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Cayman Juniors
assemble along with the Minister for sport for the launch of the
Dunlop junior programme |
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Qualifying Finals
One more win was required to reach the WISPA Gold main draw,
which guaranteed some stern competition at South Sound Squash
Club. A place on the glass court at Camana Bay isn't on offer
yet though, today's winners still have to product first round
upsets to get that chance.
Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt Alana
Miller (Can)
11/9, 11/2, 11/4 (31m)
Manuela Manetta (Ita) bt Latasha Khan (Usa)
11/1, 11/8, 11/8 (22m)
Sarah Kippax (Eng) bt Tenille Swartz (Rsa)
11/8, 11/6, 11/7 (31m)
Shawn Simpson (Bar) bt Myron Blair (Cay)
14/12, 11/3, 11/6 (22m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) 10/12,
3/11, 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 (74m)
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Low & Manetta move into last sixteen ...
Malaysia's Low Wee Wern
claimed the first of the four available main draw slots with an
impressive victory over Alana Miller, the Canadian ranked
just seven places below her at #38.
 It
could have been different though had Alana taken the first,
which could so easily have happened - there was nothing
in it up to 9-all, both playing patient and controlled squash
and going point for point. Alana two winning opportunities but
first a counter-drop and then a trickle boast agonisingly
clipped the tin and she was a game down.
She never recovered from that as Wee Wern raced to a 7/1 lead in
the second and was always in control from then on, making Alan
do the hard work of running down accurate lengths and
crosscourts then putting away any weak returns.
"I was a bit lucky to win the first," admitted the winner, "but
that seemed to get her frustrated which worked to my advantage.
It wasn't as easy as the scoreline looks though, I had to work
hard to get her out of position.
"I'm really pleased to make the main draw, I haven't really
looked at who I might get since I almost had to pull out after
getting so far in the Texas draw!"
Manuela Manetta pulled off a significant upset with her
straight-games win over second seed Latasha Khan. The American
couldn't get into the first game as Manetta raced ahead to take
a quick one game advantage.
 The
opening stages of the second and third games were anything but
easy though, with some terrific running and retrieving from both
players. It was Manuela who managed to pull clear from 5-all in
both though, finishing both games off with lovely volley drops
that Latasha couldn't reach.
"I played really well at the start and she seemed to be
struggling with her movement," said Manuela, "so I kept on
pushing to take advantage.
"She beat me last time so I knew what needed to do, I went
on with a game plan but I don't think she was 100% so it wasn't
as tough as I was expecting it to be.
"It's great to qualify here though, and I don't mind not being
on the glass court for the first round, I don't really like
playing on them!"
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Manuela can't avoid Latasha's serve ... |
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Nicol David, Jenny Duncalf and Colin Ramasra take on SSSC board
members and volunteers ...
more in the gallery |
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 "The
first two games were good, but I lost my way in the third, and
once that happens it's always very difficult to get back in.
"She played well to come back, but it's a shame, I really wanted
to play on that glass court!"
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Kippax on song ... Simpson too strong ...
Delia leaves it late ...
 There's
a big gap in the world rankings of Sarah Kippax and
Tenille Swartz, but as Kippax admitted after the match,
"she's coming back from injury, her ranking doesn't reflect her
standard, so I was ready for a tough match."
She got one of those, sure enough, with the tenacious South
African never letting Kippax relax for one moment, running
everything down as she does and inevitably forcing the odd
mistake as the Englishwoman tried to finish the points off.
Tenille streaked to a 5/1 lead in the first but Sarah calmly
worked her way back into it, happy to play the long rallies
until she worked an opening, and looking every inch a top twenty
player she overhauled her opponent to take the lead.
The second and third games were similar, Tenille taking a couple
of points early lead, Sarah playing with more precision and
largely controlling the rallies looking to work an opening while
Tenille ran for everything, the crowd gasping more than a few
times at some of the retrievals from both players.
 But
in the end control told and Sarah worked enough openings to
deservedly claim a place in the main draw.
"I felt I played very well there," she said, "I'd played Tenille
a couple of times before and I thought I put it together much
better this time so I'm really pleased.
"I don't have a clue who I might play in the main draw, right
now I need a shower, I've always struggled a bit playing in heat
and humidity like this!"
Shawn Simpson, the man you need a wideangle lens to make
sure you can get all of him in, took on Cayman local Myron
Blair in the second of the men's Caribbean Challenge.
 Myron,
coached by tournament director Dan Kneipp, has only been playing
for a matter of months, but he took the reigning Southern
Caribbean Champion by surprise, taking a 10/6 lead in the first.
Shawn battled back to take the game 14/12, and looked in control
thereafter as he booked a date on the glass court at Camana Bay.
"In the first I was trying a few things out and found myself
10/6 down," he explained. "I knew I needed to cut out the
mistakes and play a simple game, and thankfully I managed to
pull it back. After that I could see he was a bit tirted and he
started making errors.
"I'm really looking forward to playing on the glass court, it's
looking really spectacular ..."
The last match of the day was easily the longest of the
qualifying competition - Dan Kneipp seems to have the same knack
as Tommy Berden in putting the longest match on last!
 It
took 74 minutes for Delia Arnold to make it a Malaysian
double as she came from 2-0 down to destroy hopes of additional
Caribbean representation in the main draw. Caribbean champion
Nicolette Fernandes got the better of a tight finish to the
opening game, then took the second with some ease after the
Malaysian appeared to be unsettled when the game got a bit
fractious in the middle, aiding Nicolette's cause with a handful
of uncharacteristic errors.
She came out fully focused in the third though, stuck to a basic
game plan, cut out the errors, and it was Nicolette who was
starting to feel under pressure, forced into higher risk shots
that too often didn't come off.
Delia took the third and fourth convincingly, and although
Nicolette pressured well in the decider Delia managed to keep
hold of the lead and the advantage, finishing it off with a
lovely volley drop and a raise of the hands.
 "We've
trained a lot together and it's 50/50 when we play, so I knew it
would be tough even though she's much lower ranked .My hands
were shaking in the early stages, she played very well in the
first two, I couldn't keep up with the pace.
"I really had to try to change the rhythm in the third and
thankfully it worked out for me.
"Don't tell me, I've got Nicol David in the main draw ?
The good news for Delia is that
she didn't get Nicol David, she'll be playing Madeline Perry.
The bad news is that she's back on court at 13.00 tomorrow ...
sleep well Delia ... |
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