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Menglers Hill |
26-Apr, Final:
Maiden title for Knight
Andrew Dent reports
New Zealand’s Martin Knight justified his top seeding when he
beat 19-year-old Queenslander Zac Alexander in the final of the
Barossa Valley Open squash tournament in the South Australian town
of Tanunda on Saturday.
Knight took the first two games and appeared headed for an easy
victory before Alexander, a scholarship holder with the Australian
Institute of Sport, stormed back to take the next two and send the
match into a decider.
But the 24-year-old from Wellington steadied and took the fifth to
clinch his maiden Professional Squash Association main tour title
11-9, 11-2, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8 in 79 minutes.
“I was travelling well when I won the first two games but he changed
his tactics, straightened the play up and came back well,” Knight
said.
“Plus I made some mistakes in the third which let him back into it.”
Knight was 4-5 down in the decider before rallying to get to 10-5.
He hit his first match ball into the tin and on the next point his
racket broke in two places as he played a shot, with the momentum
swinging back to Alexander.
“Things changed and Zac came right back into it,” Knight said. “Then
at 10-8 I was fortunate to be awarded a stroke to win the match,
because I didn’t know where my next point was coming from.
“It was a definite stroke and I felt a bit guilty about it … but not
guilty enough not to take it.”
Alexander, who won his first PSA tournament in Malaysia last month,
had no complaints about the result.
“I’m really happy with the way I went here,” he said.
“If anything I played better here than I did in Malaysia. I only
warmed up after the first two games but then I got into my rhythm
and played really well.
“It was a real scrap out there.”
Knight now heads back to New Zealand for a string of local
tournaments before returning to South Australia to play the
Australian Open in Clare, while Alexander’s next stop is Darwin for
the Top End Open on May 10-11.
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Tanunda Main Street |
Barossa Vines |
 Barossa
Valley
Open 2008
Tanunda, South Australia, 23-26 Apr, $4k |
Round One
24-Apr |
Quarters
25-Apr |
Semis
25-Apr |
Final
26-Apr |
[1] Martin Knight
(Nzl)
bye |
[1] Martin Knight
11-7, 11-8, 11-9
Natham Kam |
[1] Martin Knight
11-3, 11-3, 11-5
[7] Justin Beard |
[1] Martin Knight
11/9, 11/2, 10/12, 7/11, 11/8 (79m)
[2] Zac Alexander |
[5] Neeraj Aggarwal
(Aus)
11-8, 11-6, 11-5
Natham Kam (Aus) |
[3] Nathan Turnbull
(Aus)
11-6, 11-8, 11-6
Tim Cowell (Aus) |
[3] Nathan Turnbull
11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10
[7] Justin Beard |
[7] Justin Beard
(Aus)
11-3, 11-5, 11-1
Ben Werchon (Aus) |
Brent Dunkley (Aus)
10/12, 11/6 rtd
[6] Josh Cardwell (Aus) |
[6] Josh Cardwell
11-7, 11-5, 11-8
Peter Taylor |
Peter Taylor
11-6, 11-6, 11-3
[2] Zac Alexander |
Peter Taylor
(Aus)
9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6
[4] Jacob Lohrisch (Aus) |
Aaron Fyffe (Aus)
11-4, 13-11, 14-12
[8] Nathan Stevenson (Aus) |
[8] Nathan Stevenson
11-8, 11-5, 11-6
[2] Zac Alexander |
bye
[2] Zac Alexander (Aus) |
25-Apr, Semis:
Top seeds to meet in Barossa final
Andrew Dent reports
Top seeded New Zealander Martin Knight will take on rising young
Australian Zac Alexander in the final of the Barossa Valley Open
squash tournament in the South Australian town of Tanunda on
Saturday.
Knight beat South Australia’s Justin Beard 11-3, 11-3, 11-5 in the
first semi-final on Friday, before Alexander, the tournament second
seed, beat Queensland training partner Peter Taylor 11-6, 11-6,
11-3.
The Barossa Valley Open is the first tournament of the Australian
summer and organisers got the final they were hoping for with Knight
and Alexander facing off.
“I played pretty well,” Knight said. “I felt a lot better than I did
this morning.”
Knight said that despite winning in straight games the match was a
lot closer than the score suggests.
“The rallies were really tight throughout – I just finished them off
better and got the points that mattered,” he said.
Knight and Alexander have never met on the professional tour, but
Knight said he was impressed by what he had seen of Alexander at
this tournament.
“He’s playing really well at the moment – I think he’ll be very
tough to beat.”
Alexander broke though for his first tournament victory in Malaysia
last month and said that that win had given him a lot of confidence.
He had no trouble against Taylor, a player he knows very well.
“I train with him in Brisbane every day and we grew up as juniors
together,” Alexander, who suffered from a run of injury problems
last year, said.
“My win in Malaysia was unexpected but it has set my whole season
up. I’ve changed my training methods over the last few months and
I’m freer from injuries than I have been.”
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Knight aims to hold off challengers
as Australian circuit kicks off ...
Preview from Andrew Dent
New Zealander Martin Knight will be aiming to hold off the
challenge from a posse of young guns when the Australian
professional squash circuit begins in earnest in the Barossa Valley
town of Tanunda on April 24.
Knight is top seed for the Barossa Valley Open, with rising
Australian junior Zac Alexander seeded second and Alexander’s
fellow Queenslander, Nathan Turnbull, third.
The Barossa Valley Open is the first main tour event of the
Australian circuit, which culminates in the Australian Open
from July 29-August 1, to be held once again in the wine-growing
district of Clare, north of Adelaide.
The series of men’s and women’s tournaments in Australia offer
younger players a chance to earn valuable points towards their world
rankings and gain vital tournament experience.
From the Barossa Valley Open, the players move to Darwin for the Top
End Open and then a run through Western Australia and New South
Wales back to South Australia for the South Australian and
Australian Opens.
Organisers of the Australian Open have confirmed that men’s world
number five and former world number one David Palmer will
play in Clare this year, as will women’s world number 15 Kasey
Brown.
The Boston-based Palmer, who has strangely never won the Australian
Open, is desperate to add his name to the prestigious trophy before
he retires and has arranged his schedule to allow him to compete
this year.
Brown was runner-up to New Zealander Shelley Kitchen last
year, having won the title in 2006.
Along with the main tour events, there are also an extensive number
of smaller tournaments throughout the country offering ranking
points from both PSA and WISPA points.
Last year Ryan Cuskelly, Lisa Camilleri and Matthew Karwalski
all made significant breakthroughs during the Australian circuit.
Alexander is expected to have similar successes this year, while
Donna Urquhart, who was injured for most of last year’s
tournaments, is also set to enjoy a fruitful campaign.
Australian Circuit Dates:
- Barossa Valley Open – Tanunda,
South Australia, April 24-26
- Top End Open, Darwin, Northern
Territory May 10-11
- Australian Closed
Championships, Sydney June 13-15
- Healthway Merredin
International, Merredin, WA June 17-18
- City of Perth International,
Perth, June 24-25
- Fluidline Golden Open,
Kalgoorlie, WA, June 31-July 2
- South Australian Open, Adelaide
July 24-27
- Sydney Open July 26-27
- Clare Valley Australian Open,
Clare, July 29-August 1
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Australian Open 2007 |
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