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06-Sep, Final:
[6] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [2] Alister Walker (ENG)
11-4, 11-6,
11-9
Kemp delights home crowd
with upset win at Wolves
England’s World No.28 Jonathan Kemp continued his irrepressible form
to record an emphatic 11-4 11-6 11-9 win to clinch the 2009
Wolverhampton Open, the UK’s largest club-based squash
championships, title.
Both finalists, competing in the event as part of their final
preparations for next week's British Open in Manchester, showed
remarkable resilience and powers of endurance after a succession of
hard matches in earlier rounds.
The 28-year-old Englishman, who reached the final with victories
over Aamir Atlas Khan, Campbell Grayson and No.1 seed Laurens Jan
Anjema with his unique style of all-out attack overcame spirited
resistance from his younger compatriot and world number twelve, to
the delight of a knowledgeable capacity crowd at the Wolverhampton
Lawn Tennis & Squash Club.
 "That
is without question the best I have ever played.
Alister has beaten me on the last three occasions so I am really
pleased with my win tonight – I am sure we will have a lot of future
battles.”
“I had to play my very best having had tough matches in every round.
Although the competition for this event is getting stronger each
year, I’m already looking forward to coming back to defend my title.
"I really would like to thank my coaches David Pearson and David
Campion, Danny Massaro my psychologist and Jade Elias my physio who
have been working with me over the summer, clearly to good effect."
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“The crowds this year
have been fantastic with more or less a full house from the first
qualifying round. I would like to add a thank you to four of the
professional competitors who stayed to the end of the week and put
on a highly entertaining doubles match before the men’s final. Amr
Swelim and Campbell Grayson narrowly defeated Simon Rosner and
Darren Lewis in a match full of tension and laughter.”
“Without the support of our sponsors we can not stage these events
so very many thanks to Marstons, Warley Carriers, First City
Developments, TKBS and Digital HDMI.”
Tournament Director
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05-Sep, Semis:
Kemp takes out LJ to set up
all-English final with Walker
England's second seed Alister Walker defeated Malaysia’s Ong
Beng Hee 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 to reach the final of the 2009
Wolverhampton Open, the UK’s biggest club-based squash championships
staged at Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club.
 “Today
was very hard and I had to dig really deep to win,” said the World
No.12. “Beng Hee is a great player and the fact that he is currently
ranked nineteen in the world demonstrates the strength in depth on
the men’s World Tour. Today is the first time we have ever played
and I’m really pleased to have progressed to the final.
The 26-year-old Englishman, who has risen nineteen places in the
World Rankings since last years event, will face No.6 seed and
compatriot Jonathan Kemp who was in devastating form to
overcome top seed Laurens Jan Anjema of the Netherlands in an epic
11-4, 12-10, 5-11, 8-11, 11-0 60-minute semi-final.
The No.1 seed showed no signs of fatigue, despite a physical
84-minute quarter-final win over Joey Barrington less than
twenty-four hours earlier.
Kemp sought to seize the initiative from the opening exchanges with
adventurous and at times outrageous attacking squash and eventually
overcame Anjema in the fifth game, despite a spirited comeback from
the Dutchman which saw him level the match at two games all by
winning the third and fourth games with greater consistency and
breathtaking retrieval.
“I played out of my skin tonight,” said Kemp, the World No.28.
“Playing in front my home crowd has really inspired me this week.
They have given me huge support and created a very special
atmosphere. I hope I can come back tomorrow and give the supporters
something more to shout about.”
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04-Sep, Quarters:
Top seeds make Wolves semis
In the opening match of the night in-form New Zealander Campbell
Grayson who despatched No.3 seed Amir Atlas Khan in the opening
round was unable to progress past sixth seed Jonathan Kemp of
England who won 11-4 6-11 11-7 11-6 to make the semi-finals of the
2009 Wolverhampton Open, held at the Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and
Squash Club, England.
In the second quarter-final, second seed Alister Walker, one
of the UK’s rising squash stars, scored an impressive 11-5 11-4 11-1
win over Italian seventh seed Davide Bianchetti.
Walker, who defeated qualifier John Rooney in his opening match,
outplayed his Italian opponent with a combination of high tempo
length, subtle changes of pace and attacking angles and drop shots
to reach his second semi-final in two years at Wolverhampton.
“I felt really strong today,” said the Botswana born World No.12
after his 32-minute victory. “I was really pleased to win against an
opponent who has so much experience. Hopefully, I can keep the
momentum going against Beng Hee tomorrow in the semis.”
Top seed Laurens Jan Anjema of the Netherlands won the
opening two games in convincing style, 11-5 11-4, before a
courageous fight back from Joey Barrington, who went on to
take the third and fourth games before eventually losing to the
Dutch Champion 11-6 in the fifth in a physical 84-minute battle
The final match of the evening saw Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee
clinch the remaining semi-final place, defeating Chris Ryder
11-6 12-10 11-8 in a high quality competitive and entertaining 47
minute encounter
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Round 1 Report
Qualifying Report
Preview
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 Wolverhampton
Open 2009
01-06 Sep, Wolverhampton, $20k |
Round One
03-Sep |
Quarters
04-Sep |
Semis
05-Sep |
Final
06-Sep |
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 (45m)
Kashif Shuja (Nzl) |
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema
11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-6 (84m)
[5] Joey Barrington |
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema
11-4, 12-10, 5-11,
8-11, 11-0 (60m)
[6] Jon Kemp |
[6] Jon Kemp
11-4, 11-6,
11-9
[2] Alister Walker |
[5] Joey Barrington (Eng)
6-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4 (79m)
[Q] Yasir Butt (Pak) |
[3] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak)
11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 (51m)
[Q] Campbell Grayson (Nzl) |
[Q] Campbell Grayson
11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6 (38m)
[6] Jon Kemp |
[6] Jon Kemp (Eng)
11-7, 11-7, 11-2 (24m)
Simon Rosner (Ger) |
[Q] Amr Swelim (Ita)
11-4, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5 (49m)
[8] Chris Ryder (Eng) |
[8] Chris Ryder
11-6, 12-10, 11-8 (47m)
[4] Ong Beng Hee |
[4] Ong Beng Hee
10-12, 11-8, 11-7,
11-7 (78m)
[2] Alister Walker |
Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy)
13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8 (54m)
[4] Ong Beng Hee (Mas) |
Jaymie Haycocks (Eng)
11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (40m)
[7] Davide Bianchetti (Ita) |
[7] Davide Bianchetti
11-5, 11-4, 11-1 (32m)
[2] Alister Walker |
[Q] John Rooney (Irl)
11-7, 11-1,13-11 (44m)
[2] Alister Walker (Eng) |
Qualifying:
02-Sep, Finals:
Amr Swelim (Ita) bt Dick Lau
(Hkg)
11-2, 11-3, 11-4
Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Adil Maqbool (Pak)
11-5 12-10 11-8
Campbell Grayson (Nzl) bt Max Lee (Hkg)
11-9, 14-12, 11-4
John Rooney (Irl) bt Mark
Krajcsak (Hun)
11-7, 11-8, 11-3
01-Sep, Round One:
Amr Swelim (Ita) bt Sam
Hodgkins (Eng)
11-4, 11-3, 11-2
Dick Lau (Hkg) bt Robbie Temple (Eng)
12-10, 12-14, 7-11 ret.
Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Darren Lewis (Eng)
11-6, 11-8, 11-8
Adil Maqbool (Pak) bt Richard Birks (Eng)
11-6, 13-11, 11-6
Max Lee (Hkg) bt Arthur Gaskin (Irl)
11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5
Campbell Grayson (Nzl) bt Ben Ford (Eng)
11-8, 11-8 11-6
John Rooney (Irl) bt Andrew Birks (Eng)
11-9, 11-5, 11-6
Mark Krajcsak (Hun) bt Clinton Leeuw (Rsa)
11-3, 11-3, 10-12, 11-3
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03-Sep, Round
One:
Grayson joins top seeds in quarters
 World
No.13 Lauren Jan Anjema of the Netherlands who reached last
year’s final, had to work hard to overcome New Zealand’s Kashif
Shuja before climaxing with an 11-6 9-11 11-5 11-6 win in the first
round of the 2009 Wolverhampton Open.
But there was success for New Zealand as Campbell Grayson
produced the shock of the night with a fifty-one minute 3-1 defeat
over third seed Amir Atlas Khan of Pakistan, who is currently ranked
39 places above Grayson.
Yasir Butt, who also claimed his place in the main draw via the
qualification competition, narrowly failed to progress to the
quarter-finals after losing a physical 6-11 11-4 10-12 11-6 11-4
seventy-nine minute match to No.5 seed Joey Barrington of
England.
 No.4
seed Ong Beng Hee despatched Omar Abdel Aziz 13-11 5-11 11-8
11-8 in an enthralling and entertaining 54-minute victory which
earned him a place in the quarter-final against local boy Chris
Ryder, who beat Italian/Egyptian Amr Swelim.
Swelim, who had reached the first round via a straight forward
qualifying competition, continued his form, but having lost the
first game, took the second game to extra points before conceding
the third 11-4.
Ryder continued with almost faultless squash to close out the match
for the loss of a further five points.
 World
No.14 and second seed Alister Walker eased through to the
second round with a resounding 11- 7 11-1 13-11 win over Ireland’s
John Rooney, while Italy’s Davide Bianchetti had a straight
forward win over England’s Jaymie Haycocks, winning the match 11-7
11-6 11-7 in forty minutes.
Germany’s Simon Rosner was unable to breakdown the solid consistency
of England’s sixth seed Jonathan Kemp, who played some
excellent squash – the Englishman eventually winning 11-7 11-7 11-2
in twenty-four minutes.
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02-Sep, Qualifying Finals:
Rooney reaches Wolves main draw
 Ireland’s
John Rooney defeated the second highest ranked qualifier Mark
Krajcsak 11-7 11-8 11-3 in the final round of qualification today,
continuing his impressive form in the 2009 Wolverhampton Squash Open
to qualify for the UK’s biggest club-based squash championships and
now plays Alister Walker.
Campbell Grayson of New Zealand recorded a 11-9 14-12 11-4
victory over Hong Kong’s Max Lee after two fiercely contested games
which could have gone either way. Grayson now has a challenging
match against rising Pakistani star Aamir Atlas Khan.
Amr Swelim, who recently became eligible to represent Italy,
overcame Dick Lau of Hong Kong to earn his place in the main event
with a convincing 11-2 11-3 11-4 win, whilst Pakistan's Yasir
Butt defeated compatriot Adil Maqbool 11-5 12-10 11-8 to secure
the final qualification place. Swelim and Butt now face Englishmen
Chris Ryder and Joey Barrington respectively.
01-Sep, Qualifying Round One:
Qualifying Under Way
Last night saw the first
round of the qualifying competition for this year’s Wolverhampton
Open. Generally the seeds recorded the expected wins with few
problems though Mark Krajcsak was taken to 4 games by Clinton Leeuw
from South Africa who took the third 12-10.
Two seeds did go out, Robbie Temple seeded 5 aggravated an ankle
injury after two tight games with Dick Lau of Hong Kong and had to
retire at 1 all. The biggest upset was reserved for the final match
of the evening when young Max Lee, also from Hong Kong defeated
Arthur Gaskin in 4.
Playing an adventurous game, Max took the tie 11/4, 8/11, 11/6,11/5.
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Amr Swelim |
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Anjema Heads Wolverhampton Draw
 The
2009 Wolverhampton Open, the UK’s biggest club-based squash
championships, to be staged at the Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis &
Squash Club in the West Midlands of England from the 1st to 6th
September has once again attracted a high class international field.
2008 finalist Laurens Jan Anjema of the Netherlands,
currently at a career high No.13 in the world, heads the draw, with
England’s World No.14 Alister Walker seeded to meet the Dutch
National Champion in the final.
Aamir Atlas Khan of Pakistan and Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee
are seeded No.3 and No.4 respectively, ahead of Joey Barrington,
Jonathan Kemp, Chris Ryder and Jaymie Haycocks
of England, Davide Bianchetti of Italy, Kashif Shuja
of New Zealand, Omar Abdel Aziz of Egypt and German Simon
Rosner, ensuring that at least eight nationalities are
represented in the main draw.
 Now
in its fourth year, the Wolverhampton Open, held in association with
Banks's, will provide perfect preparation for players competing in
the the British Open, to be held in Manchester the following week.
“We have been delighted with the interest that the championships
have generated over the past two years,” said Tournament Director
Stephen Russell.
“The enthusiasm and support of our members and all of our sponsors
has been integral in developing the championships still further this
year, and everyone is looking forward to the club again showcasing
some of the world's most exciting players.”
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Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club is a members club with
around 1,200 members of whom 1,000 regularly use the club’s
facilities. Formed over 70 years ago the club has 7 squash courts
including two glass backed, 15 tennis courts of which 3 are indoors
and a fully equipped air conditioned gymnasium. A bar, restaurant
and dance studio complete the facilities.
"The continued success of the
Wolverhampton Open has demonstrated just how exciting a major
club-based competition can be for players, spectators and sponsors
alike.
"The championships have quickly established itself as a permanent
fixture on the domestic squash calendar and we look forward to
another successful event at Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash
Club."
Tournament Director |
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