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TODAY in
Hong Kong
Monday 14th, Day TWO Fram & Steve in HK |
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HK Girls progress as
Castagnet celebrates his 25th ...
Both Hong Kong hopefuls bowed out in the men's matches at the
Hong Kong Squash Centre, but two of the products of the Girls'
development program provided home success [and then drew the top
two seeds in the main draw], while France's Mathieu Castagnet
celebrated his 25th birthday with a first-ever place in the main
draw.
Men's Qualifying Finals:
Tarek Momen (Egy) bt Siddarth Suchde (Ind)
11/5, 8/11, 11/3, 11/2 (41m)
Ivan Yuen
(Mas) bt Leo Au
(Hkg)
11/8, 7/11, 11/5, 11/8 (66m)
Martin Knight (Nzl) bt Harinderpal Sandhu (Ind)
11/5, 11/9, 7/11, 4/11, 11/5 (70m)
Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) bt Chris Ryder (Eng)
12/10, 11/9, 12/10 (60m)
Alan Clyne (Sco) bt Yann Perrin (Fra)
11/6, 11/4, 11/9 (25m)
Gregoire Marche (Fra) bt Dick Lau (Hkg)
11/7, 11/5, 11/2 (37m)
Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) bt Matthew Karwalski (Aus)
11/7, 11/7, 11/4 (32m)
Borja Golan (Esp) bt Kamran Khan (Mas)
11/7, 11/9, 11/1 (48m)
Draw: Matthew v Knight, Tuominen v Golan, Shabana v
Adnan, Iskandar v Marche, Shorbagy v Clyne, Richards v
Castagnet, Mueller v Momen, Darwish v Yuen
Women's Qualifying Finals:
Coline Aumard (Fra)
bt
Siti Munirah Juson (Mas)
11/2, 11/8, 11/8 (35m)
Olga Ertlova (Cze) bt
Carmen Lee (Hkg)
12/10, 11/9, 11/8 (40m)
Tania Bailey (Eng) bt Anaka Alankamony (Ind)
11/2, 11/9, 7/11, 11/2
(45m)
Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Uen Shan Choi (Hkg)
11/1, 11/9, 11/5 (21m)
Lee Ka Yi (Hkg) bt Lauren Selby (Eng)
10/12, 11/7, 11/4,
11/4 (40m)
Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg) bt
Siyoli Waters (Rsa)
11/9, 9/11, 11/4, 11/8
(42m)
Sina Wall (Ger) bt Carrie Ramsey (Eng)
11/7, 11/6, 13/11 (38m)
Kylie Lindsay (Nzl) bt
Karman Siu (Hkg)
11/3, 11/7, 11/6 (28m)
Draw: David v Tong, Massaro v Ertlova, Arnold v Aumard,
Hawkes v Bailey, King v Kobayashi, Weleily v Wall, Low v
Lindsay, Duncalf v Yi |
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En Bref #1
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Full Men's Draw
Full Women's Draw
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HK pair bow out, Mathieu celebrates
 In
the men's qualifying finals there was disappointment for both
Hong Kong players. Leo Au's marathon win yesterday took too much
out of him as he lost in four games to Malaysia's Ivan Yuen,
and Dick Lau was beaten in straight games by Gregoire Marche.
Birthday boy Mathieu Castagnet made it a French double as
he squeezed past England's Chris Ryder in three close games, and
Nafiizwan Adnan made it two Malaysians through as he beat
Matthew Karwalski in a more convincing three games.
Top seed Tarek Momen looked to benefit from having a
first round bye as he pulled clear from one-all with Siddarth
Suchde, and Scotland's Alan Clyne enjoyed a rare quick
victory over Yann Perrin.
Kiwi Martin Knight won the longest match of the day,
taking it 11/5 in the fifth after seeing a two-game lead
disappear against Harinderpal Sandhu, and the last spot was
taken by Spaniard Borja Golan with a going-away
straight-game win over Kamran Khan.
New faces through
in women's qualifying
The first winners of the day were two players delighted to make
it to the main draw for the first time.
 Coline
Aumard and Misaki Kobayashi both eased through their
first games - 11/2 and 11/1 respectively - before encountering
stiffer resistance from Siti Munirah Jusoh and Choi Uen-Shah,
but both came through in straight games.
"It's my first time in Hong Kong, and I've qualified, I'm so
happy," said Aumard who certainly showed it meant a lot with her
determination to finish the match off.
Kobayashi was similarly pleased: "It's my third Gold event and
the first one I've qualified for. I love Hong Kong too so it
couldn't happen in a better place!
"After winning the first easily I tried to do too much in the
second and made mistakes, I was pleased to win that 3/0 in the
end," admitted the Japanese number one. "I'm so excited, I
really don't mind who I play."
 Olga
Ertlova also qualified for the first time, also in straight
games after recovering from a big deficit in the first against
Carmen Lee.
Someone definitely not qualifying for the first time was
Tania Bailey, who beat young Indian prospect Anaka
Alankamony in four games.
"I didn't really feel comfortable on there," admitted
the32-year-old Englishwoman, "so I'm just glad to get out of
qualifying and I hope that's woken me up a bit for the next
round.
"I think the first time I made the main draw here was 12 years
ago, and over that time I've lost in every round from the first
right up to the final, so I feel quite comfortable here.
"I'd rather not play Nicol after the form she showed last week
in Rotterdam, but other than that I don't mind, I think I can
give anyone else a good run on the day."
 Two
popular wins followed as Hong Kong juniors Lee Ka Yi and
Tong Tsz-Wing, coached by Rebecca Chiu and encouraged by
new Macau Open champion Joey Chan, both won in four games
against Lauren Selby and
Siyoli Waters respectively.
Chiu was delighted: "We knew they all had chances, but they both
took theirs well, and getting to the main draw will be good for
their exposure and development, getting experience against the
top players.
[They'll get experience against the top players, that's for
sure, as the pair were drawn to play the top two seeds Nicol
David and Jenny Duncalf !]
"We have a lot of juniors coming through, so hopefully we can
get even more into the main draw next year!"
The final two spots were claimed by New Zealand's Kylie
Lindsay, who beat HK's Karman Siu in straight games, and
Germany's Sina Wall.
"I got a bit overconfident when I was 2-0 up, I thought I could
relax but I couldn't, so I was glad to take that third," said a
delighted Wall, who beat England's Carrie Ramsey 11/7, 11/6,
13/11.
"I played in HK in the world juniors in 2007, but this is my
first Hong Kong Open, it's great to qualify for such a big
tournament." |
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Ivan Yuen
(Mas) bt Leo Au
(Hkg)
11/8, 7/11,
11/5, 11/8 (66m)
TIRED LEO
It was probably more of a mental tiredness I would think, as
both players had long and gruelling matches yesterday, against
Omar AA for Leo, and against Bradley for Ivan.
But it looked like from 5/1 in the first, the Hong Kong player
had not much left in the energy tank… Oh he did give it his
best, dug in and even took a game, but to be honest, he was
looking more and more tired as the rallies went on…
 It
was an up and down match….
I was very motivated to get to the main draw, and I knew he had
a very hard match the day before against Abdel Aziz, but at no
time did I take it lightly, as he is a very good and steady
player.
We’ve been playing each other since the juniors, and we know
each other’s game pretty well, which makes it even more of a
challenge.
I played much better than I did yesterday, I was moving better,
and I was more patient, waiting for the openings…
Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) bt Chris Ryder (Eng)
12/10, 11/9, 12/10 (60m)
BIRTHDAY BOY QUALIFIES…
“Happy birthday to me!!!!” said Mathieu as his opponent was
leaving the court at the end of such a close game.
I didn’t get to see the whole match, but what I saw was a match
of the highest calibre, beautiful attacks from Chris, with a
special mention for his volleying, he cut off the ball so well
today…
Mathieu, well, was being Mathieu, as in running and picking up
all the great short game that the Englishman was throwing at
him, and counter attacking nicely too.
Chris never gave up, never surrendered, and if he had a bit of a
mental drop at the start of the third, he soon found his second
wind and pushed Mathieu to the extreme end. He didn’t get a
game, he deserved at least one, and more. He’ll be extremely
disappointed, as there was honestly nothing between them today.
 Last
week, I played a match against Julian Illingworth, and I was a
bit too nervous, a bit too aggressive, which is not my nature.
I had friends that were watching, and basically, they were not
impressed, and told me that I wouldn’t get anywhere like that.
So today, I had decided to be myself, not to show any
frustration, just getting on with it, and to be exemplary on
court. And Chris is such a perfect gentleman on court, it was
really a good match I think, so close.
At the start of the games, I was a bit slow in the legs, but I
made the difference at the end of them, by forcing myself to
volley more than I would normally do.
It’s a really good win for me, Chris is 39 in the world, I’m 55,
and today, I’m 25, and I gave myself the best of birthday gift.
A place in the HK main draw!!!!!
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Tarek Momen (Egy) bt Siddarth Suchde (Ind) 11/5,
8/11, 11/3, 11/2 (41m)
I felt a bit
nervous, because yesterday, I was too tired to play during the
day, and when I finally was ready to play, well, everybody else
had finished with their training! So I really hit on my own, and
just a few hits with the Egyptian boys, but I knew that I would
suffer from some breathing problems today and did my best to
keep my energy.
In the first game, I was playing well, moving better than I did
the previous day, but in the second, I was up 5/2 and we had a
couple of hard rallies, and I just couldn’t breathe at all! And
found myself down 10/6! I managed to score 2 points, but lost
that game.
After that, I did my best to keep and pick one side, no cross
court, to save myself from running too much! I did some good
drop shots and drives… And he played well in patches, and not
that well in others, and I took full advantage of it.
I can’t say anything else than too good. He was too quick, too
accurate at the front. Just too good.
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Alan Clyne (Sco) bt Yann Perrin (Fra)
11/6, 11/4, 11/9 (25m)
I started really well, and managed to put a lot of pressure on
him from the start, and he made a few errors.
For the past days, I’ve been playing a lot of that court,
because I know it’s different from any other court and you’ve
got to really concentrate on your length, plus the ball really
dies at the front.
And I was not only motivated at the start of the match, but also
very concentrated, as I can sometimes let my focus go…
Every shot, I really concentrated on what I was doing, getting
the ball to the back, and waiting for the opportunity at the
front. How long was the match? 25m? Blimey, my drop shots must
have worked then today!!!
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Borja Golan (Esp) bt Kamran Khan (Mas) 11/7,
11/9, 11/1 (48m)
HIT AND RUN…
The score doesn’t really reflect the intensity that went on
there to be honest. Fast and furious they were both of them,
with Borja hitting harder than Kamran, but the Malaysian getting
some pretty nice shots at the front…
It was all about volleying, running, cutting off and intensity.
Borja was lucky to get the 2nd, and the third, although 11/1,
was as furious as the two others. An excellent finish to the
day….
 I
have never played against Kamran, and never even saw him play,
so I didn’t know what to expect, and it was hard to start with.
But I knew he was playing well, he made the main draw in Qatar,
and won Japan two weeks ago…
I tried to keep it very straight in the first games, making it
as long as possible, and it was close until the middle of the
game where he made a few errors. The second was about the same,
and I got game ball at 10/6, and maybe relaxed a bit, plus he
played some great shots, I was lucky and very happy to take that
one 11/9.
I won the third pretty easy, I just attacked much more than I
did in the first two games, speeded up the pace and put more
intensity in my shots.
So happy to get to the main draw again here, it’s my fourth time
in Hong Kong and third time qualifying.
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Martin Knight (Nzl) bt Harinderpal Sandhu (Ind)
11/5, 11/9, 7/11, 4/11, 11/5 (70m)
 In
the first two games, I was in front of him, and doing pretty
well with the ball, but in the middle of the 3rd, he stepped up
the court, got more aggressive. He’s got some pretty quick
racquet skills, and he didn’t get anything go past him. I was
trying to react, but I was lacking accuracy, and he just kept on
cutting me off and attacking nicely.
In the 5th, I managed to lengthen the rallies better, to get the
ball to the back, and he lost a bit the momentum he acquired in
the 3rd and 4th. I was able to tire him a bit more, he made a
couple of errors, and things became a bit easier in the end…
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Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) bt Matthew Karwalski (Aus)
11/7, 11/7, 11/4 (32m)
It’s my first time in the main draw, and I feel I was lucky with
the draw I got, maybe a little bit more easier than the others…
So, this time, I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity like
it happened to me in the past.
I was concentrating today on staying as little as possible on
court to keep my energy for the next round. We’ve been playing
each other for years, we know what to expect! So I kept it
simple, and just concentrated on doing what I had to do…
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