Ciudad de Floridablanca 2017
07-11 Mar, Floridablanca, Colombia, $70k

11-Mar,Final:
David claims the title in Colombia

Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David lifted her first PSA title since December 2015 after a dominant display against Olivia Blatchford in the final of the inaugural Ciudad de Floridablanca, PSA W70 tournament held at the Parque el Santisimo, Colombia.

Playing in the shadow of the stunning El Santisimo statue, World #7 David - who topped the World Rankings for nine years between 2006-2015 - stormed out of the blocks to take a two-game lead amidst a nervy start from Blatchford, who was appearing in her biggest ever final.



Play was then suspended for 40-minutes at 6-6 in the third game after a sudden period of rainfall plunged the completion of the final into doubt, but the sky cleared and David returned to court in a determined mood as she closed out the win to wrap up an 11-3, 11-4, 11-8 victory.

David’s win sees her take a share of the $70,000 prize fund, and claiming the 81st Tour title of her career - but her first since the 2015 Hong Kong Open.

"It feels great to win a tournament again," admitted David. "It’s been quite a while and I think this is really special to have my first title here in Floridablanca. It's going to have a special place in my heart.

"Thank you so much to the people in Floridablanca for hosting us here at the El Santisimo, it's been such a special week for all of us girls here. There was so much support from the mayor and everyone here, who put so much effort into making this happen. It's such a team effort, and everyone has worked so hard to make this happen for women's squash."

Blatchford paid tribute to the experience of playing one of the sport’s greatest ever players, saying: "This whole trip has been crazy. It's amazing to be here and get the experience, I don't really get to spend too much time on glass courts, especially glass courts like this.

"To play Nicol, who is an idol in the game, is incredible."

Qualifying, single round on 7th:

Coline Aumard (Fra) 3-0 Laura Tovar (Col)                 11/4, 11/5, 11/3 (28m)
Hollie Naughton (Can) 3-1 Diana Garcia (Mex)  11/8, 10/12, 13/11, 11/5 (20m)
Samantha Teran (Mex) 3-0  Haley Mendez (Usa)         11/7, 11/5, 11/7 (27m)
Millie Tomlinson (Eng) 3-0 Karol Gonzalez (Col)            11/4, 11/7, 11/2 (22m)

10-Mar, Semis:
Blatchford to face David in final after Sobhy limps out on match ball

Top seed Amanda Sobhy’s tournament at the inaugural Ciudad de Floridablanca came to an abrupt end after the American #1 tore her achilles while match ball up during her semi-final clash with compatriot Olivia Blatchford at the Parque el Santisimo.

Sobhy led 11-1, 11-6, but at 10-5 in the third Sobhy’s achilles on her left leg gave way as she set off to chase down a drop, leaving her crumpled on the floor, and she was forced to retire from the match .

"She was outplaying me completely," said an emotional Blatchford. "I was five match balls down so I thought I would do some different things, I just sent her the wrong way and, when she moved, she went down. I’m praying for her, all I can do now is be the best teammate I can for her now and take her strength by doing my best tomorrow."

Blatchford will appear in her biggest ever PSA final against Malaysian Nicol David, who recovered from a game down to beat England’s Alison Waters - reaching her 101st PSA final in the process.

Waters controlled the early stages of the match but David took the last three games to claim a place in her first final since the 2015 Hong Kong Open.

"I was just a bit reactive in some parts of the match and she was free-flowing," David said. "I managed to settle into the game and started hitting my targets well and putting her under pressure. I was really pleased to enforce my game and pull it through to win 3-1.

"I’m glad to get to the final here, I’ll give it a good go. When you’re in a final, you’re both there to just go for it and I’ll be doing just that."
 

09-Mar, Quarters:
Sobhy and Blatchford set up all-US semi

Amanda Sobhy will take on Olivia Blatchford in an all-USA semifinal moved past Tesni Evans and Emily Whitlock at the Parque el Santisimo.

Sobhy earned her semi-final berth with a dominant win over Evans to reach her first PSA semi since October’s U.S. Open.

“I knew that the last couple of times Tesni and I have played, it has been tough and I know she’s in good form,” said Sobhy. “I tried to implement my fast pace from the beginning and I tried to hold and stop and start her because she’s really good when she gets into a rhythm."

Blatchford will appear in the biggest semi-final of her career after a hip injury forced Whitlock Englishwoman to retire with Blatchford leading two-one.

"All-in-all it’s a massive step in the right direction for my career," Blatchford said. "I felt really confident going into it and, while it’s not the way I wanted to win, it’s a step forward.

"Amanda and I know each-other very well, inside and out. She’s a teammate, a friend and she’s my roommate here. Hopefully tomorrow will see two girls trying to go at it no matter how well they know each-other’s games."

Legendary Malaysian Nicol David moved to within one win of her first PSA final since 2015 in Hong Kong as she defeated Joey Chan in straight games.

“I felt good at the start and I think it was a good match,” said David. “I’m really excited to play in the semis here in Colombia. It’s such a great venue, I’ve been feeling good and I’m going to give it all I’ve got tomorrow.”

Standing between David and a place in a 101st PSA final is England’s Alison Waters, who defeated compatriot Victoria Lust in a five-game thriller to reach her biggest semi-final since 2015.

“You train hard in these situations and I was confident in those last couple of points,” said Waters. “I’ve had some good results recently, I lost to Camille in the final of the Cleveland Classic and in Chicago, but I’ve been playing well and I’m really pleased to be in the semi-finals.”
 

Top seeds off to winning starts in Floridablanca

Top seeds Amanda Sobhy and Nicol David both moved through to the last eight of the inaugural Ciudad de Floridablanca tournament after claiming wins over England’s Millie Tomlinson and Mexico’s Samantha Teran on the opening day in Colombia.

Coinciding with the 2017 International Women’s Day, the first round saw three matches take place at the stunning Parque el Santisimo, with Sobhy putting in a fine display to see off Tomlinson in just 23 minutes by an 11-6, 11-1, 11-2 margin of victory.

Due to prolonged rainfall, the matches were delayed by an hour, and Sobhy admitted it was important to remain focused despite the delay, saying: "I prepared myself figuring that there would be a delay, and it’s just something you can’t control, it’s just a funny situation.

"The only thing you can do is laugh about it, stay relaxed and try to be as focused as you can be when you get on.

"I feel like a kid in a candy shop here, the venue is awesome. It’s an amazing venue regardless of the weather and I’m so thankful that the mayor of Floridablanca [Hector Mantilla] and Squash Colombia have been able to put this event on for us."

Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion David also put in a strong showing, beating training partner and close friend Samantha Teran in straight games.

The duo, who both train under the legendary coach Liz Irving, played out the last match of the evening at the Parque el Santisimo, with David taking it 11-2, 11-7, 11-3 to set up a quarter-final meeting with number seven seed Joey Chan.

"It’s always difficult to play a good friend of yours, but I knew I had to go in really strong," said David.

"I know she’s been playing pretty well, so I came into the match pretty focused to make sure that I took control straight away. Today I really kept on top of my task. I knew I had to be sharp today, so I was pleased to perform the way I did.

"It gives you so much energy on court when you play here with the Santisimo giving you its blessing. It’s remarkable how they have put this court up here and you can’t really replicate this feeling."

England’s Emily Whitlock was the other victor at the Parque el Santisimo and she defeated tournament wildcard and home hero Catalina Pelaez three-nil.

Pelaez, who suffered with knee tendonitis for much of last year, asked questions of Whitlock at the outset of the second and third games, but ultimately fell to a clinical display from the Englishwoman.

“I really enjoyed playing Catalina," Whitlock said.

"I know she has had a knee injury, I just hope she can get that fixed soon and start playing at her very best.”

The rest of the matches took place on the traditional courts at the Club Campestre Bucaramanga, with USA #2 Olivia Blatchford causing the day’s big upset against Hong Kong’s Annie Au.

“I tried really hard and that’s why I do all this fitness work because, when I have these games, I know that I can go for it 100 per cent," said Blatchford, who will take on Whitlock in the next round.

“I wanted to get a good start, which I did, but she came back and she is really clever, so my goal was to make it physical and up the pace. I managed to do that, so I can’t wait to get on the glass court now, I’m super excited.”

Welsh World #19 Tesni Evans beat Egypt’s Heba El Torky to set up a meeting with Sobhy, while England's Alison Waters and Victoria Lust also claimed wins, against Salma Hany Ibrahim and Coline Aumard.
 

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