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Alexander and Camilleri
claim the honours in Darwin
Queensland duo Zac Alexander and Lisa Camilleri
claimed the opening honours on the Australian squash tour with
convincing wins at the Top End Open in Darwin on Sunday.
Alexander beat South Australia’s Mike Corren 11-6, 11-2, 11-5 in the
men’s final while Camilleri downed Victorian Amelia Pittock 11-5,
11-5, 11-9 in the women’s decider.
The Top End Open is the first stop on the road to the Australian
Open, to be held in Canberra from August 9-15.
The tour also takes in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart,
Rockhampton and Sydney before culminating in the Australian Open, to
be held on the all-glass court at the Royal Theatre in the heart of
the nation’s capital.
The 21-year-old Alexander, who has risen to a career-high world
ranking of 78, looked in great touch as he disposed of the more
experienced Corren, 35, for the second time in a Professional Squash
Association final this year.
Alexander, who also beat the South Australian to win the Australia
Day Challenge in Brisbane in January, said these were the matches he
had to win for the sake of his career.
“I’m on the way up and am becoming more mature, and he’s gradually
coming down – I think age is finally catching up with him,”
Alexander said, “He’s been such a great player and he still has
amazing racquet skills – that’s why he can still beat 95 per cent of
the players in the draw.”
Alexander is now based in New York and will now head back to the US
for some more training before returning to Australia for the
Victorian Open in July and then the Australian Open.
Earlier Camilleri put some recent poor form behind her as she
stormed to her second Top End Open squash title and her seventh on
the world tour with her win over Pittock.
The 27-year-old from Tully in Far North Queensland made her name on
the world tour in 2008 when she won five titles, including the Top
End Open. But she had a lean 2009, making just two finals, and had
had a disappointing start to 2010 until her win in Darwin.
“I’ve had a pretty bad start to the year and lost a bit of
confidence,” she said.“I struggled in some tournaments overseas so I
decided to come back to Australia and do a lot of training.”
Camilleri has moved to Melbourne and has been training under the
watchful eye of former great Vicki Cardwell, whose daughter
Sarah is one of Australia’s most promising players.
“She (Cardwell) is so passionate about squash – if you want to get
on the court at midnight she will get out there with you and hit
balls for you for two hours,” Camilleri said. “It’s just a great
atmosphere to train in.”
Camilleri, currently ranked 40th in the world, put her form slump
down to an attitude problem and said she had been forced to look
hard at herself.
“In 2008 I trained so hard to get into the Australian Institute of
Sport – because I am older than most scholarship holders I felt I
had to train hard to prove I belonged,” she said.
“And then I made it to the low 30s on the world rankings and once I
got a scholarship, it’s stupid but I took my foot off the pedal.”
Camilleri will only play two more tournaments on the Australian
tour, the Black Knight Open in Perth and the South Australian Open,
before the Australian Open in Canberra in August.
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 Top
End Open 2010
07-09 Mar, Darwin, Australia, $7k |
Round Two
07 May |
Quarters
08 May |
Semis
08 May |
Final
09 May |
[1] Matthew Karwalski (AUS)
11-1, 11-5, 11-4
Jamie Mcervale (AUS) |
[1] Matthew Karwalski
11-8, 11-9, 11-8
[5] Justin Beard |
[1] Matthew Karwalski
11-9, 11-9, 11-9
[3] Zac Alexander |
[3] Zac Alexander
11-6, 11-2, 11-5
[2] Mike Corren |
[5] Justin Beard (AUS)
11-2, 11-4, 11-3
[11] Ben Werchon (AUS) |
[3] Zac Alexander (AUS)
11-0, 11-1, 11-2
Tim Cowell (AUS) |
[3] Zac Alexander
11-3, 11-3, 11-5
[6] Rex Hedrick |
[6] Rex Hedrick (AUS)
11-3, 11-4, 14-16, 11-9
Chris Lloyd (NZL) |
[15] Sam Fife (AUS)
11-6, 11-9, 11-9
[8] Peter Taylor (AUS) |
[8] Peter Taylor
11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2
[4] Nathan Stevenson |
[4] Nathan Stevenson
11-7, 11-6, 11-6
[2] Mike Corren |
[14] Hon Fung Wong (HKG)
9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 13-11
[4] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) |
[9] Alex Grayson (NZL)
13-15, 11-6, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9
[7] Jacob Alexander (AUS |
[7] Jacob Alexander
11-5, 11-3, 11-8
[2] Mike Corren |
[10] Cheng Yao Huang (TPE)
9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 9-11, 12-10
[2] Mike Corren (AUS) |
Round One:
[1] Matthew Karwalski
(AUS) bt Wasif Ali Khan (PAK)
w/o
Jamie Mcervale (AUS) bt [16] Le Roy Leong (MAS)
11-7, 11-2, 11-3
[5] Justin Beard (AUS) bt Farzan Rasheed (PAK)
w/o
[11] Ben Werchon (AUS) bt James Skiffington (NZL)
9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5
[3] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt George Mikhael (AUS)
11-5, 11-2, 11-0
Tim Cowell (AUS) bt [13] Luke Sims (AUS)
11-9, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7
[6] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt Lachlan Cowley (AUS)
11-4, 11-6, 11-2
Chris Lloyd (NZL) bt [12] Wesley Cusick (AUS)
8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7
[15] Sam Fife (AUS) bt Jake Davidson (AUS)
11-3, 11-2, 11-3
[8] Peter Taylor (AUS) bt Rhys Dowling (AUS)
11-6, 11-3, 11-2
[14] Hon Fung Wong (HKG) bt Edward Dromgool (NZL)
11-4, 11-8, 11-9
[4] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) bt Mohamed Badawi (EGY)
w/o
[9] Alex Grayson (NZL) bt Sunil Seth (AUS)
11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6
[7] Jacob Alexander (AUS) bt Jesse Yep (AUS)
11-1, 11-3, 11-2
[10] Cheng Yao Huang (TPE) bt Walter Koteka (AUS)
11-8, 11-7, 11-5
[2] Mike Corren (AUS) bt Muhammad Faheem Khan (PAK)
11-3, 11-6, 11-6
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Top End Open 2010
07-09 Mar, Darwin, Australia, $7k |
Round Two
07 May |
Quarters
08 May |
Semis
08 May |
Final
08 May |
[1] Lisa Camilleri (AUS)
11-6, 11-1, 11-0
Natalie Newton (AUS) |
[1] Lisa Camilleri
7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-2
[7] Samantha Davies |
[1] Lisa Camilleri
11-6, 11-5, 11-3
[3] Melody Francis |
[1] Lisa Camilleri
11-5, 11-5, 11-9
[4] Amelia Pittock |
[7] Samantha Davies (AUS)
11-2, 11-3, 11-2
Challen Stowell (AUS) |
[3] Melody Francis (AUS)
11-1, 11-7, 11-2
Charmaine Mills (AUS) |
[3] Melody Francis
5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 14-12
[5] Zoe Petrovansky |
[5] Zoe Petrovansky (AUS)
11-3, 11-4, 11-3
Nicole Stoneham (AUS) |
[9] Tamika Saxby (AUS)
13-11, 11-8, 1-11, 12-10
[8] Maggy Marshall (AUS) |
[8] Maggy Marshall
11-5, 11-9, 11-4
[4] Amelia Pittock |
[4] Amelia Pittock
11-9, 11-0, 11-3
[2] Kylie Lindsay |
[11] Grazia Guida (AUS)
11-2, 11-2, 11-3
[4] Amelia Pittock (AUS) |
[10] Selena Shaikh (AUS)
12-10, 11-4, 11-2
[6] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) |
[6] Sarah Cardwell
11-9, 11-5, 11-4
[2] Kylie Lindsay |
[12] Bethany Brazier (AUS)
11-5, 11-8, 11-4
[2] Kylie Lindsay (NZL) |
Round One:
Natalie Newton (AUS)
bt [16] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 7-11, 11-7,
8-11, 11-7, 12-10
Challen Stowell (AUS) bt [13] Rachael Carey (AUS)
7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-9
Charmaine Mills (AUS) bt [14] Alyssa Mcinerney (AUS)
12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8
Nicole Stoneham (AUS) bt [15] Luka Stroop (AUS)
11-9, 11-4, 11-7
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Road to Canberra begins in Darwin
The road to the Australian Open begins in Darwin on Friday when
first round action gets underway at the Top End Open at the Darwin
Squash Centre.
The Top End Open is the traditional first stop of the Australian
squash tour, which this year takes in Perth, Adelaide, Rockhampton,
Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney before climaxing with the Australian
Open, to be held on the all-glass court at Canberra’s Royal Theatre
from August 9-15.
This year’s Top End Open has attracted some of the region’s most
promising players who will be aiming to use the Darwin tournament to
kick start their careers.
But they will have to get past some experienced and
well-credentialed professionals if they are to make their marks this
weekend.
New South Welshman Matthew Karwalski heads the men’s seeds, ahead of
2009 runner-up Mike Corren from South Australia and two-time
Australian junior champion Zac Alexander of Brisbane.
North Queensland’s Lisa Camilleri, the 2008 champion, has been named
women’s top seed, with New Zealand’s Kylie Lindsay ranked second and
Victorian duo Melody Francis and Amelia Pittock third and fourth.
While second seeded Lindsay is the only non-Australian player in the
women’ draw, there is plenty of international interest on men’s side
with players from New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan
and Egypt all making their way to Darwin.
Northern Territory squash fans will also be able to follow
outstanding juniors Rhys Dowling, Rachael Carey and Sharmaine Mills
as they make their first tentative steps in the professional game.
Play begins at 9am on Friday. There will be two rounds played on
Friday, the quarter and semi-finals on Saturday and the finals on
Sunday.
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