16-Jan: Salazar takes Salt Lake City
title Craig Bennett reports
Cesar Salazar from Mexico completed a remarkable tournament in Salt
Lake City by holding off Jan Koukal to win the 2010 Zantrex-3
International Professional Tournament.
This
was Salazar's third match of the tournament to go five games and
over 60 minutes. After winning the first two games, Salazar seemed
to falter a bit in the third and lost easily.
The momentum was clearly on the side of the second seed Koukal from
the Czech Republic. In the fourth, Koukal further gained strength by
pushing to a 10-6 advantage. The match may have been won by Salazar
at this stage because Koukal couldn't finish the game quickly.
Instead the two players rallied for several further hotly contested
points.
Although
Koukal was able to save the game in the fourth, the extra work made
him vulnerable in the fifth. Salazar sensed an advantage and kept
the pressure on.
Eventually the two battled to a triple match ball for Salazar at
10-7. Koukal saved one match ball to close the gap to 8-10;
however,sadly for Koukal and for the packed gallery the match ended
on a questionable stroke against Koukal.
Despite the deflating ending, the match was one of the best ever
played at Squashworks.
The tournament was well attended throughout the week. Thanks to
everyone who made the event possible:
Our sponsors, patrons, volunteers, and most of all the PSA players
for putting on such a great show!!!
15-Jan: Semi-finals in Salt Lake City Craig Bennett reports
Salt Lake squash fans saw two exciting and entertaining semi-final
matches.
In the first match, the #5 seed Cesar Salazar from Mexico
defeated Max Lee from Hong Kong in five games. This was the
third straight five game match for Lee and all that work throughout
the week showed in game five, a 11-4 victory for Salazar.
To Lee's credit, it looked like the match was going to be an easy victory
for Salazar after he easily won the first game 11-4, but, as he has
shown in each of his two early round matches, Lee battled back with
strong play in the 2nd and 3rd games and won easily 11-5 and 11-5.
Game four proved to be the crucial game. Salazar pushed hard in the
early part of the game and built a 5-2 cushion.
Despite a steady game from both players, Lee could not close the gap
any closer than two points and end up losing 11-8. Salazar had
complete control in the fifth, racing to leads of 4-1, then 8-3, and
finally game and match at 11-4.
Salazar will play Jan Koukal of the Czech Republic in the
final. Koukal defeated Gregoire Marche from France 3-0. Many Salt
Lake spectators thought that Marche was going to win the tournament
after watching his performance in the quarter-finals where he
impressively dismantled Christopher Gordon from the United States;
however, the unflappable Koukal never let Marche into aggressive
attacking game.
Koukal looks very comfortable on the Squashworks courts and doesn't
seem tired at all when he is playing. The last point of the match
was the rally of tournament with Koukal sending Marche to all four
corners and Marche diving twice only to come up short on his last
dive attempt to retreive Koukal's winning drop shot. Consolation
prize for Marche was a rousing standing ovation for his efforts.
14-Jan: Quarter-finals in Salt Lake City Craig Bennett reports
The quarterfinals Zantrex-3 International Professional Squash
Tournament were held thursday evening with four very entertaining
matches.
The first match of the night ended in an upset with Cesar Salazar of
Mexico taking down the number one seed Stephane Galifi from Italy.
Clearly, Salazar was more comfortable on the Salt Lake City courts
than Galifi. Throughout the match, Galifi was having trouble keeping
up with pace. The match went back and forth with each player
alternating games. The final score: 5-11, 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6 (71
minutes).
The second match of the evening was a really long match between Max
Lee of Hong Kong and Bernardo Samper of Columbia. Lee prevailed 3-2
in 70 minutes. The second game was the game of the tournament so far
with Samper prevailing 18-16. During the game no player was able to
gain more a two point advantage. Samper seemed to have full control
of the match when he also took game 3, 11-7, to go up 2-1 in games;
however, to Lee's credit he fought back and won the next two games
and the match: 11-8, 16-18, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8 (70 minutes)
The third match saw Gregoire Marche from France beat Christopher
Gordon of the USA in 27 minutes. Marche used his quickness and
athleticism to keep Gordon behind the pace all match. The second
game was very close, tied at 9-9, but an unlucky bounce for Gordon
followed by a careless tin left the American in a big hole down two
games. He never recovered and Marche moved impressively into the
semi finals: 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (27 minutes).
The final match of the night saw the young Brazilian qualifier
Manoel Pereira dismantled by the number two seed Jan Koukal from the
Czech Republic. Koukal, a very smooth and deceptive player, forced
Pereira to work extremely hard to stay in the rallies. Pereira was
game but he was still feeling the stress of his first round upset of
Dick Lau. Koukal smartly kept the rallies going without making
errors. The final score: 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (33 minutes).
13-Jan: Round One in Salt Lake City Craig Bennett reports
The Zantrex-3 International Professional Squash Tournament got
started on Wednesday night with eight very entertaining and exciting
matches.
The #1 seed Stephane Galifi from Italy defeated Peter Creed
from Wales in four games: 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 11-5 (44 mins). The
first game started easily for Galifi and he raced to a 6-1 lead and
cruised to an 11-7 (eight min) first game. However, Creed dug in for
game two and came back from a 5-10 deficit to win 13-11. Creed's
ability to save 5 game balls and win game 2 gave him confidence and
the third game was tight all the way with neither player able to
gain more than a two point cushion. In the end Galifi hung on for a
11-9 victory and then put the match away with a strong 11-5 finish
in game four.
The next match in the top half of the draw was a quick match with
Cesar Salazar taking advantage of qualifier Adam Murrill 3-0 in
26 minutes. Murrill's tough qualification victory the previous
evening was clearly hindering his movement in this match. This
struggle physically made Murrill take too many chances in the front
court where the extremely quick Salazar punished him. Good
tournament for Murrills who is already looking forward to returning
to Salt Lake.
The third match in the top half saw Bernardo Samper of
Colombia advance over Jens Schoor of Germany 3-1 in 37 minutes. Both
players were struggling a bit to find their game. Schoor especially
afterward commented on the altitude of Salt Lake City 4200 ft (1280
metres).
The final match in the top half of the 16 player draw was the
longest of the evening with Max Lee from Hong Kong outlasting
Lekgotla Mosope of Botswana 3-2 in 75 minutes. Lee won the first two
games 11-7 and 11-7 and seemed to have the match under control, but
Mosope fought off two match balls in game three and won 12-10.
Clearly the dramatic game three heroics from Mosope turned the
momentum in his favor and he won game four easily 11-4. Lee steadied
himself in Game 5 and moved out to a commanding 10-5 advantage only
to see Mosope rally again back to 8-10 with some scrappy retreiving
and clutch shots. Sadly, the match ended with an unforced error from
Mosope into the tin.
The first match in the bottom half of the draw featured American
Christopher Gordon and Mexican Erik Tepos Valtierra. Two hard
fought games were split with Valtierra taking game one 13-11 only to
lose 15-13 in game 3. In between these two nail-biters, were two
easy games for Gordon 11-4 in game 2 and 11-5 in game 4. The final
score being a 3-1 victory for Gordon in 55 minutes.
The second match played in the bottom half of the draw resulted in
an upset win for Gregoire Marche from France who beat the
third seed Scott Arnold from Australia. Coming into the match,
Marche was ranked #112 in the world while Arnold was ranked #65.
Marche who lives in the same city, Aix-en-Provence, as former world
#1 Greg Gaultier. Marche and Gaultier train together and Squashworks
fans can remember in 2001 when Gaultier came as a teenager to play
in the first Squashworks PSA tournament. In that tournament Gaultier
reached the semifinals; perhaps Marche will be the second French
teenager to make a deep run in a Salt Lake City PSA event.
Another upset happened in the bottom half of the draw with Brazilian
Manoel Pereira (a qualifier) defeating the #8 seed Dick Lau
from Hong Kong. Pereira was steadier than Lau throughout the match
and was able to score an impressive victory in a very close match:
12-10, 3-11, 11-9, 14-12.
The last match in the bottom half of the draw saw the #2 seed Jan
Koukal from the Czech Republic beat another teenager in the draw
Alfredo Avila from Mexico. Clearly, Avila is headed for good results
on the PSA tour but Koukal's experience coupled with his deceptive
style proved too much for Avila to handle. There were many exciting
rallies but Koukal had more offense which allowed him to control the
match and finish the first round with a 3-1 victory: 11-5, 9-11,
11-5, 11-3 in 44 minutes.
Another good crowd of squash fans were on hand to enjoy the action.
12-Jan: Qualifying Complete in Salt Lake City Craig Bennett reports
Salt
Lake City squash fans were treated to an exciting opening match.
Adam Murrills, from England, upset his fellow countryman Rory
Pennell in a closely contested match, 3-1 in 38 minutes). Murrills,
only 19 and playing in his first PSA tournament in the United
States, came into the match ranked #347. Pennell is ranked twice as
high at #159. The match hinged on Murrills more steady play. Pennell
made too many costly mistakes that gave the youngster confidence
which he carried through to victory.
The
second match of the night saw two players in very different stages
of their career. Alfredo Avila from Mexico, like Adam
Murrills, has just finished his junior career and is beginning his
professional career. While his opponent, Muhammed Faheem Khan, is
age 32 and is trying to restart a professional playing career that
was halted by a motorcycle accident several years ago. Unfortunately
for Faheem (cousin to the great Jahangir Khan) the Salt Lake City
altitude and thin air suited the 18-year-old Mexican and Alvarez
advanced.
Salt
Lake City squash fans were treated to an exciting opening match.
Adam Murrills, from England, upset his fellow countryman Rory
Pennell in a closely contested match, 3-1 in 38 minutes). Murrills,
only 19 and playing in his first PSA tournament in the United
States, came into the match ranked #347. Pennell is ranked twice as
high at #159. The match hinged on Murrills more steady play. Pennell
made too many costly mistakes that gave the youngster confidence
which he carried through to victory. 
The
second match of the night saw two players in very different stages
of their career. Alfredo Avila from Mexico, like Adam
Murrills, has just finished his junior career and is beginning his
professional career. While his opponent, Muhammed Faheem Khan, is
age 32 and is trying to restart a professional playing career that
was halted by a motorcycle accident several years ago. Unfortunately
for Faheem (cousin to the great Jahangir Khan) the Salt Lake City
altitude and thin air suited the 18-year-old Mexican and Alvarez
advanced.