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Carol Weymuller Open 2012
25-30 Sep, Casino Heights,
Brooklyn, New York, $50k |
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Draw & Results
I’d like
to say a HUGE thank you to some key people who have put a lot of
time, effort and generosity into making this tournament what it is.
Firstly our corporate sponsors Corcoran, who generously support us
year after year and to all our amazing members who bought tickets
for the quarters, semi's and finals which contributed to the prize
fund. We wouldn’t have a tournament if we didn’t have this
incredible support.
This year we had the best entry to date and the matches were so
strong and of such high caliber all the way through from the
qualification to the final.
To all the WSA players for choosing to come and play our event and
for playing such beautiful squash and inspiring all of us,
especially our juniors.
To Jim Wellington and his family who drove all the way from
Cleveland to stream our event live on the internet for us. They did
a fantastic job as always and we really appreciate their hard work.
The streaming is not only great for the squash enthusiasts around
the world but it’s so lovely for the family and friends of the
players to be able to watch the matches live if they chose. We hope
that they will come back again next year.
To all our members who opened up their homes to house the players
and to Judy Scofield-Miller who excellently organized all housing of
the players.
To Steve Cubbins and Framboise Gommendy who put up my reports and
photos so quickly and brilliantly on SquashSite every day.
To Emily Lungstrum, our adult squash chair for all her support
throughout the Weymuller and the squash year.
To Becky McDevitt the chair of the Weymuller this year, She did a
tremendous job and has worked very hard towards the new ticketing
system we had this year and even travelled back from Texas to help
out this week.
Then last but certainly not least, Cristian, Burak, Jayson, T,
Bonnie, Norman and ALL our Heights Casino staff. We have an amazing
team of dedicated people here at The Heights Casino, who all pull
together and make every event we run here a success. Thanks SO much.
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30-Sep, Final:
[4] Laura Massaro (Eng) 3-0 [2] Raneem El Weleily (Egy)
11/8, 11/4, 11/5 (34m)
a 10th WSA title for Laura as she beats the defending champion
Laura relieves Raneem of the Weymuller title
Linda Elrani reports
 Today was the final day of our 2012 Carol Weymuller Open. It’s
been a tremendous week of squash and the WSA players have definitely
left everyone inspired and motivated. We sometimes have the honor of
Carol Weymuller herself coming to watch the final, but Carol has
sent us a lovely e-mail apologizing that she was very busy and could
not unfortunately find the time to come.
Carol started the junior squash program here at The Heights Casino
many years back and it has obviously grown and grown over the years.
We always like to thank Carol for all her work and dedication at the
start as we wouldn’t be where we are today with our program if she
had not been forward thinking enough to develop squash in this area.
Our final today was between defending Champion and world # 2
Raneem El Weiley and world # 3 Laura Massaro from
England. The match started at 2pm with packed out bleachers full of
excited members. In the WSA head to head statistics Laura is ahead
7-3, but Raneem won the last time they played, which was here at the
Weymuller last year and it was 13/11 in the fifth! Both players
semi-final matches yesterday were not too long, so they should have
arrived today in the final not too fatigued.
 In the first game Laura got off to an amazing start taking an early
lead of 4-1 and then 8-3 up. Laura found her rhythm and was hitting
tight accurate deep lengths and putting Raneem under a lot of
pressure. Raneem started to settle into the game a little and
managed to get into the rallies more and play a few winners
especially with her backhand drops this gave Raneem a little come
back to 7-9 but Laura's amazing court coverage and perfectly formed
rallies gave her nothing to play with and Laura won the first 11/8
with a great hold at the front.
In the second Laura got a 3-1 lead and Raneem was still not quite
finding a deep length to put Laura under major pressure. On Raneem's
first really deep length she won the point, but she didn't seem to
be intent on following this type of game plan. Laura continued her
perfect plan, pinning Raneem deep and then taking the ball well into
the front and volleying everything she could to keep the T. Raneem
made many unforced errors and Laura soon took the second 11/4 to go
2/0 up.
 We were all left wondering if Raneem could come out in the third and
be more patient and start to put Laura under more pressure before
going in short at the front. The third started much the same as the
first and second games with Laura getting a 6-2 lead and and still
controlling the rhythm of the match and T area. Raneem was still
going for lots of short shots and not managing to get Laura behind
her, though a couple of the short shots were winners but many were
errors.
Laura made her first unforced error at 6/4 but Raneem
couldn't capitalize on this and even hit a tin off the return of
serve to take Laura to 9/5. Laura didn't even finch when she was
match ball up and very quickly went through to the win the 2012
Carol Weymuller Open in a glorious style.
A
very happy Laura said " I'm really pleased to win the title. I was
really happy with the way I played and I managed to stick to my game
plan as well as I could. Raneem had such a good week and I knew it
would be tough today so it makes it even more special to win!"
When I asked Raneem how she felt, she said..." I feel Off!!!! Laura
obviously deserved to win today. It has been a great tournament."
Congratulations to both players for
reaching the final, especially to Laura for winning this gold
tournament, it was a pleasure to watch them both play.
 Tomorrow (Monday) at 5.30pm on the promenade at the end of Montague
Street, Nicol and all the WSA players are doing a Flash Mob to try
and get some great publicity for the Back The Bid to try and get
Squash into the 2020 Olympics. We hope that everyone will join them
and make the whole event really successful. Please wear either red
or white t-shirts when attending. Good luck to WSF with this Olympic
push.
 Thanks again and we hope you all enjoyed the 2012 Carol Weymuller
Open as much as we did and we look forward to running it again next
year.
Congratulations again to Laura and good luck to all the WSA players
for the rest of the season. Cheers!
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 Carol
Weymuller Open 2012
25-30 Sep, Brooklyn, New York, $50k |
Round One
27 Sep 17.30 - 19.45 |
Quarters
28 Sep |
Semis
29 Sep |
Final
30 Sep |
[1] Nicol David (Mas)
11/9, 11/5, 11/6
Kasey Brown (Aus) |
[1] Nicol David
11/9, 5/11, 11/3, 11/7
[Q] Alison Waters |
[Q] Alison Waters
11/7, 11/7 11/4
[4] Laura Massaro |
[4] Laura Massaro
11/8, 11/4, 11/5 (34m)
[2] Raneem El Weleily |
[5] Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/7, 8/11, 11/7, 11/2
[Q] Alison Waters (Eng) |
[4] Laura Massaro (Eng)
7/11, 4/11, 11/2, 11/3, 11/8
Low Wee Wern (Mas) |
[4] Laura Massaro
9/11, 11/4, 11/3, 11/6
[6] Annie Au |
[6] Annie Au (Hkg)
3/11, 11/4, 9/11, 11/3, 11/3
[Q] Donna Urquhart (Aus) |
Camille Serme (Fra)
4/11, 11/8, 7/11, 11/4, 14/12
[7] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) |
[7] Nour El Sherbini
11/6, 11/9, 11/6
[3] Jenny Duncalf |
[7] Nour El Sherbini
11/6, 11/9, 9/11, 11/9
[2] Raneem El Weleily |
[Q] Dipika Pallikal (Ind)
11/9, 11/6, 11/6
[3] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) |
Joelle King (Nzl)
11/6, 11/5, 11/7
[8] Rachael Grinham (Aus) |
Joelle King
3/11, 10/12, 11/3,
11/9, 13/11
[2] Raneem El Weleily |
[Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
11/9, 11/9, 11/3
[2] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) |
26-Sep, Qualifying Finals:
Dipika Pallikal 3-1 Latasha Khan
12/10, 11/6, 8/11, 11/4
Jaclyn Hawkes 3-1Nour El Tayeb
11/9, 11/4, 7/11, 11/6
Donna Urquhart 3-2 Sam Cornett
7/11, 11/7, 11/13, 11/7, 11/8
Alison Waters 3-1 Amanda Sobhy
11/9, 12/10, 7/11, 11/6
25-Sep,
Qualifying Round One:
Dipika Pallikal (Ind) 3-0 Maria Toor Pakay (Pak)
11/8, 11/5, 11/3
Latasha Khan (Usa) 3-2 Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy)
8/11, 11/8. 14/12, 7/11, 11/8
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) 3-2 Nicolette Fernandes (Guy)
11/6, 7/11, 8/11, 11/7, 12/10
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) 3-0v Kristen Lange (Usa)
11/9, 11/8, 11/6
Samantha Cornett (Can) 3-2
Sarah Kippax (Eng)
11/6, 2/11, 11/4, 5/11, 11/5
Donna Urquhart (Aus) 3-0
Coline Aumard (Fra)
11/5, 11/4, 11/8
Amanda Sobhy (Usa)
3-0 Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn)
11/7, 11/6, 11/6
Alison Waters (Eng) 3-0
Birgit Coufal (Aut)
11/6, 11/4, 11/0
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Play-a-Pro
Before the semi finals began we held a ‘Play a Pro’ event for our
juniors so that they had a chance to get on court with some of the
top women’s squash players in the world.
World # 4 Jenny Duncalf, world # 14 Rachael Grinham, World # 19
Jaclyn Hawkes, World # 22 Sarah Kippax, World # 17 Donna Urquhart
and World # 28 Latasha Khan, World # 12 Joelle King and World # 5
Madeline Perry all very kindly agreed to play with our two groups of
juniors.
The juniors all had such a fun time, trying their hardest to win a
point or two off the pros! Thanks so much to the WSA players for
taking part in this. We really appreciate it.
They are all a huge credit to women’s squash as they are so prepared
to give back to the tournaments and help spread the joy of playing
squash.
After the Play a Pro it turned into a really fun game of 3/4 court
where the pros were playing with their opposite hand that they
normally do! It looked like Jaclyn would be the highest in that
ranking from what I saw :-))
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Raneem and Laura pull rank in semis
Linda Elriani reports
Semi finals day is here at the 2012 Carol Weymuller Open.
Everyone was excited to see some more action packed squash as the
quarter final matches were so entertaining and such a tribute to how
strong and amazing women’s professional squash is.
 The
first semi final today was between the two best Egyptian players in
the world, the defending champion and world # 2 Raneem El Weilely
and the amazing 16 year old world # 7 Nour El Sherbini.
The head to head was 2-1 in Raneem’s favour but Nour beat Raneem 3-1
in the last match that they played, so it was going to be
interesting to see who could make it through to the final.
In the first game Raneem got off to a good start and was soon 6/1
up. She was much more patient than she had been yesterday, but there
were still plenty of short shots being played by both players, some
going in perfectly and some in the tin. The ball was being played
all around the court with different shot selections nearly every
hit. Raneem put in some great holds and wrong footed Nour and soon
went through to win the first game 11/6.
The second game was very similar with Raneem taking a 6/3 lead. Both
players played some really outstanding winners with holds and flicks
but also a large amount of unforced errors. It was as if the players
were worried that if they didn’t go short and try to win the point
as soon as possible that their opponent might do it first. Nour gave
a big push and equalized the game at 8/8, but Raneem came through
strong to win the second 11/9.
It was Nour’s turn to gain the lead in the third and she hit an
array of perfect backhand drops and volley drops from the back
corner, middle and front. Nour can be lethal on that backhand side
if the length isn’t good enough. Nour started to be more patient and
moving the ball around the court and waiting for her openings
better. Raneem for the first time in the match was starting to react
to Nour’s game. Nour came through to win the third game 11/9.
In the fourth Raneem came out firing and was very accurate and error
free, taking a 4/1 and then 6/3 lead. Nour needed to get her serve
on the side wall as Raneem hit several cross court volley nicks off
of them allowing her to win easy points.. There were a series of
amazing rallies, Raneem made a couple of mistakes and Nour found her
patience again and pulled back to 7/8.
Raneem pushed on and tried to take the ball early and came through
the fourth 11/8 to take her to her second Weymuller final in a row.
 Raneem
said after her win: “I’m very very very very happy! I put too much
pressure on myself.
"Playing the younger players is not fun! They remind me of myself
but a better version! Both players are very very good and they have
the best experience and have very strong games.
"I hope that I play well.”
Nour said after her semi-final match:
 “I
feel great. I think I played good. The last 2 games were so close.
It was a little bit of bad luck. Raneem was so good and her shots
were so good. She’s playing great.
"Now we are going to learn the steps for the Flash mob on Monday!
I’m looking forward to the US Open and I play a qualifier first
round so I don’t who I play yet. I hope that I do even better
there.”
The second semi final match was a
totally English affair with Laura Massaro world # 3 playing
giant killer Alison Waters currently world # 9. Both players
are amazing athletes and very steady and accurate so the quality of
the squash was bound to be fantastic. Alison was up 7-3 in the head
to head but Laura has had a great season too so would be doing her
best to get a win over Alison.
Laura started off the match very well and very quickly found her
rhythm and was moving well and moving Alison around the court. You
could see Alison trying her hardest to regain some of the spark that
she had in last night’s match but she was looking less fresh than
Laura due to how physically hard she had to work to beat Nicol.
There were some great rallies but Laura always seems that little
more in control. Laura came through to win the first game 11/7.
The second game started pretty evenly and the points went back and
forth but gradually Laura edged forward on the score board to take a
9-5 lead. Laura was playing a perfect combination of slowing the
ball down and attacking which added to Alison not being to find her
rhythm. Alison kept trying to push up and control the middle but to
no avail as Laura won the second 11/7.
In the third Laura came out on fire playing a very precise game and
keeping a constant pressure on what looked like a tired Alison and
was very soon 6/0 up. Laura made her first unforced error at 9/4 up
but Alison couldn’t capitalize on this and Laura won the final game
11/4.
 A
smiling Laura said:
“I’m really happy. I thought I played really well today and managed
to stick to my tactics and stay focused for most of the match.
"I thought Ali looked like she was struggling a little bit and I
tried to keep the pace up for the entire match. I’m really looking
forward to playing in a Gold final.”
 Alison
commented:
“It was a good learning curve after yesterday. Laura played really
well and didn’t give me anything. It’s tough to back it up after
yesterday but it’s something I’ll need to learn to do in the future.
"I’m looking forward to a few days rest and then getting ready for
the US Open.”
Congratulations to both winners and
we very much look forward to the final on Sunday.
Tomorrow’s final is between Raneem El Weiley and Laura Massaro at
2pm and everyone is so excited to see who will be the 2012 Carol
Weymuller Champion. See you then!
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Two big upsets and almost a third
in Casino Heights Quarters
Linda Elriani Reports
Tonight is quarter finals night of the 2012 Carol Weymuller Open.
The quarter finals night is always my favourite night at tournaments
because it’s usually four extremely high quality matches all on one
court and boy did we did get that and more!!!! A feast of fantastic
squash!
First up on the championship court was the world # 4 from England,
Jenny Duncalf and young superstar Nour El Sherbini
from Egypt, who is #7 in the world. They had only played twice
before this evening and it was 1-1 in the head to head. Nour won
last time they played 11-9 in the fifth so it was very exciting to
see who would come out on top this time!
Would it be Jenny, who is the older more experienced player who has
won this event twice before and also has plenty of tricks up her
sleeve, or would it be 16 year old Nour who looks hungry for the
ball and takes everything early and seems to be improving by the
match?
 The
answer is Nour basically played amazingly! Jenny didn’t managed to
hit a deep or penetrating enough length for long enough to get Nour
off the T and prevent her from chopping the ball off so well. Nour
plays incredibly maturely for her age and her shot selection even
when under pressure was pretty much perfect!
Nour won the 1st game 11/6 and Jenny gave a big push in the second
game but Nour still manage to keep her composure and win it 11/9. In
the third game Nour still managed to dominate the T and went 7/3 up.
Jenny had a mini comeback to 6-7 but to no avail as Nour came
through to win 11/6.
 It
can only leave you thinking that if Nour can play this well at 16
years old (she turns 17 in Nov) how will she be playing by the time
she is 20 years old!!!!
A very happy Nour said after “I think I played very good. To beat
Jenny 3-0 is a very good win for me. I just wanted to finish the
points and I didn’t want to be doing too much work. Of course I wish
for Raneem to win because she is Egyptian. I beat Raneem 3/1 back in
May and it was hard. When I played Joelle the last 2 times I won
14/12 in the fifth so either way it’s going to tough tomorrow! I
hope tomorrow I can have the energy to play even better.”
Second on court was the current Weymuller Champion and World #2
Raneem El Weleily from Egypt and New Zealander Joelle King
who is ranked #12 in the world. Joelle and Raneem grew up playing
junior squash together and now they have both come through to be in
the top 12 in the world.
This would be the 3rd time they had played as Professionals - they
also met twice as juniors - and Joelle King is yet to beat Raneem
but every match is a new one!
This match was so incredibly entertaining. Joelle got off to an
amazing start and Raneem was making a lot of unforced errors. Joelle
took the first in a convincing style 11/3. Joelle's length was deep
and tight and she was moving so well.
The second game was pretty even all the way through and even though
Raneem still made a few errors, she did start to be more patient and
Joelle did make a few errors. Joelle’s movement was so good that
Raneem was struggling to wrong foot her which is something she can
normally do to players with her hold and flare. Joelle hung on and
managed to win the second 12/10. In the third Raneem came out having
obviously decided that she did not want to lose this match and
started to construct her rallies with more thought behind them. With
a few unforced errors from Joelle too before we knew it she had won
the third 11/3.
In the fourth Raneem came out strong and was making less errors and
moving Joelle around the court more. Raneem took a 4/2 and then a
8/5 lead and Joelle gave an extra push to get her control back. The
rallies were so much fun to watch as both players were covering the
court so well and using every inch of the court to move each other
around and create openings. Raneem just managed to clinch the fourth
11/9 to take the match to 2/2!
The fifth game was one of the most exciting games of squash I have
seen a very very long time. The score went back and forth with both
players attacking and taking the ball early. Joelle was volleying so
well and really trying to keep the T and keep the ball away from
Raneem. Joelle took a slight lead of 6/4 and Raneem took a huge risk
of a cross court volley drop off the serve….but it paid off and went
straight into the nick! Joelle hit a couple of amazing volley drops
and kept a lead of 8/6. Raneem gave a huge push and climbed back to
9/9!!!
Another couple of fantastic rallies from them both and Raneem had
her first match ball. Joelle still hung on and equalized to
10/10.Raneem had her second match ball at 11/10 and Joelle saved it
yet again. Joelle did not get scared and still volleyed and took the
ball in short with the same aggression as she had earlier in the
match. Raneem got third match ball at 12/11 and finally managed to
finish off the point to take her through to the semi finals
tomorrow.
 The
crowd were so impressed and excited by this match they gave the
players a standing ovation and clapped non-stop for a couple of
minutes!
Raneem said afterwards “ I don’t know what I was doing! I don’t
think that I played that well. I’m very lucky to be through today.
In Egypt you say “Thanks God for giving me the chance to have a good
a day when I was having a bad day!!! All credit to Joelle, she
played fantastic! Last time I played Nour I lost badly. Tomorrow is
revenge time!”
The third match of the evening is between world # 3 Laura Massaro
from England and world # 6 Annie Au from Hong Kong. In the
head to head Laura is up 4-1, but the last time that they played
Annie won 11/9 in the fifth so an exciting match was almost
guaranteed!
They have very different styles with Laura having a fantastic
steady, patient and accurate game and Annie being well known for her
incredible touch and the ability to cut off any ball short. Who
would managed to play their game and contain the others play? Annie
came out well in the first and cut off all of Laura’s length’s if
they were not on the wall. Laura didn’t really find her rhythm or
penetrating length to put Annie under pressure. The game went back
and forth but Annie came through 11/9.
 Laura
played so well in the second game and was steady and got in front of
Annie and put her under a lot of pressure with more pace on her
lengths. Annie also started to make some mistakes and Laura got to 7
before Annie scored her first point! Laura charged through and won
the second 11/4.
 The
third was even better for Laura, her length was very tight and had
good weight and pace on it and gave Annie nothing to hit. Annie kept
trying to go finer on her short shots in the bid to win some points
and kept making errors. In the third Laura got a great lead yet
again and was 6-1 relatively quickly playing a patient, error free
game and covering the court really well. Annie gave a last push at
the end of the game but could not manage to get Laura off the T and
lost the fourth 11/6 to take Laura through to the semi-finals.
Laura said “In the 1st Annie played really well and her short
shots were going in really well. In the next three games I just
managed to find a little more length and width and that allowed me
to control the rallies. It’s good to be in the semi’s which is my
seeded position so I’m looking forward to playing relaxed tomorrow.”
Last up on the championship court, but certainly not least was
Nicol David, world #1 and six time world champion from Malaysia
playing against English Alison Waters world # 9, who has
recently climbed back into the world top 10 again after being out
with injury for a whole year!
Nicol has won many many WSA titles but she hasn't won this one since
2005 so it was going to be interesting to see if Alison could stop
Nicol getting through to the semi-finals. We thought that there
couldn’t possibly be another fantastic match this evening but indeed
there was!!!
 The
first game was SO attritional and both players did so much work and
covered the court so well. Nicol got back so much and Alison almost
had to win some points two or three time before actually winning it!
Alison had to really win every point as Nicol was error free until
9-7! Alison kept hanging in and moving Nicol around the court and
she made Nicol do a lot of work. Nicol looked like she could run
around like this forever! Alison did however clinch the first game
11/9.
 The
second game started with some fantastic long rallies, but Nicol’s
patience and started to take its toll on Alison and Alison started
to lose the amazing patience that she had in the first. Nicol still
had to work incredibly hard and retrieve a lot of balls but won the
second 11/5. It looked like maybe Alison would now be tired and
Nicol may go through to win 3-1 but how wrong could we have been!
Alison came out in the third firing on all cylinders. She was
dominating the T and keeping the pace up and was managing to rush
Nicol and cut off some of her cross courts. Ali was basically
awesome in the third and won 11/3.
 In
the fourth it was pretty even at the beginning but soon Alison began
to take control again and for the first time in the match Nicol
looked like she was starting to get tired. Alison piled on the
pressure even more and Nicol started to make some mistakes and not
get to some of Alison’s amazing short shots. Alison was 10/5 up and
had 3 match balls till she finally won the last point, beating Nicol
for the first in their 19 meetings!
A beaming Alison said “I’m over the moon. I’ve never beaten her
before but I felt confident and I actually believed I could win. In
the past I’ve never quite believed it but now I feel stronger, not
just physically but also mentally too. I play Laura tomorrow . We’ve
had some battles in the past and I’m looking forward to playing
tomorrow.”
We all look forward to the some more amazing women’s squash tomorrow
afternoon at 4.00pm and 5.00pm after the Junior ‘Play a Pro’ which
is on from 2.30pm-3.30pm. It’s our juniors chance to get on court
with some of the best women’s squash players in the world. That
doesn’t happen every day!
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27-Sep, Round One
Linda Elriani Reports
Tonight was the 1st round of the 2012 Carol Weymuller Main draw.
The quality of the matches tonight was amazing and the matches were
so exciting and closely contested.
It’s so inspirational for our Heights Casino juniors to watch. There’s a
cute group of our youngest players who come watch nearly all the
matches and want to jump on any free court to try and practice what
they have been witnessing over the last few days!
The weather in Brooklyn has been a little damp and humid over the
last couple of days and this has made for hot court conditions and
long hard matches, proving to us even more how fit and athletic the
women players are.
First on the Championship court was # 3 seed and world # 4 from
England Jenny Duncalf against the young Indian qualifier
Dipika Pallikal, world #15. Jenny won the title here in 2009 and
2010 so she knows the courts well. The match got off to an awkward
start with plenty of lets until the players got into their groove.
Jenny’s length was a little short in the first game allowing Dipika
to take the ball really well at the front and do some her great
holds.
The game stayed even up to 9/9 until Jenny managed to clinch it
11/9. In the 2nd and 3rd games Jenny really found her length and
rhythm and moved Dipika around the court better and forced some
errors.
Jenny came through her first round match in 3 and afterwards said
“I’m happy with a 3/0 win. Dipika has improved in the last year so I
wasn’t going to take her lightly. I’m happy to be back in Brooklyn
and looking forward to the next round.”
 Also
on court at 5.30pm was French # 1 and world # 13 Camille Serme
playing Nour El Sherbini the 17 year old Egyptian player who
is amazingly already ranked 7 in the world! This match was an
incredibly close and was a perfect display of wonderful athleticism
and shot selection from both players.
Nour plays squash with an incredible maturity, especially for a
teenager!!! Nour is getting a great name for herself when it comes
to the big points in matches as she stays focused and steady way
beyond her years! This was the case in this match too as Camille had
battled to get a match ball at 11/10 in the fifth game and Nour held
on strong and Camille made a couple of errors and the match went to
Nour 14/12 in the fifth!
A very happy Nour said “
That was a very long one! 14/12 in the
fifth! Camille is so good and it’s my 3rd time to play her and that
was first time I have beaten her. It was a really tough one, I was
feeling like I just wanted to finish it and get off the court! I
have Jenny tomorrow and we have played twice before. Last time I
beat her 3-2 but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to win this time
too. I’m looking forward to it and hope I can do well.”
 Second
match on the championship court was Egyptian # 1 and world # 2
Raneem El Weleily playing Jaclyn Hawkes from New Zealand
and world #19. Raneem is the current Carol Weymuller Champion and
really started her break through up to the very top of the rankings
here last year.
This match had a real contrast in playing styles with Jaclyn being
steady and accurate and Raneem skilful and random and full of flare!
Raneem moved the ball around the court so well that it was hard for
Jaclyn to find her rhythm and play her game. There were times in the
first 2 games where Jaclyn slotted in a few great short shots but
because she wasn’t controlling the middle of the court Raneem was
containing her and then chopping the ball in short with her great
touch.
Raneem won the first 2 games 11/9, 11/9. Jaclyn put up a great fight
especially after such a hard match yesterday to qualify but she
looked like she had started to get tired by the third and Raneem
took the last game with relative ease 11/3.
Raneem said afterwards
“I’m happy to win today. It was the first time I had played
Jaclyn, which rarely happens. I felt that I had time but that I
didn’t make such good use of it! I’m happy to be through to the
quarters.”
 The
6.15pm match was New Zealander and world #12 Joelle King
playing Australian and world #14 Rachael Grinham. Rachel has
been as high as # 1 in the world and has won many WSA titles so has
a ton of experience in her belt, but today she didn’t look like she
firing on all cylinders or moving the way that Rachael is know so
well for.
Joelle managed to get a good start in each game and her confidence
seemed to grow stronger as the match progressed. Joelle charged her
way to the quarter finals winning 11/6, 11/5, 11/7.
Joelle said after the match “I didn’t feel Rach was moving as
well as she normally does. It is still Rachel though and she wasn’t
world #1 for nothing! I still had to focus and put it together the
whole way through. I was happy to get off 3/0. I’m looking forward
to playing Raneem tomorrow. We are the same age and came through
juniors together. I’ve never beaten her so far, but tomorrow is a
new day!”
 The
third match on the championship court was World #3 Laura Massaro
from England playing Low Wee Wern from Malaysia who is ranked
#10 in the world. Low has improved so much since last year when she
played here and has been getting some fantastic results at
tournament this year.
This match was another five setter and was very close especially
right at the end. It really was a battle of playing the right game
plan to pull through. At the beginning of the match both players
were incredibly patient and working the ball around the court at a
very even steady pace. This seemed to be suiting Low more than Laura
and as she wasn’t being rushed or being put under any major
pressure.
The games were long but Low won the first 2 games 11/7, 11/4. Laura
clearly needed to change her plan to get herself back into the match
and that’s exactly what she did! Laura started putting more pace on
the ball and moving and playing with more intention. Her shots were
more decisive and Low started to just react to Laura’s great new
game plan.
Laura came through the 3rd and 4th games 11/2, 11/3. In the fifth
game Low started to put a little more pace on the ball too and was
moving Laura around the court again and got a 6-3 lead. Laura clawed
back and the score stayed pretty even through till 7-7 and then
Laura played the perfect end to a five setter match.
Laura made no errors at the end, chose her short shots perfectly and
with great variation and hold and Low didn’t have anything to come
back with. Laura went through to win the fifth 11/8.
Laura said
“After losing first round last year I couldn’t put my billets
through that again! Last year I did lose to the eventual winner but
it was still the first round. After being 2/0 down I just tried to
inject a little bit more pace which doesn’t necessarily come
naturally. I tried to keep my mental intensity up too in order to
keep the pace up. I’m happy to be through. I lost to Annie last time
we played 3/2 so I’m just going to learn from that match and try to
better tomorrow.”
 Hong
Kong’s Annie Au and world # 6 was up to play Donna
Urquhart world #17 from Australia, both are left handed players.
Donna came through the toughest qualifying match last night and had
another hard one this evening.
Donna, who gets the award for the nicest outfits on the court,
started out great, moving well and showing no signs of fatigue from
last night and won the first 11/3. Annie came back out in the second
and managed to control the match and use her wonderful short shots
and won the second 11/4. The third game was very even all the way
through and Donna put out a huge effort to win it 11/9.
The 4th and 5th game were very won relatively convincingly by Annie
and Donna finally started to look tired. Annie won the last 2 games
11/3, 11/3.
Annie said after her win
“In the first game Donna got a 76-2 lead and was playing well
with her shots. The second I won quite easily and the 3rd was close.
I felt Donna was tired in the 4th and I started to attack more. In
the 5th game I was more confident and my shots went in well. It was
a good start for the tournament and I’m ready for tomorrow.”
 The
last match on the championship court was American based Australian
Kasey Brown and world # 8 played against the World #1 and
five time world champion Nicol David from Malaysia. Nicol
hasn’t played our tournament for the last couple of years so it was
so great to see her back gracing our courts and showing us what it
takes to be world # 1 in a sport.
The first game was very closely contested with the score going back
and forth until Nicol managed to scrap it 11/9. Kasey is an amazing
athlete but Nicol seemed to find her groove after the 1st and even
though Kasey tired her best to control and rallies and move Nicol
around and get her out of position she just couldn’t manage to
string enough points together. Nicol came through the last 2 games
11/5, 11/6 looking very together and focused.
Nicol said after “It’s great coming back to the Weymuller after
so long. It’s good to play well on these courts and beating Kasey
3/0 is never easy. I’m happy to be through. I knew this tournament
was a tough draw all the way through so I’m just using this 1st
round as a good boost for tomorrow.”
 The
other 7.45pm match was Ireland’s Madeline Perry who is ranked
world # 5 against England’s Alison Waters who is currently
world # 9. This match was played at a very high pace and lots of low
hard lengths and each player trying to get into and rid of the ball
as quickly as possible.
The first 3 games where pretty even all the way through with Alison
coming out with the 2/1 lead. Alison’s length was just a little bit
more superior in the end with Madeline giving Alison some shorter
lengths to finish the rallies from. Alison won the fourth in
dominating fashion 11/2.
Alison said
“ It was a tough match with Madders. It was fast and furious at
the start! The 3rd and 4th I found more range and the court opened
up more. I’m looking forward to playing Nicol. I played her in
Australia and had a good game and lost in 4 and hopefully I can play
well tomorrow.”
So here ends another really exciting night of squash at The Heights
Casino and we all look forward to the quarter finals starting at
5.30pm tomorrow night. See you again soon!
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26-Sep, Qualifying Finals
Linda Elriani Reports
Tonight was the last evening of the qualification at the 2012 Carol
Weymuller Open. It’s always an exciting round as it really is all or
nothing…main draw or out! The matches were very exciting and a
fantastic display of how athletic and amazingly skilled the top
women squash players are.
Our stands were packed again with keen and inspired members and our
juniors where also busy collecting autographs from the WSA players.
The first match on our championship court tonight was between World
# 15 and India’s favourite player Dipika Pallikal and USA’s
World # 28 Latasha Khan. The last time they both played it
was down to the wire so we were all looking forward to seeing this
match up again.
 Dipika
got a good lead in the first game and whenever Latasha hung back a
little Dipika put in some great disguised boasts and short shots. At
9-5 down Latasha made a big comeback by getting in front on the T
and Dipika lost her previous patience and her length was shorter
allowing Latasha to use her array of winning shots. She managed to
get to 9-9 before Dipika scraped through to win the first 12/10.
In the second, Dipika got a good start with great length, forcing
Latasha to make some errors with her constant pressure. Once Dipika
got to the magic number 9 again she stopped playing her game and
Latasha managed to step up the court and start controlling the
rallies again. Unfortunately for Latasha she started her comeback
too late and Dipika won the second 11/6.
In the third it was Latasha’s turn to move Dipika around and control
the middle more. Dipika made a few errors on the boasts and even
though she made an extra push at the end of the 3rd game Latasha
came through winning 11/8.
Dipika started the 4th game perfectly, making no errors, being more
patient and moving the ball around the court really well. Latasha
hung back a little and didn’t get to a couple of Dipika’s held
trickle boasts at the front. Latasha battled to the end but Dipika
was too much in control and won the fourth 11/5.
Dipika said after the match “I’m
relieved to get through. Latasha has so much more experienced and
when I was up I would start going short and she would take full
advantage and start coming back! I’m not that long out of the
juniors so I still revert back to my junior squash from time to
time! I won last time 12/10 in the fifth, so in the 3rd game it was
in my head that she could come back. In the 4th I hit more straight
and less cross-courts and it really made a difference. As for the
main draw, I have played them all so I don’t mind who I play, I’m
just glad to qualify!”
Second on was New Zealander and world #19 Jaclyn Hawkes
against Egyptian Nour El Tayeb who is ranked #21 in the WSA
world rankings. This match was so much fun as they both had such
different styles and it was so interesting to see who could get
their game plan over the other. Jaclyn is very steady and patient
and since last year when she played here, has developed a wicked
short game too! Nour moves fluidly around the court and takes every
opportunity to go short. The match started off pretty evenly and as
they drew closer to the end of the game Nour made a couple of
unforced errors and then a great hold at the front from Jackie
helped her win the first 11/9.
In the second Jackie had a steady start taking a small lead of 2-0
but Nour hung on and hit a couple of lovely backhand drops. Jaclyn
kept the pressure on Nour and was moving around and retrieving well
and very soon Jaclyn had taken the second game 11/4.
Nour came out in the 3rd firing on all cylinders and was very soon
4-0 up. Nour made a few drop errors from deep on the backhand to let
Jaclyn back into the game. But soon Nour was 8-3 up and Jaclyn
didn’t manage to find the length she had in the previous game and so
couldn’t control the T so well. Nour won the third 11/7.
Jaclyn got off to the perfect start in the fourth game with a 6-0
lead, her length was great, she was taking the ball in short really
nicely and basically containing Nour and limited her ability to do
her wonderful short shots. Jaclyn was 9-1 up and Nour suddenly
became incredibly patient and fought her way back to 6-10. There was
one particular rally which was very long and Nour did a huge dive to
save the match ball but the rally ended in a let! The rallies
changed and both players started to push the ball around the court
and wait for the other player to the make the error. There were a
number of lets and eventually Jaclyn hit a forehand drive that was
so tight to the wall that Nour couldn’t retrieve it, taking Jaclyn
through to the main draw and winning the last game 11-6.
Jaclyn said after her win “I’m really happy with that match. In
the games that I won I really dominated and I moved much better
today. I was forcing her to make errors on the backhand deep so I
kept her there more intentionally. It was a nail biter at the end
and I think that I was just fitter.”
Third match on court was Canadian and world # 36 Sam Cornett
and world #17 Donna Urquhart from Australia. This was the
only match of the evening that went to five and it was definitely
the most attritional and exciting too. All the rallies seemed to be
fought incredibly hard for by both players and it was an example of
great retrieving and lunging, with both players being so tall. In
the first game Sam managed to stay in front of Donna, forcing her
out of position and taking her in short. Sam came through 11/7.
Donna got a good start in the second with a 4-1 lead and was really
containing Sam and forcing her back in the court. Sam made a few
unforced errors too and lost the patience she had had in the first.
Donna won the second 11/7.
Sam was the one to get the good lead in the third and managed to get
5-2 up with the help of a few errors from Donna. Suddenly Donna
surged forward and Sam was forced back and before we knew it Donna
was back at 7-7. Donna was looking to win the third with a 10/8
lead, but Sam pushed up the court and volleyed well and has some
fantastic hold and backhand drops to eventually win the third 13-11.
The fourth Donna managed to get a 5-3 lead and kept Sam pinned back
on the court. Sam lost her patience and went for early winners that
didn’t come off taking Donna to a 8/4 lead. Sam is a fighter and did
not give up and managed to squeeze 3 more points before the match
was level again at 2 all!
The fifth was fantastic end to this great match and both players
battled to control the T and get in front of the each other. Donna
managed to gain a lead of 9-5, and then 10-8, but it wasn’t quite
over until Donna hit a winning volley kill off the serve to win the
nail biting five setter.
Donna was very happy “I think it was pretty good squash and we
both tried to attack and move each other around. At 2-1 down I was
wondering how I was going to win this, but I just dug in! In the 4th
and 5th I made less errors. I felt like I was playing myself as Sam
is tall too and the way she has a long reach and picks a lot up!
Because it was so hot and bouncy, the rallies were long and hard and
I felt I did get a little impatient at times. I’m stoked that I have
qualified and a little bit relieved too!”
Our last match of the evening, but certainly not least was USA’s
budding young star Amanda Sobhy and already world #20 and
English player Alison Waters who is climbing back up the
ranking again after being out with injury for a whole year. In the
last September ranking Alison climbed back into the top 10 again
where she had been before that for a long time. The first game got
off to a fast and furious pace with both players trying to dominate
the T. Amanda is deadly around the T so you could see Alison trying
to keep the ball away from her. Alison clinched the first 11/9.
 The
second was even closer with Amanda hitting deep, hard penetrating
length and moving Alison around the court to get a 8-5 lead. Alison
dug in and found her length again and got in front and made Amanda
play a few errors from her pressure. Alison sneaked the second
12/10.
The third game Alison came out firing and was soon up 5-2, but
Amanda started to make a huge comeback hitting attacking deep drives
and controlling the T again and chopping any loose balls off on the
volley and holding the ball very well at the front. Before Alison
knew it she was behind 10-7 and Amanda finished off to take the
third with a perfect forehand volley drop.
The 4th game started off evenly up to 6/6 but Alison’s experience
and shot selection soon overpowered Amanda who hit 2 lobs out in her
bid to gain some time in the rallies that Alison was controlling. In
the end the longer the rallies the better it was for Alison. Alison
came through to win the final game 11/6.
Alison commented after the match “Amanda is a good player and is
really good around the middle and at going short. You have to get a
good width. At 5-2 up in the third I lost my concentration and it
was hard to get it back. In the 4th I was thinking more about
exactly where I was putting the ball and I forced a few errors. I’m
very pleased to win in 4”.
Congratulations to all the players who qualified. All the matches
were such great quality squash and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them.
The first round matches start tomorrow night at 5.30pm and we are
all very much looking forward to watching some more of the amazing
squash.
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25-Sep, Qualifying Round One:
Cracking qualifiers to
kick off Carol Weymuller
Linda Elriani reports
The 2012 Carol Weymuller Squash Tournament is now underway with
the first 8 qualification matches on our Heights Casino squash
courts. We are streaming the whole event live onto the internet so
it’s exciting for everyone to be able to see matches even if they
are in different countries or can’t make to the matches.
The 5.30pm match was between Alison Waters from England, who
has just surged back up to # 9 in the WSA world rankings and
Brigit Coufal world #60 from Austria. Alison’s experience and
solid placement of the ball put Brigit under more and more pressure
as the match went on. Alison won 3-0 (11/6, 11/4, 11/0) Alison
commented “It’s nice to get started with a 3-0 win. I’m enjoying
myself in Brooklyn and looking forward to my match tomorrow.”
 The
second 5.30pm match was Dipika Pallikal, the #1 seeded player
in the qualification and the world #15 from India and Maria Toor
Pakay world #52 from Pakistan.
Dipika managed to win in 3 and after the match she said “I played
Maria all my junior career and we always had intense matches. Maria
is coming off a tournament win so is confident too. I really tried
twisting her and putting in cross courts and keeping her off her
feet. She made a few errors at crucial points too, which helped a
lot. In the first match of the tournament it is nice to be off in
3!”
It was packed audience at 6.15pm on the championship court when
Jaclyn Hawkes world #19 from New Zealand played Nicolette
Fernandes #1 from Guyana. This was one of the three long and
truly exciting matches of the evening. The rallies were long and
hard and every point was closely contested. Nicolette fought for a
2-1 lead with a few entertaining dives here and there! Jaclyn
managed to pull through the fourth game 11-7 managing to contain
Nicolette in the back and stop her chances for the great short shots
and the 5th game went right down to the wire.
The fifth was full of fantastic retrieving, intense decisions for
the ref and each player battling to control the T. Jaclyn finally
came out on top winning 12/10 in the 5th.
The red faced and smiling Jaclyn said after the match “I’m really
lucky and happy to get through that! Nicolette really played well.
She kept the ball really tight and hit some really good short shots.
For tomorrow, they are all tough matches but Nour plays slightly
differently and plays a lot of short shots, so I’ll have to be
moving forward a lot. I’m looking forward to it.”
 The
second 6.15pm match was between Nour El Tayeb the world #21
from Egypt and Kristen Lange world #67 from USA. Kristen put
up a fantastic fight and pushed Nour hard in each game, but Nour’s
fluid movement and wonderful shot selection took it’s toll in the
end. Nour won 11/9, 11/8, 11/6.
After the match Nour said “I’m just happy to be here, I missed the
Casino! It is good to win and hopefully I’ll play well again
tomorrow.” Nour now plays Jaclyn in the qualification finals
tomorrow at 5.45pm.
The other 6.15pm match on the west court was an exciting five setter
with Sarah Kippax from England and world #22 against
Samantha Cornett world #36 from Canada. The games went back and
forth and each player seemed to really find their rhythm and control
in each game that they won.
It was going to be interesting to see who could control the fifth
after the pattern of the previous games and it was Sam managed to
get in front and play her game winning the final game 11/5.
Sam was beaming saying “So we played a month ago and she basically
chopped me up 3-0! So I am so very very happy to have won that
match!!! It was a bit of a see saw with the scores going back and
forth and all the games that I won I stepped up on the T. I felt I
went for a lot of short shots in the games that Sarah won because of
her pressure. I haven’t played either Donna or Coline in ages so I'm
looking forward to playing whoever wins.”
 Donna
Urquhart from Australia and world #17 played Coline Aumard
the world #41 from France. Donna managed to control the match and
her play her game, even though Coline put up a good fight. Donna won
11/5, 11/4, 11/8.
Donna said after she finished her match “I’m always happy to get
through. It’s the first time I’ve played Coline and you don’t always
know what to expect! I’ve seen her play and see her results so I
knew she was tough. She let me off the hook with some errors. I’ve
never played Sam before either so I look forward to playing someone
different again!”
 Amanda
Sobhy the world #20 from USA and member of the Harvard squash
team played Misaki Kobayashi the world #33 from Japan. Amanda
mostly dominated the games and powered her opponent into the back
and controlled the T. Misaki tried her hardest to remove Amanda from
the T but couldn’t do it for enough of the time.
Amanda said after her match “It was tough, I haven’t really had a
pro match in a while. I get to play with the guys on the men’s team
at Harvard but there’s no pressure then. This is a professional
match and it matters! Even if I’m playing a girl that is not as
tough as the Harvard Guys if is somehow harder! I’ve never played
Alison Waters and I hope to do well. I was unfortunate to draw her
(what with her ranking being lower due to injury). I’ve got nothing
to lose and everything to gain!”
Lastly but certainly not least was USA’s tour veteran and world # 28
Latasha Khan against young and upcoming Trinity freshman from
Egypt, Kanzy El Dafrawy. This match was a fantastic finale to
a wonderful evening of squash. Latasha is looking more in shape than
ever and she turns 40 in January! Her great accuracy and immense
experience pulled her through to overcome the 18 year old Kanzy, who
gave every last effort to try and win the match, with several dives
around the court. The final game was closely contested right through
till the last few points and Latasha finished the victor with a
final score of 11/8.
Latasha said “I’m happy I played well. Kanzy moves well and dives
and gets a lot back. Basically my length was key!!! I lost to Dipika
12/10 in the fifth last time we played so I’m looking forward to a
better result this time!”
It was a truly fantastic evening of squash to start off the 2012
Weymuller. Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to
the final round of the qualifying tomorrow night which starts at
5.00pm.
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FROGS' TALK
Hello Framboise !
Petit mot après mon match de ce soir contre Donna.
Perdu 3/0 un peu trop rapidement à mon goût ! Je me suis tout
simplement étouffée toute seule en voulant trop faire.
Il me faut plus d'expérience contre ces filles la pour que
j'apprenne à canaliser mon effort. Mais il y a eu des bonnes choses
et des bons échanges.
De plus je risque de la jouer à Nîmes si on tombe contre l équipe
d'Australie alors j'ai quelques semaines pour bosser sur les
différents points importants pour faire évoluer mon niveau de jeu !!
Maintenant à Cam de jouer !
Bises à tout le monde !
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