01-Feb-04
White & Charman take Artemis titles
Top seeds John White and Linda Charman won the finals of the Artemis Open in Edinburgh, both with 3/0 scorelines in the finals.

White, the Scottish number one and defending champion, ensured the title remained in Scotland with a 15/9, 15/5, 15/5 victory over Yorkshire's Marcus Berrett, who was appearing in his third successive BSPA final.

Charman beat second seed Jenny Tranfield 9/4, 9/2, 9/6 to earn her first BSPA title since 2002's Boston Open.

15/13, 13/15, 17/16,
15/8

Steve Meads

12/15, 8/15, 15/4,
15/8, 15/9

Mark Chaloner

15/9, 15/5, 15/5

Marcus Berrett

17/14, 15/12, 11/15,
15/7

Mark Chaloner

15/14, 15/11, 15/5

Marcus Berrett

13/15, 15/3, 15/5,
 15/7

Martin Heath

15/13, 15/9, 7/15,
15/12

Martin Heath

Qualifying Results:
Stuart Crawford bt Peter Campbell   15/10, 15/6, 15/3
Shaun Le Roux bt Mike Pearson   15/5, 15/8, 15/5
Alistair Gorrie bt Phil Nightingale   10/15, 15/9, 15/10, 15/8
Daryl Lewis bt Gregor Thomson   15/7, 15/11, 15/5
Kristen Johnson bt George Bannister   15/9, 15/6, 15/10
Oliver Davidson bt Andrew Learoyd   15/11, 8/15, 15/7, 11/15, 15/3
Simon Boughton bt Dave Barnett   15/11, 15/11, 5/15, 15/9

9/0, 9/0, 9/6

 Laura Hill

9/4, 9/2, 9/6

Jenny Tranfield

9/1, 9/2, 9/2

Jenny Tranfield

Preview
White & Heath top Artemis seedings
 
If it goes to seeding the final of the Artemis Edinburgh Open will be a repeat of last year with Scotland's top two players meeting. Then it was John White, Scottish number one and World number two, who emerged triumphant, beating Martin Heath to claim the £1,000 first prize. Heath gained revenge over White in April's Scottish Nationals final, so another showdown would be a fantastic finale. With Mark Chaloner and Simon Parke as 3/4 seeds though, the English may well have a say on the final Sunday.

Linda Charman is top seed for the women's event, with Janie Thacker seeded two and Scotland's own Senga Macfie also in the mix.

The event is sponsored for the fourth consecutive year by ARTEMIS - the Edinburgh based fund management company. Established in 1997 as an owner-managed business, Artemis offers a range of unit trust products that are also available as ‘stocks and shares’ ISAs or PEP transfers. 

Simon Boughton reports ...
Alister Walker was the star of the Tournament progressing unseeded from the qualifiers to the semi-finals with straight sets wins over Greg Tippings and Laurens Anjema before going out in a tremendous 4 set thriller against Steven Meads in front of a packed crowd on the original show court ( 1936 ) at this long established traditional rackets club.

 John Russell passed effortlessly through the opposite half of the draw before meeting Paul Lord in what was shaping up to be another great semi-final with the crowd now hungry for more. Lord took the first and Russell the second in a match with 2 players of contrasting styles, Russel the shot maker and Lord moving effortlessly and playing simple solid fast paced squash. At the start of the third Lord was forced to retire with a pulled hamstring to the disappointment of the Edinburgh crowd who rarely get to see such a high standard of squash.

 The stage was set for the final and the crowd returned in anticipation. Russell was on fire and set the pace with fast accurate volleying to take the title in three sets.

 Artemis, the sponsors of the event were very pleased and I hope that with their continued support the Edinburgh Sports Club Open can progress. I hope the players enjoyed themselves and will return next year to support the event as it gave the Edinburgh squash world the opportunity to see what it is all about.

Artemis Open Photo Gallery from Malcolm Lightbody

Artemis Edinburgh Open 2002 - Men's Draw

15/12 15/9 15/10

* John Russell *

All Ladies seeds cruised through the first round against local players apart from Scotland's Susan Dalrymple who had her work cut out in a closely fought match against Astrid Gamory of France. 9/3 8/10 10/8 9/4.

Jenny Duncalf looked to be in great form in the Quarter Finals dropping only 2 points to Dalrymple 9/0 9/2 9/0. The closest Ladies Quarter final was between Lauren Briggs and Helen Easton. It was Easton who came out on top 9/2 9/7 9/7.

The big upset came in the Semis when Jenny Duncalf beat first seed Senga Macfie in 3 sets. Duncalf was solid as Macfie drifted in and out of the game battling with herself and her opponent and looked like making a comeback at 4-0 up in the fifth, but Duncalf held firm and took the game 9/4 to take the match.

Carla Khan came back from way down in the first game ( 0-8 I think! ) to take Helen Easton right to the wire, but eventually lost that game 8-10, Easton then took the next 9-1 before grinding a 9-7 to take the match.