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ILT & Community Trust NZ Southern Open 2014
24-29 Jun, Invercargill, $15k |
29-Jun, Final:
[2] Martin Knight (Nzl) 3-0 [4] Rex Hedrick (Aus)
11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (68m)
Knight takes Squash City title ...
 Martin
Knight is surely feeling on top of the world having just won the
inaugural ILT & Community Trust NZ Southern Open in three games,
collecting his 7th career PSA title.
With a distinct home crowd advantage, Knight was intensely focused
throughout the 68 minute match, with his mind firmly set on
achieving the win.
The first game saw both Knight and his opponent Rex Hedrick of
Australia playing patiently, waiting for the right time to go for
shots. This ensured lengthy rallies and high quality squash.
Knight’s sportsmanship was evident when he requested a change of
call from the referees at his own expense. Knight worked hard to
keep the ball tight to the walls and keep the pressure on Hedrick,
and it paid off, earning him the game 11-8.
Returning to the court for the second, both players increased the
pace, taking more risks and playing more shots than previously. This
approach worked well for Knight and he took the game 11-7.
The third saw Hedrick showing some visible signs of physical fatigue
and Knight again applied intense pressure and took an early lead
before Hedrick started to make his way back into the game. At the
end Knight’s focus and determination to win saw him close out the
match 11-9.
Speaking after the match Knight said:
"I’m really happy to win, especially to do it 3-0. It was pretty
tough out there, Rex has had a few hard matches leading up to the
final and I wanted to put the pressure on early in the first game.
"I wanted to keep the pace high and not give him any breathing space
but I felt like I was doing more and more work all the time. I
managed to get out to a good lead in every game before Rex came back
at me strongly.
"I wasn’t looking forward to having to go back on court for a fourth
game. I’m exceptionally happy to win my biggest title in about four
and a half years."
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  NZ
Southern Open 2014
24-29 Jun, Invercargill, $15k |
Round One
26 Jun |
Quarters
27 Jun |
Semis
28 Jun |
Final
29 Jun |
[1] Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)
11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (38m)
[Q] Sanjay Singh (Mas) |
[1] Nafiizwan Adnan
11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 13-11 (52m)
[6] Abdulla Al Tamimi |
[1] Nafiizwan Adnan
11-5, 3-11, 11-8,
6-11, 11-8 (94 m)
[4] Rex Hedrick |
[4] Rex Hedrick
11-8, 11-7,
11-9 (68m
[2] Martin Knight
7th PSA title
for Martin |
[6] Abdulla Al Tamimi (Qat)
11-4, 11-3, 9-11, 12-10 (39m)
[Q] Adam Murrills (Eng) |
[7] Paul Coll (Nzl)
11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5 (35m)
Matias Tuomi (Fin) |
[7] Paul Coll
12-10, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9 (67m)
[4] Rex Hedrick |
[4] Rex Hedrick (Aus)
11-4, 6-11, 11-6, 5-11, 13-11 (94m)
[Q] Kashif Shuja (Nzl) |
[Q] Ben Grindrod (Nzl)
11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (30m)
[3] Matthew Karwalski (Aus) |
[3] Matthew Karwalski
11-3, 13-11, 11-5 (33m)
James Huang |
[3] Matthew Karwalski
6-11, 11-7, 11-3,
11-5 (58m)
[2] Martin Knight |
James Huang (Tpe)
11-5, 11-8, 11-8
[8] Aqeel Rehman (Aut) |
[wc] Lance Beddoes (Nzl)
11-5, 16-18, 11-8 rtd
[5] Jan Koukal (Cze) |
Lance Beddoes
9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 (64
[2] Martin Knight |
Joe Chapman (Bvi)
11-6, 11-5, 12-10 (39m)
[2] Martin Knight (Nzl) |
Qualifying Finals:
Ben Grindrod (Nzl) 3-2 Chris van der Salm (Nzl) 11-9, 5-11,
11-6, 15-17, 11-9 (62m)
Sanjay Singh (Mas) 3-0 Jaako Vahaama (Fin)
11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (21m)
Kashif Shuja (Nzl) 3-2 Hannan Tarmidi (Mas)
12-14, 11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 11-7 (71m)
Adam Murrills (Eng) 3-1 Arthur Moineau (Fra)
11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 (46m)
Qualifying Round One:
Ben Grindrod (Nzl) 3-1 Addeen Idrakie (Mas)
11-5, 7-11, 12-10, 11-3 (52m)
Chris van der Salm (Nzl) 3-2 Manoel Pereira (Bra) 11-4,
7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7 (45m)
Sanjay Singh (Mas) 3-0 Luke Jones (Nzl)
11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (20m)
Jaako Vahaama (Fin) 3-0 Tatu Knuutila (Fin)
18-16, 11-5, 11-6 (25m)
Kashif Shuja (Nzl) 3-0 Jean-Pierre Brits (Rsa)
11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (33m)
Hannan Tarmidi (Mas) 3-0 Tristan Eysele (Rsa)
11-9, 11-9, 3-11, 2-11,11-7 (51m)
Arthur Moineau (Fra) 3-0 Corbin Faint (Nzl)
11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (22m)
Adam Murrills (Eng) 3-0 Mike Lewis (Usa)
11-2, 11-9, 11-7 (22m)
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28-Jun, Semis:
Knight and Hedrick through to
Squash City final ...
Squashcity Invercargill was humming with excitement as the
semi-finals of the ILT & Community Trust Southern Open PSA began
tonight.
First to take the court were top seed Nafiizwan Adnan and
fourth seed Rex Hedrick.
Hedrick made a strong start and took the first 11-5, followed by
Adnan striking back to take the second 11-3. The third was much more
tightly contested with both players fighting hard to get the lead
with Hedrick eventually closing it out 11-8.
The match then switched back to Adnan’s favour with an 11-6 game to
take the match to 2-2. The final game was incredibly close and saw
several points replayed many times as players were awarded lets.
After 36 minutes of battling for the lead in the final game Hedrick
managed to sneak past Adnan to book his place in tomorrow’s final.
Hedrick was ecstatic with the win: “He’s the highest ranked
player I have beaten and to date this is the highlight of my
career.”
Next up was second seed Martin Knight and third seed
Matthew Karwalski. Karwalski will have been hoping for an all
Australian final and will have been looking to reverse the result
from Palmerston North two weeks ago.
Despite the crowd being fully behind Knight, he looked difficult to
beat in the first game, taking it 11-6. Knight had different plans
however and came back much harder to take the second 11-7.
From there Knight remained focused and often travelled around the
court at a lightening quick pace to pick up balls that must have
left Karwalski wondering if he had grown wings on his feet.
Knight said: “Today was a very different match to the last time,
Matt came out firing in the first and outplayed me. After the first
I tried to soak up a lot of the pressure and concentrated on putting
the balls into the corners with a bit more purpose.
"Fortunately Matt’s movement slowed down a bit after the first game
and I was able to put him under more pressure. Really happy to win
the match and put myself into my second final in two tournaments.”
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27-Jun, Quarters:
Knight and Coll carry Kiwi hopes
into quarters ...
The quarter finals of The ILT & Community Trust New Zealand Southern
PSA Open have all played to seedings in in Invercargill tonight,
with the top four all progressing through to the semi finals
tomorrow.
 Young
Abdullah Al Tamimi showed why he is such a crowd favourite
tonight with his unique shot-playing style. Unfortunately his slight
of hand was unable to secure him a win against number one seed
Nafizwan Adnan.
Losing the first Al Tamimi fought back to take the second set before
Adnan used his experience and skill to close out the match in four
games.
 Fourth
seed Rex Hedrick ultimately proved too strong for seventh
seed Paul Coll, winning the match in four games.
The match was very competitive, with both players working hard for
each point, and moving each other all around the court.
 Likewise
third seed Matthew Karwalski looked very dominant in the
first against James Huang taking it 11-3. Huang fought hard
in the second set, taking it to a tie break which Karwalski won
13-11.
In the third Karwalski again dominated and progresses through to the
semi final where he will meet second seed Martin Knight.
 Knight
played off against his Commonwealth Games team-mate and training
partner Lance Beddoes and it was a tough match. Beddoes took
the first, which saw Knight come back hard in the second to take a
8-2 lead before Beddoes started to come back, but Knight used all
his skill to take the game 11-7.
The third was incredibly close, with neither player able to get any
real lead, before Knight finally broke ahead to take it 12-10.
Knight was able to take full control of the fourth, and secure his
semi final berth.
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26-Jun, Round One:
Knight and Coll carry Kiwi hopes
into quarters ...
The NZ Southern Open began with some great squash keeping fans on
the edge of their seats.
 First
on at 5.30pm were Nafizwan Adnan and Sanjay Singh, with Adnan
proving far too strong, winning 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 in 38 minutes.
Abdullah Al Tamimi had a slightly more difficult progression
through to the second round, beating Adam Murrills 11-4, 11-3,
9-11, 12-10 in 39 minutes.
 More
tight matches followed with New Zealand’s Paul Coll seeming
to be having an easy run against Matias Tuomi before Tuomi fought
back to take the third set. Coll re-gathered well during the break
however and showed some classy shots to take the 35 minute match
11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5.
Kashif Shuja again proved a crowd favourite with some massive
rallies during his match against Rex Hedrick. The five game
match went for a staggering 94 minutes and had plenty of both
excitement and controversy. Hedrick eventually took out the match
12-10 in the fifth.
James Huang and Aqeel Rehman (Austria) pleased the crowd with
their extreme speed and agility on the court. Huang overcame the
higher ranked Rehman in just 35 minutes 11-5, 11-8, 11-8.
The sixth match of the night saw qualifier Ben Grinrod try to
maintain his winning streak against Matthew Karwalski.
Karwalski showed his experience and took just 30 minutes to dispatch
Grinrod 11-9, 11-8, 11-5, despite Grinrod’s best efforts.
Wildcard Lance Beddoes dominated the first game against Jan
Koukal and came back from 10-6 down in the second to create a
tie-break that seesawed back and forth before Koukal grabbed it at
18-16. Beddoes took the third set 11-8, at which point Koukal
succumbed to an injury and had to forfeit the rest of the match,
opening the door for Beddoes to progress through to the second
round.
Second seed Martin Knight proved too strong for Joe Chapman
although Chapman certainly made Knight work hard for the 3 set win,
pushing him to a tie break in the third which Knight took 12-10.
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25-Jun, Qualifying Finals:
Grindrod and Shuja add
NZ interest to main draw
 The
second night of qualifying for the NZ Southern Open in Invercargill
began with an epic five-setter between Ben Grinrod and Chris
Van der Salm that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats for
62 minutes.
Grinrod managed to sneak in the win taking the fifth 11/9, and now
meets third-seeded Aussie Matthew Karwalski.
 The
second match between 4th and 5th seeds Jaakko Vahamaa and seed
Sanjay Singh was quick and clinical with Singh taking just 21
minutes to overpower Vahamaa in three games, his reward an
all-Malaysian matchup with top seed Nafiizwan Adnan.
 Kashif
Shuja and Hannan Tarmidi provided another mammoth match for the
spectators with Shuja eventually closing out the fifth 11-7
after 71 minutes. Shuja, qualifying for the third NZ tournament in a
row, now faces fourth seed Rex Hedrick.
The final match saw Adam Murrills beat Arthur Moineau in a 46
minute four game affair to set up a match against young Qatari
Abdulla Al Tamimi.
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Live Streaming
from first round
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24-Jun, Qualifying Round One:
Three Kiwis win on opening day
Young New Zealand players Ben Grinrod (Taupo) and Chris
Van der Salm (Christchurch) created the upset of the night in
the first round of qualifying at the ILT & Community Trust of
Southland New Zealand Southern PSA.
Grinrod beat top seeded Addeen Idrakie (Malaysia) in 52 minutes and
Van der Salm overcame the seventh seeded Manoel Pereira (Brazil) in
just 45 minutes.
Other upsets to the seedings included Kashif Shuja (Palmerston
North) overpowering third seed Jean-Pierre Brits (South Africa) in a
quick 33 minutes, and Malaysia’s Hannan Tarmidi proved too
strong for eighth seed Tristan Eysele of South Africa, winning the
51 minute match in 5 games.
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Live Streaming
from first round |
Preview:
Can Kiwis edge Adnan in Invercargill?
New Zealand's top players will be chasing top seed Mohd
Nafiizwan Adnan at the NZ Southern Open this week.
Invercargill will play host to some of the world's best squash
players this week as it holds the NZ Southern Open US$15k PSA
event this week. The event will be combined with the South
Island Championships this year, ensuring an extravaganza of
squash in the deep south. All of the big matches will be played
at the Squash City Invercargill Club on Onslow Street, with
spillover matches also scheduled at Stadium Southland.
Malaysian WR#32 Nafiizwan Adnan heads the field for the PSA
event with New Zealand's Martin Knight, fresh from the sixth PSA
Tour title of his career in Palmerston North ten days ago,
seeded second. Further New Zealand interest will be provided by
fast-improving Kiwis Paul Coll (seventh seed) and Lance Beddoes
in the main draw. Adnan, as well as the top New Zealanders, are
fresh from the Tri Nations Squash Doubles in Kuala Lumpur last
week - a preparation event for this year's Commonwealth Games.
Transitioning back to singles from doubles is notoriously
tricky, and is sure to test these players' adaptability.
Knight will open his account against Joe Chapman of the British
Virgin Islands, and could play the winner of fellow Kiwi Lance
Beddoes and Czech veteran Jan Koukal in the quarter-finals. If
he progresses smoothly, a rematch of last week's NZ
International Classic final with Australian Matt Karwalski is on
the cards in the semi-finals. Paul Coll will open his tournament
against Finn Matias Tuomi, and is on track to play fourth seeded
Australian Rex Hedrick in the quarter-finals.
Several more New Zealand players are present in the qualifying
draw. Ben Grindrod, Chris van der Salm, Kashif Shuja and Luke
Jones will be joined by 'locals' Shaun Madden and Corbin Faint
attempting to win through to the main draw. Qualifying gets
underway on Tuesday evening from 5.30pm at the Squash City
Invercargill courts, with qualifying finals to be played from
5.30pm on Wednesday.
Some losing qualifiers will drop down to play in the 'normal'
tournament, ensuring tough competition for New Zealand's top
players, as well as plenty of top squash for spectators
throughout the weekend.
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