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West of Ireland Open 2014
15-20 Apr, Galway, $10k |
Final: Clyne wins marathon final in Galway
Arthur Curran reports
 Here on Finals Day in Galway, the main
PSA Tournament Final was preceded by the final of the Grade A
Tournament which had been running alongside the main tournament.
This final brought together local boy John Rooney, ex professional
now residing and coaching in Buffalo N.Y in America, and Ireland’s
No 2 player, non professional Bryan Byrne, who plays at a club not
too far from here.
Although John does not play professionally any longer his experience
pulled him through to win this match 3 games to 0, although he had
to work extremely hard in the third as Bryan had him running around
the court, but he managed to hold on to win.
[2] Alan Clyne (Sco)
3-1 [1] Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
4/11, 11/8, 11/8, 11/4
(77m)
With the #1 seed Ryan, aged 26,
facing the #2 seed Alan, aged 27, this final was expected to be very
close, and so it worked out. The first game contained several long
rallies, most of which ended with the score at 11/4 in favour of
Ryan, but this score does not do justice to the hard work and the
skills that Alan showed.
 Alan started to get on top in the second match as Ryan was showing
much dissent at some of the referee’s decisions, and in fact
received a conduct stroke for his behaviour, and he then lost his
discipline so Alan took advantage to take the game 11/8. Again in
the third Alan kept the score level up to 8/8 and then finished off
with two straight points to take the game 11/8 again.
Alan was well on top in the fourth and took the game comfortably
11/4 to win the tournament. A great victory for Alan, and a great
week of squash came to an end as Alan was presented with the trophy
by the son of Paddy “Whack” Walsh.
Arthur now heads East to Dublin for the
Irish Open ...
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  West
of Ireland Open 2014
15-20 Apr, Galway, $10k |
Round One
17 Apr |
Quarters
18 Apr |
Semis
19 Apr |
Final
20 Apr |
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11/6, 11/4, 11/2. 22m
[Q] Miroslav Celler (Svk) |
[1] Ryan Cuskelly
11/9, 8/11, 11/5, 11/8. 60m
[5] Jens Schoor |
[1] Ryan Cuskelly
12/10, 11/7, 8/11, 11/8 76m
[4] Greg Lobban |
[1] Ryan Cuskelly
4/11, 11/8, 11/8, 11/4 (77m)
[2] Alan Clyne |
[5] Jens Schoor (Ger)
11/5, 11/3, 11/3. (30m)
[Q] Bart Ravelli (Ned) |
[6] Arthur Gaskin (Irl)
11/8, 11/7, 11/2. 43m
Carlos Cornes (Esp) |
Carlos Cornes
11/3, 11/1, 11/8. 57 m
[4] Greg Lobban |
[4] Greg Lobban (Sco)
11/4, 11/6, 11/4. 33m
Reuben Phillips (Eng) |
Alex Ingham (Eng)
11/1 rtd (2m)
[3] Harinderpal Sandhu (Ind) |
Alex Ingham
11/8, 11/2, 11/4. 40m
[7] Sebastiaan Weenink |
[7] Sebastiaan Weenink
11/4, 11/6, 11/5 37m
[2] Alan Clyne |
[Q] David Wardle (Eng)
11/4, 11/6, 11/4. 40m
[7] Sebastiaan Weenink (Ned) |
Adam Auckland (Eng)
11/5, 11/6, 11/6 (23m)
[8] Adil Maqbool (Pak) |
Adam Auckland
11/5, 11/5, 11/7. 38m
[2] Alan Clyne |
[Q] Jan vd Herrewegen (Bel)
11/4, 11/3, 3/11, 11/6. 53 m
[2] Alan Clyne (Sco) |
16-Apr, Qualifying Finals:
Miroslav Celler (Svk) bt Jakob Dimberger (Aut) 5/11,
7/11, 11/6, 11/7, 13/11. 64m
David Wardle (Eng) bt Anthony Brindle (Gib)
8/11, 11/3, 11/8, 11/4. 47m
Jan Van Den Herreweggen (Bel) bt John Rooney (Irl)
12/10, 11/6, 11/3. 32m
Bart Ravelli (Ned) bt Tom de Mulder (Bel)
11/7, 11/7, 7/11, 2/11,11/8. 65m
15-Apr, Qualifying Round One:
Jakob Dirnberger (Aut) 3-1 Connor Sheen (Eng)
11/5, 11/1, 5/11, 11/4 (34m)
Miroslav Cellar (Svk) 3-2 Bryan Byrne (Irl)
11/6, 5/11, 4/11, 11/8, 11/7 (54m)
David Wardle (Eng) 3-0 Keith Moran (Irl)
11/6, 11/9, 11/7 (28m)
Anthony Brindle (Gib) 3-1 Sean Conroy (Irl)
10/12, 11/9, 11/3, 11/1 (41m)
Jan vd Herreweggen (Bel)
bye
John Rooney (Irl)
3-2
Martin Svec (Cze)
11/8, 11/6, 9/11, 10/12, 11/7 (60m)
Bart Ravelli (Ned) 3-2 Phil Nightingale (Eng)
14/12, 11/6, 9/11, 6/11, 15/13 (92m)
Tom de Mulder (Bel)
bye
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Semis: The top seeds safe...
Arthur Curran reports
Here in Galway we have arrived at
the semi final stage of the Garavan’s Bar Paddy “Whack” Walsh West
of Ireland Open, where we look forward to two exciting matches when
we could possibly see an all Scottish Final tomorrow.
[1] Ryan Cuskelly
(Aus) 3-1 [4] Greg Lobban (Sco)
12/10, 11/7, 8/11, 11/8 (76m)
First semi final saw the #1 seed and
tournament favourite Ryan from Australia taking on 21 year old
Scotsman Greg Lobban, ranked 41 places below him in the world
rankings. The first game started with some very long rallies, a few
ending in lets, but Ryan slowly got on top to lead 5/0, but then
tinned one to give Greg the serve, of which he took great advantage
to get to 9/6, with the help of two no lets, a stroke and a tin from
Ryan, decisions which seemed to annoy Ryan somewhat. However Ryan’s
experience came to the fore as he got to game ball at 10/9, Greg
levelled at 10/10 but Ryan finished the game off at 12/10. A
great game lasting 24 minutes for which both players can take great
credit.
The second started with Ryan taking an early 3/0 lead and kept a
lead right through the game as Greg fought hard to keep scoring
individual points, but Ryan ended the game well to win 11/7. Greg
started to put his own stamp on the match in the third game as he
took a 5/2 lead, then 8/4 and 9/7 before he finished off at 11/8.
Helped by several unusual mistakes from Ryan, Greg moved into a good
lead at 8/4 in the fourth, but then Ryan took the initiative and
finished the game off in one hand at 11/8. A very brave and skilful
performance from Greg, of whom I am sure we will hear a lot of in
the future, but on the day Ryan was just too experienced.
[2] Alan Clyne
(Sco) 3-0 [7] Sebastiaan Weenink (Ned)
11/4, 11/6, 11/5 (37m)
Second semi final saw the #2 seed
Alan, ranked at 38, facing #7 seed
Sebastiaan, ranked 98, both 27 years old so both very experienced.
However, this match was as different as it could be from the first
semi. Alan imposed himself on the taller figure of Seb from the
start, allowing him very little in the way of chances and points and
took the match fairly comfortably in three games in just 37 minutes.
So, unfortunately no all Scottish final, but I am sure we shall see
a great final tomorrow, starting here at the Galway Tennis and
Squash Club 2.00 pm.
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Quarter-Finals:
Arthur Curran reports
Today we come to the quarter finals of the tournament, with the
eight players involved representing 6 different countries.
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [5] Jens Schoor (GER)
With almost 50 places in the rankings separating these two players,
this match turned out to be much closer than the rankings suggested,
with the score staying very level right through the first game
before Ryan squeezed the win at 11/9. The second game went in very
much the same way, but this time it was Jens that kept in the lead
before taking the game on his first game ball at 11/8. In the third
Ryan swept into an easy 9/1 lead and despite Jens saving 4 match
balls he took the game at 11/5. Again in the fourth Ryan swept into
an early 8/2 lead and although Jens pulled back to 8/9 Ryan took the
game 11/8 and the match 3 games to 1.
[4] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Carlos Cornes (ESP)
Second match on saw Scotsman Greg take the first two games fairly
comfortably against Carlos from Spain, but Carlos fought much harder
in the third after a lengthy blood injury break for treatment to
Greg’s knee, but he just could not quite get in front and despite
saving two game balls Greg came out the winner at 11/8.
[7] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) bt Alex Ingham (ENG)
In the first match on court tall Dutchman Sebastiaan eased into a
slight lead and stayed in front right through, despite Alex fighting
hard and saving two game balls Seb took the game 11/8. From there
onwards it was Seb leading all the way, although Alex played
strongly without making much progress on the scoreboard, and Seb
took the next two games comfortably 11/2 and 11/4.
[2] Alan Clyne (SCO) bt Adam Auckland (ENG)
The final match brought together young Englishman Adam and the much
more experienced #2 seed Alan, and although Adam played some
absolutely fantastic squash strokes and used great movement, Alan
showed his class and experience as he took the match in 3 games to
gain his place in tomorrow’s semi finals. No disgrace to young Adam
who played with great enthusiasm and skill, but was beaten by a much
more experienced player on the day.
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Round One
Arthur Curran reports
We start today’s first round of the West of Ireland Open with a
really international flavour with the sixteen players representing
11 different countries, so hopefully we will be seeing some great
squash today.
Adam Auckland (ENG) beat [8] Adil Maqbool (PAK)
 First
match up tonight saw a great performance from young Adam, as he
moved swiftly all over the court and played some delightful squash
to beat No 8 seed Adil, who is ranked some 20 places above Adam in
the world rankings. A very good win by young Adam.
Alex Ingham (ENG) beat [3] Harinder Pal Sindhu (IND)
 Second
match up saw another young Englishman Alex taking a win over
Harinder, this time in much more fortunate circumstances as Harinder,
who took the court obviously carrying an injury, retired after a
very quick first game which Alex took 11/1.
[5] Jens Schoor (GER) beat [Q] Bart Ravelli (NED)
First match up on the adjacent No 6 court saw the seeded player
Jens, #5 seed, go through to the second round with a fairly
comfortable 3 – 0 win over Dutchman qualifier Bart, who fought
valiantly all the way through without much success.
[2] Alan Clyne (SCO) beat [Q] Jan V.D. Herreweggen (BEL)
 No
2 seed Alan took to the court next playing qualifier Jan, and the
large difference in the rankings (140 places) showed from the start
as Alan played some fabulous squash shots as well as covering the
court so swiftly, as he usually does, and despite Jan fighting
fiercely for points, Alan took the first two games quite comfortably
scorewise 11/4 and 11/3.
However Alan started the third taking a slight lead 2/0 lead, but
then with some unusual unforced errors allowed Jan to take the lead
and with some great shots himself Jan got to 8/2 in one hand and
eventually finished the game off 11/3. In the fourth Jan was visibly
the more tired of the two and despite him fighting hard Alan took
advantage to take the game 11/6 and the match 3 – 1.
[4] Greg Lobban (SCO) beat Reuben Phillips (ENG)
On the adjacent court next was #4 seed Greg, against a young
Englishman who just got into the main draw because of a late
withdrawal, and with Greg ranked some 56 places higher than Reuben
he made the difference tell as despite Reuben taking his part in
some very good long rallies, Greg took the match fairly comfortably
scorewise to enter the second round.
[7] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) beat [Q] David Wardle (ENG)
 Another
young Englishman, qualifier David, was up against #7 seed Sebastian
and similarly he fought very well against the odds but could not
stop Sebastian, ranked 145 places higher than David, from taking the
match in three straight games.
Carlos Cornes (ESP) beat [6] Arthur Gaskin (IRE)
 Quite
a shock for the home crowd was to follow next on the main court as
Irish favourite #6 seed Arthur was eventually worn down by some
great play from his opponent Carlos, ranked 50 places lower than
Arthur, as he held on to take the first two very tight games 11/8
and 11/7, and then with Arthur showing great frustration Carlos took
the third game quite easily at 11/2 for a victory that took out the
last Irish representative from the tournament.
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) beat [Q] Miroslav Celler (SVK)
 With
#1 seed Ryan now taking to the main court against qualifier Miroslav,
who had played two very tiring qualifying matches, as expected it
turned out to be the shortest match of the day as Ryan forced his
experience and class on the weary Slovakian to ease through to the
second round quite comfortably.
The end of another great evening’s squash, and we move on to
tomorrow with the second round matches starting at 5.00 pm.
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West of Ireland Open - qualifying finals
Arthur Curran reports
Miroslav Celler (SVK) beat Jakob Dimberger (AUT)
The first match this evening gave the small crowd a great exhibition
of squash, despite being only qualifiers, and the fact that both
players had tough matches yesterday evening. Jakob started off like
an express train and despite several rallies of 40/50 shots he
managed to take the first game comfortably (score wise at least)
11/5. Jakob started well again in the second to take a 7/2 lead,
then despite Miroslav pulling back to 6/7, he finished the game at
11/7, looking to be well in control of this match.
However Miroslav was definitely not giving up the ghost as he took a
6/2 lead and despite Jakob pulling back to 5/6, he went through to
take the game at 11/6. Miroslav started well again with a 5/2 lead,
Jakob pulled back to level at 6/6, but then Miroslav with some
lovely elegant drop shots took the game 11/7 to go into a decider.
The fifth game was really up and down, Jakob taking a 3/0 lead,
Miroslav taking the lead 4/3, lead back to Jakob at 5/4, and back
again to Miroslav 7/5, then back to Jakob at 9/7. This was really
turning into a fantastic bout, as Jakob then got match ball at 10/8,
Miroslav levelled and got match ball himself at 11/10, Jakob
levelled but Miroslav eventually got on top to end the game at
13/11, and the game at 3 – 2. A really exceptional match for a
qualifier.
David Wardle (ENG) beat Anthony Brindle (GIB)
This match was a little gentler than the first but still with some
lovely squash between two good friends and former training partners,
Anthony nbeing based at Surrey Sports Park where David originates
from but has now moved to Nottingham where he trains at the Park
with the PSL team. David moved slowly into a 5/0 lead but gradually
Anthony pulled back to 4/5, David again eased into the lead at 8/7,
but some excellent squash from Anthony saw him take the game 11/8.
David was definitely not going to lie down as he took the second
game in quick time 11/3.
Much tighter in the third as David moved into 7/3 lead but Anthony pulled
back to level at 8/8, then David took control again to finish off
11/8. Anthony was visibly tiring by this stage and David raced into
a 7/1 lead, Anthony made a small fightback to take the next three
points but David finished in style to win the game 11/4 and the
match 3 games to 1.
Jan Van Den Herreweggen (BEL) beat John Rooney (IRE)
The small crowd grew increasingly larger for this match as local man
John Rooney took centre stage to try and get through to the main
draw. John started quite well to take an early lead at 5/2, but Jan
showed his strength to get to match ball at 10/8, John saved two but
could not stop Jan taking the game 12/10. Again in the second John
took an early 5/2 lead, but the pressure of playing two big matches
in two days visibly showed as Jan took control and took the game
11/6.
Quite obviously to the vociferous crowd cheering John on it was
clear that John had really run out of steam and Jan took advantage
of this fact to take the third game comfortably 11/3. It was a good
gesture for the tournament that John came over from America to play
but it was unfortunately a little too much to ask, but well done to
Jan for a great victory.
Bart Ravelli (NED) beat Tom de Mulder (BEL)
The final match was another exciting one between two great
antagonists from the same part of Europe. The first game started
with Bart taking an early 4/0 lead, Tom levelled at 4/4, score
stayed level up to 7/7 whenBart took the initiative to take the game
11/7. The second was almost a copy of the first scorewise and
finished the same score at 11/7 to Bart.
However Tom decided to get right into the match at this stage and
with Bart tiring a little he took the next game 11/7 despite a late
fightback by Bart, and then comfortably took the fourth 11/2 to take
the match into a deciding game. The final game saw both players
really fighting hard and the score reflected this as it moved along
very level up to 7/7, but then Bart found a last gasp of oxygen to
win the game 11/8, and the match 3 games to 2.
A really good match to end the qualifying which had some fantastic
matches, considering they were only qualifiers, and a large number
of5 setters (in fact 5 from 10 matches). A great end to a very
enjoyable evening.
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Draw & Results
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West of Ireland Open - qualifying begins
Arthur Curran reports
 Here
we are once again in Galway for the West of Ireland Open Tournament,
opening with the first round of qualifying, where
Old Boy John Rooney comes home to save the pride of the Irish
Local Card entrants.
[4] Jacob Dimberger (AUT) bt Connor Sheen (ENG) 3/1
Jacob seemed much too strong for young Connor from the start and won
the first two games quite comfortably, but Connor then fought back
brilliantly to take the third game 11/5, however this took too much
out of him as Jacob then took the fourth comfortably 11/4.
[8] Miroslav Celler (SVK) bt Bryan Byrne (IRL) 3/2
This match turned out to be quite a thriller considering the status
of the two players. Both played their hearts out right through the
match, with several rallies in the first set of 60/70 shots.
Miroslav eventually took the first game 11/6 after 10 minutes, but
Brian fought back strongly to take the next two games 11/5 and 11/4.
Miroslav then came back to take the next game 11/8 despite strong
opposition from Bryan, and he also took an early lead of 7/2 in the
final game then although Bryan played extremely well to avoid
defeat, Miroslav took the game 11/7 and the match 3 – 2.
[7] David Wardle (ENG) bt Keith Moran (IRL) 3/0
In this game Keith, another local entrant, fought well all the way
through but just did not have the fire power necessary to stop David
winning in three games.
[3] Anthony Brindle (GIB) bt Sean Conroy (IRL) 3/1
Yet another young local player, Sean started off really well pushing
Anthony all over the court, and took the first game at 12/10.
However Anthony slowly fought back to get on top and take the next
three games as Sean tired fairly quickly.
John Rooney (IRL) bt [5] Martin Svec (CZE) 3/2
The final match of the night saw Galway born John Rooney return from
the United States to save the pride of the Irish entrants to be the
only one to go through to the qualifying finals after another
fantastic match, this time against the Czech Republic player Martin
Svec.
 Although
the scores were fairly level all the way through John took the
initiative to take the first two games closely at 11/8 and 11/6,
cheered on by a small but vociferous crowd welcoming him back home,
for his first tournament match in several years. Unfortunately John
then showed signs of fatigue in his play after taking a 7/2 lead in
the third and slowly Martin began to take control as he pulled back
to take that game 11/9.
After a titanic struggle in the fourth when Martin took a healthy
9/3 lead, John pulled back to 7/9, Martin got game ball at 10/7 then
after John pulled back to level at 10/10 Martin took the extra
points for the game at 12/10. With the crowd cheering John on at
every point he led 3/0, went behind 4/3, led 6/4 then 8/5, Martin
pulled back to 7/8 before John finished off, with both players
struggling to get to the ball, with three beautiful shots to take
the game 11/7 and the match 3 games to 2.
 What
a great result for the small but enthusiastic crowd.
“I really enjoyed that match, although I think I had a little
luck at the end, but then I’ll take anything I can get these days.
It’s great to be back in Galway and playing again in front of a home
crowd. So pleased to get a win, and hope I can do the same again
tomorrow.”
John Rooney
[6] Bart Ravelli (NED) bt Phil Nightingale (ENG) 3/2
This was another fantastic match that belied the level it was being
played at i.e. First round qualifying. Dutchman Bart and Englishman
Phil really battled through the first game, staying very level up to
10/10. Bart managed to ease ahead in extra points to take the game
14/12.
Bart got more on top in the second and eased through to a win at
11/6, but Phil then seemed to find an inner strength to take the
next two games to equalise at 2 – 2. The final game was an absolute
epic, with both players playing to their absolute limit. Scores were
very level up to 10/9 in favour of Bart, Phil saved a total of five
match balls despite some very dubious decisions by the referee, but
unfortunately could not save the last one and went down 15/13 to
Bart.
An epic match spoiled slightly by some dubious decisions.
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World’s top squash players contest
West of Ireland Open
Preview from Arthur Curran
 The
best of national and international squash players return to Galway
this week for the ‘Paddy Whack Walsh’ West of Ireland Open
Squash Championships.
Starting on Tuesday 15 and culminating in Sunday’s finals, the
annual championships hosted by the Galway Lawn Tennis Club, offer
one of the most substantial prize funds for a sporting event in the
west of Ireland.
Sponsored by Garavan’s Bar, the championships attract some of the
world’s highest ranking players for the overall prize fund of
€10,000.
 Confirmed
professional players will be travelling from Britain, America and
Australia, local hopes will rest with Galway’s former winner John
Rooney, who is returning from the USA. Irish hopes will also
rest on Arthur Gaskin from Carlow, who is currently ranked No
1 in the country, but it is Australian Ryan Cuskelly, with a
world ranking of 36, who is hotly tipped to win the 2014 PSA
competition.
The tournament begins with the initial qualification rounds on the
opening two days where four positions are reserved draw to allow
younger players with lower rankings the opportunity to compete, in
addition to four ‘local spots’.
The graded sections start on the Friday and run alongside the PSA
event until Sunday, open to all standards from internationally
ranked to club level players.
 Andre
Davies, president of the Galway Lawn Tennis Club,
says it is an honour for the club to host this competition.
“When you see the talent of players participating and the prize
fund, it really highlights the calibre of the event.”
All events at the championship are free of charge to attend. For
further details visit www.gltc.ie
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