FASSP
St Luke's Open 2009
20-24 May, New Canaan, Usa, $8k+$6k
Sponsors: Calypso Capital
Management, Fairfield County Laser Vision
24-May, Finals: Cuskelly & Ranieri win in New Canaan Luke Butterworth reports
Today's finals were very exciting matches and in the men's it was
Australian Ryan Cuskelly who took our Shahid Zaman in four
games.
The first game finished up 17-15 in Shahid's favour was so intense,
with lots of lets, lots of great long rallies with a expert
finishing touch on some rallies from Shahid and great deception from
Cuskelly in others. As the match went on it was Cuskelly who came
through victorious showing great concentration to win the St Lukes
title.
The wispa final was won by Miranda Ranieri who played very
controlled and confident as she has done in each of her matches
throughout the tournament, against Victoria Lust who looked a little
flat footed throughout the match and couldn't find much rhythm as
Miranda was on top of her game to win in four games.
Tournament director Kumail Mehmood wanted to mention a special
thanks to all the sponsors and families who helped make this first
event possible. Thanks to the players for providing great squash and
played in a great manner for all to watch. the fassp team are
excited for next year to be bigger and better and hope all that has
been done with world squash day across the globe helps push squash
into the olympics.
FASSP
St Luke's Open 2009
20-24 May, New Canaan, Usa, $8k
Sponsors: Calypso Capital
Management, Fairfield County Laser Vision
Round One
21 May
Quarters
22 May
Semis
23 May
Final
24 May
[1] Stephane Galifi (Fra)
11/4 11/8 15/13 Alan Clyne (Sco)
Alan Clyne
11/8 9/11 7/11 11/4 11/6
[6] Bernardo Samper
[Q] Maria Elena Ubina
11/8 11/6 11/4 [2] Victoria Lust (Eng)
Qualifying: Maria Elena Ubina bt Katja
Amir
14/12, 9/11, 11/9, 11/6
Graciela Lopez bt Georgia Blatchford
11/3, 11/3, 11/4
Maria Elena: I've
been training really hard for this tournament with Kumail
and the Fassp team and I am so happy to qualify for my first
wispa tournament. The early morning training has paid off
and now its back to school for the day but very excited to
play tomorrow.
Katja: She played very well and she is
surprisingly strong for her size.
Garciela: I'm happy to be here in St Lukes and
happy to win.
23-May: Seeds prosper
in New Canaan Luke Butterworth reports
A great day in New Canaan was kicked off by two junior fassp players
in their first round matches, with Maria Elena Ubina taking on
number 2 seed Victoria Lust in a very close encounter with lust
coming out victorious.
Maria Elena played very well in her first wispa event and was very happy with the experience of playing the
tournament under the guidance of Kumail who was running around in
between both courts as Olivia Blatchford, one of the top us
senior/junior players, was on the adjacent court awaiting Kumail's
instruction also as she battled for a place in the quarter final.
Olivia played well and took a comfortable victory in three against
Imelda Ialazar, the spirited mexican. No major upsets today in the
wispa but some very hard fought matches.
In the wispa quarter finals we had three straightforward wins, for
Latasha Khan, who beat qualifier Graciela Lopez, also Miranda
Ranieri had a tough game but won in three against Thaisa Serafini,
and it was Alexandra Norman who took out brazilian Tatiana Borges to
reach the semis. Match of the night in the wispa was between
Lust and home player Blatchford, supported by her crowd
fighting her way back from two love down to level the match at
two-all but unfortunately for her didn't have the legs to upset
Lust, who meets Norman in the semis.
The men's semi finals were intense. First up was
Shahid Zaman and
Alan Clyne, who battled hard for the final spot. First two games
very close with some excellent rallies and skills enjoyed by all.
Towards the end it became a little bit scrappy with the tiredness of
the players maybe, but it was Shahid who came through to take
himself to the final.
Ryan Cuskelly then confirmed his place in the final by defeating
Patrick Chifunda in three tough games, Ryan showing that he is
growing in confidence throughout this tournament and its all set up
now for a great final tomorrow.
Semi-Finals Video
ALSO IT WAS WORLD SQUASH DAY TODAY AND
THE FASSP TEAM WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL MEMBERS AND PROS WHO JOINED
IN OUR PRO-AM TOURNAMENT
ITS GREAT FOR EVERYONE TO GET INVOLVED AND
BEHIND THE 2016 CAMPAIGN.
Men's Quarter-Finals:
22-May: Clyne carries on in New Canaan Luke Butterworth reports
After the wispa qualifying arrived the men's quarter finals with
some excellent matches.
Shahid Zaman of Pakistan took out his compatriot Arshad Iqbal Burki
in five very intense games with lots of tricks, nicks, dives,
appeals and even prayers for lets!
Then the Colombian Bernardo Samper was taken right to the end by
Alan Clyne who once again fought hard to claim victory in five
games. Rafael Alarcon fell to fellow veteran Patrick Chifunda on the
battlefield in 5 games which was a pleasure for everyone who watched
the match.
And finally Ryan Cuskelly cruised through against Max Lee, whose
legs unfortunately were feeling the affects of yesterday's marathon.
ALAN CLYNE BEAT BERNARDO
SAMPER 11/8 9/11 7/11 11/4 11/6
alan: im happy to rely on my plan b when things arent going so
well. he was deadly when i gave him space so i had to keep him
under pressure and in the end im got through. happy as larry.
bernardo: he was fitter today but in general i am gettin back
into training now after marriage and a little break from squash
so im happy that i will be fitter in the future.
shahid: i am really thankful to Allah who gave me success to
reach the semi finals and thank you so much to burki who ive
been training with in the past few weeks, its really helped me
but today was a great match. also thanks to my brothers who have
supported me.
burki: that was a fantastic match for everyone who watched and
it always is when me and shahid play. i relaxed a little when i
was 2-1 up and that was when shahid started to play very well.
all credit to shahid i wish my friend good luck for the next
match.
PATRICK CHIFUNDA BEAT RAFAEL ALARCON 11/9 4/11 11/6 9/11 11/7 rafa: we went to battle he won this time... next time i will
bring my army.
patrick: very happy very tired.
RYAN CUSKELLY BEAT MAX LEE 11/9 11/6 11/5
ryan: im starting to feel more and more confident and gettin
used to the courts. happy to get through this one, his legs must
have been heavy from yesterday so i put him under as much
pressure as possible and it paid off.
max: my legs are so heavy.....so heavy.
Round ONE: Clyne too hot for Galifi Luke Butterworth reports
Another fantastic day for the weather in New Canan. Very warm start
to the day with Alan Clyne causing a major upset by taking out the
top seed Galifi. The matches got off to a great start, very
competitive and good for the audience watching. More Wispa players
arriving, Tatiana Borges arrived and it's all getting going at St
Lukes now!
ALAN CLYNE BEAT STEPHANE GALIFI
11/4 11/8 15/13
Alan: "I'd like to thank my coaches for giving me a gameplan that I
actually stuck to.....FOR ONCE!
Stephane: He was much much better than me today, he made me very
happy to go home.
Bernardo: being the first match of the tournament I was kind of
nervous especially because I recently got married and haven't played
for three weeks, but I'm happy I played well and looking forward to
the next one.
Josh: Couldn't get into it today and maybe I could have relaxed if
I'd won the third, but he played well to win it.
SHAHID ZAMAN BEAT ERIK TEPOS
13/11 11/5 12/10
Shahid: Here I am, stress free happy man, I love the game and today
I am thankful to my brothers, Wahid, Shajil and Zahid. Let's see how
tomorrow goes.
Erik: I couldn't read him, his shots were very good, he controlled
most of the game but I could have done better.
Arshad: Two months training here, I have been working hard on all
aspects of my game with Kumail and today I took good leads in the
game but then relaxed a little too much. Tomorrow I will not do
this. Hopefully my success continues.
Lekgotla: Good experience for me and it was a good game. Happy with
the tournament but today I thought I could have played a little
better.
PATRICK CHIFUNDA BEAT DICK LAU
11/9 7/11 11/7 11/8
Patrick: Close rallies and I went attacking and tried to play short
moving him, and it worked today.
Dick: I feel very jetlagged and slow today...not my day.
RAFAEL ALARCON BEAT RYAN THOMPSON
11/9 11/8 13/11
Rafaa: Good start to the tournament. I had no confidence coming into
this tournament but I'm looking forward to the old man's game
tomorrow with Patrick. The veterans will go to battle.
Ryan:
Unlucky in the 1st and 3rd and a few silly mistakes in the second
lost me it. Overall happy with the tournament, I made a good account
of myself here.
RYAN CUSKELLY BEAT MAZEN GAMAL
11/9 11/7 9/11 11/4
Ryan: Felt a little flat today and he's a big guy with very good
shots so had to pick my self up and get on my toes, feeling good for
the tournament tho'.
Mazen: Too many cramps!
MAX LEE BEAT AMR MANSI
5/11 12/10 12/14 11/9 11/9
Max: I'm very tired now, such a long match. I tried to play a lot to
his backhand as it was weaker than his very good forehand .... I'm
very happy with the win.
Amr: No comment.
20-May: Qualifying complete
in New Canaan Luke Butterworth reports
Welcome to the FASSP St Luke's squash open in New Canaan, ct USA.
This is the first time there has been a professional tournament in
the area and we are proud to welcome all the players involved.
The
tournament is at the St Luke's school which has excellent squash
playing facilities with Kumail Mehmood heading a squash
program there with the school teams and other juniors who are part
of a growing program here in Connecticut.
The FASSP squash program is also based at Sportsplex in Stamford and
the FASSP team are looking forward to an exciting week of squash for
all to enjoy.
The tournament got off to a great start with 7 exciting matches on
day one, and four qualifying finals on day two ...
20-May, Qualifying Finals: Qualifying finals day and the
weather outside is great with the sun shining and warm
weather, Dick Lau making the most of it by sun tanning
himself out of the football field. First girl to arrive Anna Detter is around getting ready for the wispa event.
Matches
today were exciting for the people who attended and stayed
inside to watch despite the weather!
MAZEN GAMAL BEAT LEFIKA RAGONTSE
11/1 11/7
11/6
mazen:
'I love squashsite!' Today I was trying to
find my rhythm after a while away from matches, hopefully I
will play better tomorrow and end the season on a good note!
lefika:
He was fresh and came out at 100mph attacking
and it took me by surprise, he was fitter and faster today,
he played well.
ERIK TEPOS BEAT BEN OLINER
5/11 11/8 11/4
11/5
erik:
At the start he played pretty well and he
controlled the game, after the first I started to
concentrate on controlling the T and in the end I played
well to win... VAMOS MEXICO!!!
ben:
I played him before and he just kept running
today. I wanted to mix it up holding him and changing the
pace. In the end parts were good, parts were terrible, but
I'm pretty pleased with my performance. LEKGOTLA MOSOPE BEAT GRAHAM BASSETT
12/10 11/7 11/5
lekgotla:
I'm very happy with the perfomance, I
needed this win. He had a tough match yesterday maybe it got
to him in the end, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow!
graham:
Wasn't on form like I was yesterday - no
volleys, wasn't very tight and he played well.. good luck to
him.
RYAN THOMPSON BEAT KEITH PRITCHARD
11/6 11/8 9/11 11/4
ryan:
Played well in first two games some, silly tins
in the third but worked hard in fourth to finish it and now
I'm looking forward to playing Rafael.
keith:
NOT a grrrrrrrrrreat performance.
Qualifying
Round One: Mazen Gamal BYE mazen: good bye!
LEFIKA RAGONTSE BEAT LUKE BUTTERWORTH 11/13
11/5 3/11 11/8 11/8
lefika: ''I thought that I got into Luke's head and frustrated him a
little, I tried to slow it down and wait for him to get
impatient. Overall it was a good match happy to be through.''
luke: ''I've been training here in Stamford with Mauricio and
Kumail and it's great atmosphere here so far I'm enjoying
everything. I had nothing to lose today and unfortunately
lost a little concentration at the start of fourth. He
played well, some tricky shots, but overall good game. I
played well but little frustrating to lose that one.''
ERIK TEPOS BEAT MAURICIO DASSO 11/5 11/9 9/11
11/3
erik: ''In the first two games I felt confident and comfortable. Mauricio played very well in the 3rd, in the fourth
I felt he
got tired and I played well to finish it.''
mauricio: ''First I played too many mistakes, second he played very
well at the important points towards the end, third I played
well felt I was in control, and in the fourth I was
starting to get tired and he kept consistent and played well
to finish.''
BENJAMIN OLINER BEAT JOE MILLMAN 11/9 11/7
11/2
ben:
"I played grrrrrrrrrrrreat."
joe:
''Ben played well and he was more consistent than me
today.''
LEKGOTLA MOSOPE BEAT ANDY LEAROYD
11/4 11/4 11/6
lekgotla:
''Terrific, good game and I enjoyed it, he is a good player
with some nice shots. Good game.''
andy: ''Too much coaching not enough squash!''
GRAHAM BASSETT BEAT T.G RAUBENHEIMER 9/11 11/7 11/8 7/11 11/1
graham: "First real win, happy....very happy to win! Tired now."
t.g: "Graham played very well and has been working hard and it
paid off for him today."
KEITH PRITCHARD BEAT EHAMEN JOSEPH 11/9 11/9 11/8
keith:
"I had to play slow he was so quick onto the ball. Too many
lets throughout the match broke the continuity of the game
up. Got through ... onto tomorrow."
Ehamen: "The court wasn't very good, ball bouncing strange. He is a
good player and I didnt start too well, I look forward to
coming again."
RYAN THOMPSON BEAT STUART CRAWFORD 11/7 11/4
11/8
ryan:
"A little bit patchy to start with but I made decent starts
to second and third and concentrated on giving no cheap
points. I thought he was tired or something but hey, a win's
a win."
stuart:
"The only positive thing from that match is that I
don't have to play squash again for 2 or 3 weeks!!!"
A great day in New Canaan was kicked off by two junior fassp players
in their first round matches, with Maria Elena Ubina taking on
number 2 seed Victoria Lust in a very close encounter with lust
coming out victorious. 
The men's semi finals were intense. First up was
Shahid Zaman and
Alan Clyne, who battled hard for the final spot. First two games
very close with some excellent rallies and skills enjoyed by all.
Towards the end it became a little bit scrappy with the tiredness of
the players maybe, but it was Shahid who came through to take
himself to the final. 
The
tournament is at the St Luke's school which has excellent squash
playing facilities with Kumail Mehmood heading a squash
program there with the school teams and other juniors who are part
of a growing program here in Connecticut. 
MAZEN GAMAL BEAT LEFIKA RAGONTSE
ERIK TEPOS BEAT BEN OLINER
RYAN THOMPSON BEAT KEITH PRITCHARD
Qualifying
Round One:
lefika:
erik:
ben:
lekgotla:
keith:
ryan: