11-8, 11-6, 16-14 (64m)

[4] Julian Illingworth

[4] Julian Illingworth

 9-11, 12-10, 11-9,11-6, 11-9 (75m)

[3] Jonathan Kemp

11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-5 (47m)

[2] Martin Knight

13-Nov, Quarters:
Avila axes top seed in Toronto

The quarter-finals of the Toronto Cup, held at three venues across the city, witnessed three of the top seed progress to the semi-finals, but at Toronto Lawn Tennis Club Mexico's Alfredo Avila upset top seed Karim Ali Fathi in a five-game thriller.

@ Toronto Lawn Tennis Club (Mark Porter):

Alfredo Avilia bt Karim Ali Fathi 3-2

The first match of the evening is best described as a high paced marathon. Karim dictated the play at the start of the match. He was hitting the ball with devastating pace and moving Alfredo around the court with ease. But, the young Avila put on an amazing display of retrieving and routinely forced Karim to play more shots per rally than he wanted to.

After dropping the first two games it appeared that Avila’s ability to extend rallies was paying off as his opponent was starting to slow down. Avila seemed to be getting faster as the match wore on and was able to take the next two games 11-6 and 11-4. In the fifth Avila raced off to a 5-0 lead and never looked back, successfully completing his comeback and booking a spot in the semis.

Julian Illingworth bt Rex Hedrick 3-0

The second match of the night was a bit more straightforward. Julian and Rex came out in the first game playing very disciplined squash. Both players closed down the court and were patiently hitting tight length waiting for the other to make a mistake.

It was a back and forth battle until 9 all when Julian was able to hold on to take the first 11-9. Julian controlled the play for the next two games. He pushed up on the ‘t’, volleyed often and had the Australian scrambling around the court. In the end it was a decisive three game victory for Illingworth.

Meanwhile, @ Parkview Club:

Martin Knight bt Jens Schoor 3-2

The rallies were long and the squash was tidy. Martin won the first game by a comfortable score line, due to several unforced errors by Jens, but many of the rallies were 30+ shots. Martin was more patient, and stay off the tin.

The second game saw Jens, step up and volley the ball more. The rallies were still long and physically grueling, but Jens moved the ball to the front corners with a better margin for error, and was rewarded for it by winning the game. Match tied at 1-1.

Game three saw both players trying to impose their strategies. Martin playing very good length, and Jens trying to step up and volley the ball to the front corners. No player could pull away from the other, until the end of the game where a few unforced errors from Jens gave Martin the third game.

Game four was almost identical to the third. The players were trading points with each other until the end of the game. Near the end of the game Jens was grabbing at the back of his leg and his movement became a serious issue. Martin could sense the finish line was in sight, and closed the out the game and the match.

and @ Oakville Club:

Jonathan Kemp bt Danish Atlas Khan 2-0 rtd

Both players started tentatively and the first game was characterized by some unforced errors. The match got going midway through game 2, with an the rallies getting longer and more intense. Unfortunately after a tight end to the game, Danish was unable to carry on due to an injury.

Albeit, the Oakville Club crowd enjoyed two nights of great squash.
 

• Second straight year
• 7 Toronto and area venues
• Exposure expected to reach over 1500 live spectators
• Junior Jam at Badminton and Racquet club, 10 pros, 40 juniors, meet the players and autograph session, and lots of fun!
• Looking forward to a great week of Squash