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[1] John White (Sco) White bt [4] LJ Anjema (Ned)
     11/13, 12/10, 7/11, 11/5, 11/5 (83m)

These two players know each others games well, with Anjema having trained with White for the past few weeks, and it showed in the closeness of the contest.

Top seed White started off in his customary manner, and raced to a 7-2 lead with hard-hit winners including a perfect reverse-corkscrew. However the Dutchman adjusted to the pace and clawed his way back before claiming the game on a tie-break.

Anjema continued his form into the second and held game ball for a commanding 2-0 lead, but White responded with three winners to level the match.

By this stage everyone in the capacity crowd was fully immersed in what was turning into an intriguing contest. Some fantastic retrieving from Anjema, including a full length splits, forced White into errors in the third game, and an upset looked on the cards.

White has not achieved all he has by chance, however, and he set about the task of retrieving the situation by hitting the ball with venom and stepping up the pace.

The final two games saw some great rallies, with both players showing superb reactions and a willingness to attack, but it was White who controlled the points and clinched both games 11-5 to claim the match and the title.
 

Susie White watches the final

[1] John White (Sco) bt [3] Shahier Razik (Can)
     11/4, 11/3, 11/6 (32m)

For the second day running White was in impressive form, and recorded a straight games victory.

It was always going to be tough for Razik to recover from his 131 minute marathon which finished at 11pm the night before, especially when he had to play the top seed and world no.11.

White was ruthless in the first two games, dispatching hard-hit winners from all over the court. Razik showed admiral determination, fighting to the end despite obvious fatigue.

Indeed the Canadian managed to take a lead at 7-6 in the third but White produced some exceptional nicks to clinch the game and his place in the final.
 

[4] LJ Anjema (Ned) bt
[7] Eric Galvez (Mex)
     13/11, 11/8, 11/5 (54m)

The 3-0 scoreline does not accurately reflect how keenly contested this match was.

The first game was a classic, with never more than one point separating the two players. After 25 minutes of fast-paced action, the score stood at 10-10, with the audience mesmerised by the shot-making and retrieving of both players.

However Anjema took the first game on his second game point, and this proved decisive. Whilst the Dutchman always looked in control after that point there were some fascinating rallies with both players showing great speed around the court - Anjema using explosive power, and the shorter Galvez utilizing his remarkable leg speed.

Anjema showed the greater quality of shot though to book his spot in the final against White, with whom he has been training for the past couple of weeks. It promises to be quite a match, between two players in excellent form.

30-Nov, Quarters:
White bucks the trend
in Baltimore
Beth Fenwick reports:

Three marathon quarter-finals at the Merritt Athletic Club, with Shahier Razik, LJ Anjema and Eric Galvez getting plenty of court time, while top seed John White breezed through in a leisurely 23 minutes ...

[4] LJ Anjema (Ned) bt [6] Renan Lavigne (Fra)
  11/9, 11/8, 2/11, 2/11, 11/6 (75m)

Anjema won the first two games playing good basic squash. In the third and fourth, his length was not as good. Lavigne capitalized on this and hit one amazingly tight drop shot after another, winning the third and fourth games 11-2.

Anjema on the other hand hit short length, giving Lavigne opportunities to punish his opponent in the front of the court. In the fifth, Anjema returned to basic, good length, focusing on hitting higher on the front wall. He left the match confident after a hard fought victory.

[7] Eric Galvez (Mex) bt [Q] Chris Simpson (Eng)
 11/6, 9/11, 11/9, 11/6 (68m)

Simpson's amazing run in this tournament finally came to an end, but not without a fight. This was an evenly contested match, with Galvez emerging the winner in four tight games. From the outset the Mexican tried to impose a fast pace on the match, trying to break Simpson out of his rhythm.

The pivotal point of the match came at 8-8 in the third, when two great lengths from Galvez pulled him away before he took the crucial game. In the fourth Simpson's exertions in the tournament appeared to take their toll as Galvez raced to a 5-0 lead before wrapping up the match.

[1] John White (Sco) bt [5] Joey Barrington (Eng)
    11/4, 11/8, 11/4 (23m)

White was in superb form today, playing his unique brand of squash at the highest level. Few players in the world can live with White when he hits with such ferocious pace and accuracy, and Barrington appeared rather overwhelmed.

"I got used to the court yesterday and was able to play my shots today. Joey seemed to struggle with the pace and the corkscrews and skid-boasts, so I just kept on playing them!" White explained afterwards.

The audience felt privileged to watch such a great player at the top of his game, and on this evidence White looks favourite for the title.

Tournament Website

[3] Shahier Razik (Can) bt
[8] Liam Kenny (Irl)
8/11, 11/8, 11/10, 6/11, 11/6
(131m)

This was an exceptionally long match, between two players who have been competing against each other for 10 years.

The play was controlled with both players hitting good tight lengths and working each other around the court rather than hitting outright winners, partly a result of playing on a high tin.

The quality of the shots was very high, with few errors from either player and some intriguing drob/lob exchanges (in sharp contrast to the White match!). Kenny continued the form which has seen him have impressive results over recent months, and led 10-5 in the third game.  However, Razik fought his way back courtesy of a few errors from the Kenny racket and eventually sneaked a let-filled game 15-13. 

Kenny was not discouraged though, and his new-found confidence showed as he came back to win the fourth, during which time Razik had to borrow a pair of socks from a spectator because his had got too wet!

By this stage the players had been on court for just under two hours, and the rest of the club had been shut due to the late hour, leaving just the players, referees, a few hardy spectators and the cleaning crew in the building! 

Razik is well known for his lengthy matches, and maybe this experience of playing for over two hours helped as he took the fifth game 11-6.

During the decider Kenny suffered severe cramp, but bravely fought to the last point, the eerie silence outside the court not reflecting the fantastic contest that took place on it.

Laurens Jan Anjema

13/11, 11/8, 11/5 (54m)

 Eric Galvez

Qualifying:

Finals, 28-Nov:
  Patrick Chifunda bt Ben Garner          w/d illness
  Chris Simpson bt Tony James             17/15, 11/5, 10/12, 11/9 (75m)
  Simon Rosner bt Brad Hindle              10/12, 11/9, 6/11, 11/9,11/4 (95m)
  Laurent Elriani bt  Raj Nanda             14/12, 11/7, 11/4

Round One, 27-Nov:
  Ben Garner bt Reggie Schonborn         5/11, 13/11, 11/9, 7/11, 11/5 (60m)
  Patrick Chifunda bt Julian Illingworth  11/8, 6/11, 9/11, 11/7 (75m)
  Tony James bt Chris Gordon               6/11, 9/11, 11/8, 11/9, 11/9 (75m)  
  Chris Simpson bt Ryan Donegan         11/4, 11/3, 11/5 (30m)
  Simon Rosner bt Lefika Regontse         11/3, 11/5, 11/8 (20m)
  Brad Hindle bt Michael Reid                 11/4, 11/3, 11/3
  Raj Nanda bt Jude Odeh                      11/5, 11/5, 13/11
  Laurent Elriani bt Lucky Odeh             11/1, 11/6, 11/1 (20m)

29-Nov, Round One:
Simpson stuns Ryding
in Baltimore
Beth Fenwick reports:

The third day's play in Baltimore as the event moved on to the main draw, with English qualifier Chris Simpson scoring his best ever win to beat second seed Graham Ryding ...

Laurens Jan Anjema bt Wade Johnstone
   11/2, 11/8, 11/6 (35m)

For the last few weeks LJ Anjema has been in Philidelphia training with John White, and tonight it showed. He played at a fast pace throughout the match and with the mindset of not spending too much time on court. Wildcard Wade Johnstone gave an excellent account of himself in his hometown, especially in the second, but was not used to the pace. Anjema’s drops shots were especially effective. "The court is really nice. With the concrete walls, the ball actually stops when it hits the sidewall, instead of skidding," said Anjema.

Joey Barrington bt Patrick Chifunda
   11/8, 9/11, 11/7, 11/5 (80m)

Barrington and Chifunda played an extremely fast paced game, but Barrington’s steadiness gave him the 3-1 victory. Chifunda played well but was eventually undone by hitting too many unforced errors. He won the second and was up 7-4 in the third, but gave the game away in errors. Barrington dominated in the fourth, 11-5.

John White bt Raj Nanda
   11/6, 6/11, 11/9, 11/4

White was the clear favourite, but Nanda played well, at times matching White nick for nick. In the end fitness got to him and the hard-hitting White prevailed.

Eric Galvez bt Laurent Elriani
11/8, 5/11, 11/5, 11/8 (75m)

Galvez took awhile to find his steadiness on the court. He was not that confident starting out and so began to focus on hitting good length. Elriani played a very good second game, winning 11-5. Galvez’s third and fourth games were marked by his steadiness and winning shots off of Elriani’s lose balls.

Renan Lavigne bt Matthew Giuffre
   11/6, 11/3, 11/6 (28m)

Lavigne arrived late Tuesday evening from Paris and was not sure what to expect for his first round match, but he knew he should stay on court as little as possible. His legs felt good and his shots to the front were accurate. He played consistently and Giuffre made the unforced errors.
 

Chris Simpson bt Graham Ryding
11/9, 8/11, 11/5, 7/11, 11/9 (70m)

This might just have been the match of the tournament. The audience was on the edge of their seats and as the much younger Simpson took Ryding to five.

He was very relaxed and consistently hit the ball tight. In the fifth, the score was close all the way to the end. Simpson started the game hitting good length. At 9-7, Ryding looked to be the favourite, but Simpson started attacking the front and took the next four points for a memorable victory.

“It was the best win of my career,” Simpson admitted afterwards. Ryding played well but was not on his best form and Simpson kept running after balls.

Tournament Website

Shahier Razik bt Jean-Michael Arcucci     11/7, 11/8, 11/5 (55m)

Razik won a long three set match characterized by some long attritional rallies to maintain a North American interest in the tournament.

Liam Kenny bt Simon Rosner
    11-6, 11-6, 11-5

Kenny appears to be continuing his good form which took him to the final of the $30,000 Motor City Open. He dominated the match against an opponent who appeared to be suffering the effects of a long match in yesterday’s qualifying round. Kenny controlled the T and forced Rosner into numerous errors.

Qualifying under way
Beth Fenwick reports:

Chris Simpson was too good today. He hit a lot of winners and few errors. Ryan Donegan was never really in the match from the beginning- Simpson was in first class form. However, his next match will be much tougher.

The match between Chris Gordon and Tony James was very close, all 5 games. Gordon’s short game became more offensive as the match progressed. The hour and fifteen match was marked by some spectacular retrieving, with Tony coming from two down to clinch the win.

Raj Nanda won in three games, a good warm-up for tomorrow’s match. He won the first two comfortably. The third game was more physical but Nanda pulled out in the tie-break.

Patrick Chifunda won his five-setter against Julian Illingworth with his fantastic retrieving. Illingworth was rushed by Chifunda's pace and he had trouble executing his shots. It seemed that as the match went on, Chifunda got faster and faster...

Simon Rosner had a good warm-up match. He won comfortably in three games. In the first two games, he started each at a fast, attacking pace. In the beginning of the third game, he started slowly, but managed to win it 11/8.

Brad Hindle played very consistently. He controlled the match and never let Reid get into the rhythm of the match.

Lucky Odeh was outclassed today by an impressive Laurent Elriani. Elriani hit all his shots accurately and had a good warm-up for tomorrow’s match.

Ben Garner was 1-0 down and two game balls down but managed to win the second game. He lost the first and the fourth displaying little patience and one too many errors. However, he showed good composure to come back and win against an opponent who chased down every ball but appeared to tire.

White tops Baltimore draw

For the first time ever, Baltimore hosts one of the nation’s biggest squash tournaments with a $25,000 purse. The Merritt Properties Open, Nov. 27 – Dec. 02, is part of the Professional Squash Association and will attract some of the best squash players in the world. 

"This tournament will be action packed. The competition will be fierce with some of the nation’s top players, including John White, current world number 11, former world number one and one of the hardest hitting players on tour," said Beth Fenwick, tournament director.

The action begins on November 27 with the qualifying rounds and continues through Saturday December 2 for the 4pm finals at the Merritt Athletic Clubs in Canton. Included in this huge event are amateur draws and a raffle for two Baltimore Raven tickets. All proceeds benefit the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and its community outreach programs.