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Evergreen Oregon Open 2007
05 - 10 Feb,
Portland, Oregon, USA, $30k |
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10-Feb,
Final:
[5]
Laurens Jan Anjema bt
[2] Peter Barker
11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (35m)
Anjema takes Oregon title
James Daigle reports from
Portland
LJ Anjema won the inaugural Oregon Open Squash Championship over #2 seed
Peter Barker, and was clearly ecstatic to get his first win over two
years.
Anjema survived what proved to be a tough upper half of the draw with
enough gas in the tank to take Barker in three games. The two
left-handers came out firing on all cylinders, a sharp contrast to some
of the marathon matches earlier in the week. Barker confessed to the
crowd that his match with Bradley Ball the night before took a lot out
of him. By comparison, Anjema caught Razik coming off a two hour trench
battle with Iskandar.
Barker commented that Anjema's win was a testament to his conditioning
and that on this night the better man won. LJ Anjema was equally
gracious in victory, thanking the sponsors, organizers and the fans for
their support throughout the week. As a side note, it is fitting that LJ
should end his dry spell in Portland, just down the road from his
sponsor Nike's world headquarters.
Prior to the final match West Coast Bank sponsored a lightning round
with $1000 in one dollar bills. The money was stacked in front of the
tin during play. In the final, best of one point, Dan Jenson took top
prize over the man who beat him in the first round of the tournament,
Borja Golan.
09-Feb,
Semis:
[5]
Laurens Jan Anjema bt
[6] Shahier Razik
5/11, 11/8, 10/12, 11/4, 11/2 (88m)
[2] Peter Barker
bt [7] Bradley Ball
11/5, 12/14, 11/5, 13/11 (78m)
Razik hits the wall,
Barker tested
James Daigle reports from Oregon
The first semifinal matched two practice partners - Peter Barker
(seeded #2) and Bradley ball (seeded #7) - against each other.
Playing strong squash, Barker jumped out to a quick lead winning the game
11-5.
Ball battled back in the second game with great gets and strong shot
making. He needed extra points but prevailed 14-12 to even the match -
Barker breaking his racquet in two on game point, then showing a good
sense of humour by putting the butt end of the racquet in his mouth.
In the third, it appeared that Ball had hit the wall. He appeared to lose
a step and began to shoot more often. Barker was willing to tire his
opponent out. He took a 2-1 lead in games with his 11-4 game. The crowd
expected more of the same in the fourth, but Bradley had other ideas. In a
very tight game, Bradley regained his form by digging down and pushing his
younger opponent. He pushed through his exhaustion and had game ball at
10-9 but tinned a drop to give Barker the lift he needed. In the end,
Barker captured the berth to the final with the 13-11 win after 78
minutes.
In the nightcap spectators were treated to
another fabulous display of squash on Court 1 of the Multnomah Athletic
Club. The battle had #5 Seed Laurens Jan "LJ" Anjema (Netherlands)
against 6th seeded Shahier Razik (Canada). Shahier was playing
after his epic two-hour battle with top seeded Iskandar less than 24 hours
earlier. This would prove costly for him in the end.
However, initially Razik looked strong. He danced and floated his way to a
11-5 win in game one. LJ came out strong in the next game to take the
early lead and hold off his nimble opponent with outstanding volleys and
pressure shots. The third game was arguably the match's most entertaining.
Back and forth to the end, LJ controlled the middle of the court. At
times, the let calls were contentious. The referee admonished
players to play squash.
LJ looked poised to win this game, but failed to capitalize on several
games balls. Shahier rallied back with consistent play to win 12-10 with 4
straight points. The fourth game saw LJ start to wear out Shahier. LJ's
shots remained exceptional and Shahier looked to be losing a step which is
remarkable given how effortless he makes the game look. LJ won this game
11-4 to force a fifth, and had momentum on his side. He hit several
winners to begin the game and Shahier never recovered, giving a valiant
effort but great shots from LJ and some tired legs made for a bad
combination as he lost the game 11-2 and the match in 88 minutes.
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08-Feb, Quarters:
Shahier's Oregon
Marathon
 Canada's
Shahier Razik ousted top seed Azlan Iskandar in a marathon match at the Multnomah
Athletic Club to set up an unexpected semi-final with Laurens Jan Anjema,
the Dutchman himself creating an upset as he beat third seed Borja Golan
in straight games.
The winner is sure to meet an Englishman in the final as second seed Peter
Barker meets Bradley Ball in the other semi-final.
07-Feb, Round One:
Seeds Prosper in Oregon
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Peter Barker
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 Oregon
Open 2007
Portland, Oregon, USA, 05 - 10 Feb, $30k |
Round One
07 Feb |
Quarters
08 Feb |
Semis
09 Feb |
Final
10 Feb |
[1] Azlan
Iskandar (Mas)
11/6, 11/4, 11/6 (40m)
[Q] David Phillips (Can) |
Azlan Iskandar
11/7, 14/16, 11/4, 6/11, 11/9 (115m)
Shahier Razik |
Shahier Razik
5/11, 11/8, 10/12, 11/4, 11/2 (88m)
Laurens Jan Anjema |
Laurens Jan Anjema
16.00
Peter Barker |
[6] Shahier Razik
(Can)
11/3, 12/10, 11/8 (50m)
[Q] Yasser El Halaby (Egy) |
[3] Borja Golan (Esp)
11/3, 10/12, 8/11, 11/9, 11/5 (70m)
Dan Jenson (Aus) |
Borja Golan
11/4, 12/10, 11/7
Laurens Jan Anjema |
[5] Laurens Jan Anjema
(Ned)
11/8, 11/1, 11/2 (35m)
[Q] Bernardo Samper (Col) |
[Q] Jan Koukal (Cze)
11/6, 11/8, 5/11, 11/6 (65m)
[7] Bradley Ball (Eng) |
Bradley Ball
13/11, 8/11, 11/4, 11/8 (90m)
Joey Barrington |
Bradley Ball
11/5, 12/14, 11/5, 13/11 (78m)
Peter Barker |
Amr Mansi (Egy)
11/4, 11/2, 7/11, 11/9 (70m)
[4] Joey Barrington (Eng) |
Shawn Delierre (Can)
9/11, 11/4, 11/3, 11/8 (60m)
[8] Matthew Giuffre (Can) |
Matthew Giuffre
11/4, 11/6, 11/6 (31m)
Peter Barker |
Julian Illingworth (Usa)
11/7, 11/5, 11/5 (40m)
[2] Peter Barker (Eng) |
Qualifying:
Finals, 06-Feb:
Bernardo Samper (Col) bt Paul Davis (Aus)
12-10, 11-6, 11-9 (42m)
Jan Koukal (Cze) bt Tony James (Aus)
11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (51m)
David Phillips (Can) bt Wade Johnstone (Aus)
11-1, 11-5, 11-4 (28m)
Yasser El Halaby (Egy) bt Christopher Gordon (Usa) 11-7, 11-6,
11-3 (36m)
Round One, 05-Feb:
Bernardo Samper (Col) bt Michal Reid (Can)
11/4, 11/5, 11/3 (26m)
Paul Davis (Aus) bt Anders Giltvedt (Usa)
11/3, 11/4, 11/9 (37m)
Tony James (Aus) bt Adam Perkiomaki (Usa)
11/1, 11/6, 11/5 (34m)
Jan Koukal (Cze) bt Phillip Carbajal (Usa)
11/5, 11/0, 11/2 (25m)
David Phillips (Can) bt Andrew McDougall (Can)
11/0, 11/2, 11/3 (17m)
Wade Johnstone (Aus) bt Jeff Robert Evans (Can)
9/11, 13/11, 11/9, 11/9 (48m)
Yasser El Halaby (Egy) bt Patrick Bedore (Can)
12/14, 11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (55m)
Christopher Gordon (Usa) bt Armando Olguin (Mex) 11/1,
11/2, 11/3 (17m)
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07-Feb, Round
One:
Seeds
Prosper in Oregon Razik v El Halaby Video
James Daigle reports from Oregon
Barker v Illingworth video
The first round of the Evergreen Oregon Open at Multnomah
Athletic Club saw all eight seeds safely through to the quarter-finals.
 The
match between the #3 seed Borja Golan and former top-ten player
Dan Jenson was the highlight of the night. Golan dominated the first
game, punishing Jenson with the tight balls to the front court after long,
tough rallies. Jenson started the second game well, covering Golan's drops
and holding even to 9-9. Jenson hit a beautiful reverse corner to to up
10-9. Golan evened the score at 10-all on a stroke but Jenson took the
next two points to close out the game 12-10. Jenson continued his strong
play in the third, playing to great width to take the game 11-8. In the
fourth, Golan jumped to a 9-5 lead, but Jenson fought back to 9-9. Jenson
controlled the next rally but hit tin on a cross-court drop to give Golan
a game ball at 10-9. Golan closed out the game 11-9 on a controversial
stroke call. In the fifth, Golan's relentless attacking play overcame
Jenson's great width and lobs to secure the match after 70 minutes.
Yasser El Halaby had the crowd strongly in his favour to start his
match against Shahier Razik, given his incredible play in
qualifying. Shahier, coming off three straight weeks of competition felt
right at home as he competed in Khalid Mir's Invitational last year on the
same court. Shahier, nursing a sore toe, got some relief from a local
hospital and managed to display patience and agility against a determined
El Halaby. Unfortunately, El Halaby's shots fell short of the mark a few
too many times and gave Razik the opening he needed to win
The two Canadians - Matt Giuffre and Shawn Delirre - faced each
other in the first round of the lower half of the draw. Delierre fought
through a close first game turning a 6-9 deficit into an 11-9 win. The
next two games were won handily by Guiffre. The fourth was close until
Delierre tinned out after a long rally and Guiffre closed out the match
quickly.
Second seed Peter Barker overcame strong home court advantage for
Julian Illingworth. the crowd, anticipating a strong showing from
Illingworth couldn't help but show its appreciation of Barker's variety of
beautiful shots. Barker moved well to the front when needed with some
great hard backhand crosscourts. Julian is showing a lot of promise and
will surely be a force to reckon with in the future.
06-Feb, Qualifying Finals:
El
Halaby Dashes US
Hopes In Oregon
El Halaby v Gordon
Full match video
Egyptian Yasser El Halaby dashed hopes of further US interest in the
Evergreen Oregon Open when he beat Christopher Gordon in the qualifying
finals at the Multnomah Athletic Club.
Halaby, 22, from Cairo, despatched the second-highest-ranked American in
the PSA world rankings in 36 minutes - and is drawn to meet Canadian
Shahier Razik, the sixth seed, in the first round.
Canadian David Phillips received the toughest draw when he survived the
qualifiers after beating Australian Wade Johnstone. The 26-year-old from
Montreal will take on top seed Azlan Iskandar, the world No17 from
Malaysia.
Tournament
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