well. I kind of had to
just stick in there and find a way to win. I'm excited for tomorrow!"
|
|
15-Apr, Round One:
Seven seeds through to quarters in Virginia
Patrick Chifunda Reports
Round one of the main draw saw seven of the seeds win through to the
quarter-finals as qualifier Marie Stephan beat eighth seed Diana
Garcia ...
Vanessa Raj 3-0 over
Reyna Pacheco
Vanessa was in control here with quality width and length. Moved
very well on court was shape .
 Catalina
Pelaez 3-0 over Nabilla Ariffin
A good match with Catalina moving Nabilla all over the court,
especially to the front. She won a lot of points in the front left
against the lefty with home court advantage and crowd support.
 Marie
Stephan 3-0 over Diana Garcia
A very intense match with some very hard hitting from Diana and
great shots from Marie.
An impressive performance from the Frenchwoman after a tough five
games the day before.
Misaki Kobayashi 3-0 over Melina Turk
Misaki looked comfortable in this match, hitting good length to set
up the rallies. There were some good rallies but Melina made errors,
taking the pressure off of Misaki.
 Samantha
Cornett 3-0 over Kelsey Engman
Some really good rallies in this one, and both girls went for a lot
short. Kelsey surprised Sam with a couple reverse boasts. Cornett
volleyed a bit more and hit more length to take the match.
 Nikki
Todd 3-0 over Ivonne Diaz
Ivonne gave Nikki a good run, but the Canadian was too strong and
quick today. Nikki was very consistent and forced Ivonne in making
to many errors .
 Nouran
El Torky 3-0 over Alicia Rodriguez
A close match to start, but then Alicia ran out of steam and Nouran
ran away with the match.
 Tesni
Evans 3-0 over Georgina Stoker
The last match on and the girls ran hard. Tesni shut down the court
with her deep, wide length, and frustrated Georgina.
Georgina wrong footed Tesni a few times, but it wasn't enough
tonight.
|
|
|
14-Apr, Qualifying:
Patrick Chifunda Reports
 The
first game between Marie and Melissa started off quite
evenly, and we weren't sure who was going to pull ahead. Both seem
to have quite similar styles of play. After a bit of a hesitant
start Marie pulled ahead to take the first game 11-5.
The second game started out with the players exchanging strokes and
errors up to 7-7. At this point both players stepped it up and
started giving themselves more margin for error, as that magic
number 8 can often bring out in people something new. An error from
Melissa gave Marie game ball at 10-9, and then it got really tense.
Somehow Marie pulled herself back each time she forfeited her game
balls and won 14-12 courtesy of a couple crucial errors from
Melissa.
The start of the third game showed Melissa possibly pulling up a bit
tired after really digging in at the end of game 2, as she went
short far too soon within the rallies. At 3-5 a subtle shift
happened as a couple of Melissa's shots came through, and then it
was Marie who started to play a bit tired. Melissa pulled away
quickly to 10-5 and won the game on her second try despite some
great counter drops from Marie.
Now for the fourth. Melissa stepped up the court and it paid off. At
3-0 she made an error on a cross court volley drop, but it didn't
phase her. Marie is gone from this game, not moving very quickly.
11-3 Melissa. It's down to game 5.
At around 5-5 it looked like Melissa may have hurt herself, but she
kept pushing and looking to volley, making some dents with her quick
forehand volley drop. Marie stayed in and kept plugging away with
good length and lots of boasts to take her to 10-7 match ball, and
Melissa gave her an easy boast error for the win.
Marie moves into the main draw to play Diana Garcia tomorrow
evening.
Preview
Almost all the players have arrived here in Richmond to a beautiful
squash club and welcoming host families.
Walking around the Country Club of Virginia we've run into some very
friendly people so far, and all have been very interested and
excited about the WSA event.
The event starts tonight with a feature match, the only
qualification match and in it we see a rematch of the recent 2015
Montreal Open.
Stay tuned for the results of Marie Stephan v Melissa Alves, playing
at 5pm.
|
|
