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South Australian Open 2011
15-19 Jun, Adelaide, South
Australia |
19-Jun, Finals:
Shuja outlasts Corren
as Francis doubles up ...
Andrew Dent reports
 Melbourne’s
Melody Francis underlined her massive improvement over the
past 12 months when she claimed her second consecutive title on the
women’s squash tour with a four-game win over Kiwi Amanda
Landers-Murphy in the final of the South Australian Open on Sunday.
Third seeded Francis, who took out the Millicent Open last Sunday,
downed Landers-Murphy 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 15-13 for the third title of
her career, all of which have come this year.
“I’ve been working so hard and now I’m starting to see the results,”
a delighted Francis said.
The 22-year-old said she was a completely different player from 12
months ago, when she made a string of finals and semi-finals but was
unable to convert any of her chances.
“I am fitter and stronger now,” she said. “It makes such a
difference to be able to stay in rallies and then be able to step up
earlier and put pressure on my opponent.”
Francis now heads home to Melbourne for the Victorian Open, which
begins on July 10, followed by the Tasmanian, Queensland and NSW
Opens, leading into the Australian Open.
But she said she was not thinking of more glory at this stage.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead and put too much pressure on
myself,” Francis said. “The tournaments in July have an even bigger
international presence and there are some good players coming out
for them.
“(But) the Victorian Open was one of my goals at the start of the
season, so I want to go there and play my best, and maybe win it in
front of my home crowd.”
 In
the men’s final, top seeded New Zealander Kashif Shuja edged
out home favourite Mike Corren in a five-game thriller.
Shuja and Corren entertained the big crowd with some squash of the
highest quality before the Kiwi claimed the fifth set in a tiebreak
to take the title 11-7, 4-11, 13-15, 11-5, 12-10.
“I knew it was going to be very, very hard, even though Mike had a
tough semi-final yesterday,” Shuja said.
“He worked so hard today, it was hard physically and I was just
pleased to get home – there was nothing between us.”
It was Shuja’s 10th title on the men’s tour, achieving a goal he set
himself when he quit his job at the University of Auckland six years
ago to go on the tour full time.
“It was very special for me to win my 10th tournament,” he said.
“It’s also special for me to win here. I’ve been coming to Australia
for many years now and I really appreciate the great squash history
in this country.”
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 South
Australian Open 2011
15-19 Jun, Adelaide, $10k |
Round One
15-Jun |
Round One
16-Jun |
Quarters
17-Jun |
Semis
18-Jun |
Final
19-Jun |
[1] Kashif Shuja (Nzl)
11/7, 11/0, 11/2 24 mins
[Q] Andrew Wise (Aus) |
[1] Kashif Shuja
11/7, 11/2, 11/7 (26m)
[Q] Lance Beddoes |
[1] Kashif Shuja
9/11, 11/7, 11/7, 11/8 (46m)
[7] Justin Beard |
[1] Kashif Shuja
11/8, 11/6, 11/7 (25m)
Evan Williams |
[1] Kashif Shuja
11/7, 4/11, 13/15, 11/5, 12/10 (75m)
[2]
Mike Corren |
[Q] Jonathan Geekie (Eng)
11/3, 8/11, 11/13, 11/8, 11/6 53 mins
[Q] Lance Beddoes (Nzl) |
Luke Sims (Aus)
12/10, 6/11, 11/9, 11/6 40 mins
Owais Khan (Pak) |
Owais Khan
14/12, 11/6, 11/6 (44m)
[7] Justin Beard |
Frank Hartkoren (Ned)
11/6, 11/9, 11/8 36 mins
[7] Justin Beard (Aus) |
[8] Josh Cardwell (Aus)
11/4, 11/6, 11/7 27 mins
James Skiffington (Nzl) |
[8] Josh Cardwell
11/13, 2/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/6 (68m)
Rory Pennell |
[8] Josh Cardwell
8/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/13, 11/7 (71m)
Evan Williams |
Rory Pennell (Eng)
11/8, 12/10, 11/5 32 mins
Chris Lloyd (Nzl) |
Courtney West (Aus)
11/4, 11/9, 11/8 23 mins
Evan Williams (Nzl) |
Evan Williams
7/11, 11/6, 13/11, 11/9 (58m)
[4] Nathan Stevenson |
Kevin Moran (Sco)
13/11, 11/6, 11/5 34 mins
[4] Nathan Stevenson (Aus) |
[3] Rex Hedrick (Aus)
11/9, 11/7, 11/2 22 mins
Ben Takamiawa Harris (Jpn) |
[3] Rex Hedrick
7/11, 12/10, 13/11, 2/11, 11/7 (80m)
[Q] Mahesh Mangoankar |
[3] Rex Hedrick
11/7, 12/10, 11/6 (41m)
[6] Aqeel Rehman |
[3] Rex Hedrick
5/11, 6/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/5 (89m)
[2]
Mike Corren |
[Q] Mahesh Mangoankar (Ind)
10/12, 11/9, 11/4, 11/4 51mins
[Q] Paul Coll (Nzl) |
Sunil Seth (Aus)
11/4, 11/5, 11/4 33 mins
[Q] Jason Mudge (Aus) |
[Q] Jason Mudge
11/8, 11/5, 11/2 (32m)
[6] Aqeel Rehman |
Ben Marschall (Aus)
11/1, 11/7, 11/3 17 mins
[6] Aqeel Rehman (Aut) |
[5] Anthony Graham (Eng)
11/8, 15/13, 11/8 44mins
Elvinn Keo (Mas) |
[5] Anthony Graham
11/1, 11/8, 11/3 (28m)
Chris Ferguson |
[5] Anthony Graham
11/8, 11/1, 11/8 (41m)
[2]
Mike Corren |
Chris Ferguson (Sco)
11/6, 11/7, 11/7 21 mins
[Q] Walter Koteka (Aus) |
Jamie McErvale (Aus)
11/2, 11/3, 11/3 24 mins
Ben Werchon (Aus) |
Jamie McErvale
11/7, 11/5, 11/3 (24m)
[2]
Mike Corren |
[Q] Chris Lark (Aus)
11/4, 11/2, 11/9 26 mins
[2]
Mike Corren (Aus) |
Qualifying:
Jason Mudge bt Faisal Riaz
w/o
Lance Beddoes bt Adeel Ahmed
w/o
Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Ross Hewitt
11/2 11/5 11/7 22mins
Paul Coll bt Trae Menzies
11/2 11/1 11/5 15 mins
Andrew Wise bt Luc Rance 7/11 11/8 8/11
11/1 11/8 45 mins
Chris Lark bt Dylan Swanson
11/4 11/3 11/3 27 mins
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 South
Australian Open 2011
15-19 Jun, Adelaide, $4k |
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Round One
16-Jun |
Quarters
17-Jun |
Semis
18-Jun |
Final
19-Jun |
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[1] Kylie Lindsay (Nzl)
6/11, 11/6, 11/9, 11/6 (33m)
[13] Vanessa Pickard (Aus) |
[1] Kylie Lindsay
14/16, 11/3, 11/9, 11/7 (42m)
[8] Amanda Landers-Murphy |
[8] Amanda Landers-Murphy
11/5, 12/14, 11/5, 11/6 (44m)
[9] Tesni Evans |
[8] Amanda Landers-Murphy
5/11, 11/9, 11/5, 15/13 (41m)
[3] Melody Francis |
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[12] Christine Nunn (Aus)
11/5, 11/8, 11/6 (29m)
[8] Amanda Landers-Murphy (Nzl) |
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[6] Maggy Marshall (Aus)
11/3, 11/2, 11/2 (14m)
[16] Stacey Jane Cope (Aus) |
[6] Maggy Marshall
9/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/6 (32m)
[9] Tesni Evans |
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[9] Tesni Evans (Wal)
12/10, 3/11, 11/7, 11/13, 12/10 (70m)
[4] Sarah Cardwell (Aus) |
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[3] Melody Francis (Aus)
11/2, 11/1, 11/4 (14m)
[11] Jennifer Brown (Aus) |
[3] Melody Francis
11/8, 11/6, 12/10 (27m)
[7] Lisa Aitken |
[3] Melody Francis
11/13, 11/7, 11/3, 11/5 (39m)
[2] Siti Munirah Jusoh |
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[14] Jasmine Burnard (Aus)
11/0, 11/1, 11/1 (11m)
[7] Lisa Aitken Sco) |
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[5] Samantha Davies (Aus)
9/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/9 (29m)
[10] Pushppa Devi (Mas) |
[5] Samantha Davies
7/11, 8/11, 12/10, 13/11 11/6 (59m)
[2] Siti Munirah Jusoh |
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[16] Alma Kushartanti (Aus)
11/9, 11/9, 11/4 (21m)
[2] Siti Munirah Jusoh (Mas) |
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18-Jun, Semis:
Corren comeback
steals the show in Adelaide ...
 Local
favourite Mike Corren staged a remarkable comeback from two
games down to beat Rex Hedrick and reach the 51st final of his
career.
"Mike looked exhausted, but he used many lobs and managed to come
back from two down after 89 minutes," said tournament spokesman Des
Panizza, "the players got a standing ovation from the crowd at the
end."
Although we don't have times for all Mike's matches, the match
appears to be his longest since a 90-minute affair with Laurent
Elriani in Salt Lake City in 2005 (we're sure the man himself
will correct us if there are any longer ones in between, or even
longer than his 117-minute match with Joey Barrington in Ontario the
year before).
Corren will meet top seed Kashif Shuja in a trans-Tasman
(Australia v New Zealand) final after the Kiwi number one beat
unseeded Evan Williams in straight games.
The women's final will also be trans-Tasman after Amanda
Landers-Murphy and Melody Francis triumphed, both in four
games. Francis will be aiming for her second title in a week after
winning the Millicent Open.
17-Jun, Quarters:
It's the Evan(s) show
again in Adelaide ...
Evan Williams and Tesni Evans continue to confound the
seedings in the Chateau Tanunda South Australian, both making
unexpected progress to the semi-finals.
Williams the only, unseeded player in the men's quarter-finals,
overcame eighth seed Josh Cardwell and now meets top seed Kashif
Shuja in an all-New Zealand semi-final.
In the bottom half of the draw it's an all-Aussie clash between
second and third seeds Mike Corren and Rex Hedrick
after both beat European opposition in straight games.
The top semi-final in the women's draw pits ninth seeded Evans
against a Kiwi, but not Kylie Lindsay as expected, rather Amanda
Landers-Murphy who beat the top seed in four games.
The bottom half went to form, with Siti Munirah Jusoh and Melody
Francis, the second and third seeds, both coming through to the
semis.16-Jun, Last 16:
Williams whacks Stevenson,
Evans ousts Cardwell
The second round of the Chateau Tanunda South Australian Open in
Adelaide saw seven of the men's eight seeds win through to the
quarter-finals, but unseeded New Zealander Evan Williams
caused a big upset with a four-game win over fourth seed Nathan
Stevenson in just under an hour.
 There
was a single upset in the women's first round too as Wales' Tesni
Evans won a see-saw fiver-setter with fourth seed Sarah Cardwell
12/10 in the fifth after 70 minutes.
Scotland's Lisa Aitkin came close to posting a unique
scoreline of all-the-ones, winning 11/0, 11/1, 11/1 in 11 minutes!
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