|
|
|
08-Apr-07,
FINAL:
Home win for Rooney
Edwin Brennan reports
The Scottish number 3 seed Stuart Crawford took on the local John
Rooney in the final. The match was played in front of a packed
gallery of over 130 keen on lookers.
The match Crawford trading points for the first 8 points before
Rooney established a lead which seen take the first set. Crawford
battled back in the second taking it 11-7. Rooney opened a 4 point
lead in the third set leading 8-4, before a worried crowd saw a
visibly tiring Rooney trade points until he eventually won the set
11-8. The fourth and finals set saw Rooney get a dream start going
6-0 up, being controlling in his shot choice, which was accompanied
by numerous unforced errors by a tired Crawford. The ecstatic
gallery erupted as Rooney ran out the 11-5 winner of the set.
The match was well contested with magnificent attacking shots and
outstanding retrieving by both players which at times had the crowd
holding their breath.
Afterward, the victorious Rooney was presented in front of a highly
appreciative audience with the memorial “Paddy Whack Walsh” by
Leyton Walsh, son of the late Paddy Walsh.
07-Apr-07,
Quarters & Semis:
Quarter finals cause
a few upsets in Galway
Edwin Brennan reports
The first match of the morning saw Number 3 seed Stuart Crawford
play against Number 7 seed Jason Barry. Barry started well in the
first two games but Crawford always looked to be in control, coming
out on top 3-0 in 42 minutes
Next on the centre court was local favourite John Rooney, how was
doing battle with the Tournaments number 1 seed David Barnett. The
Galway man looked in flying form and didn’t seem to be troubled by
the higher ranked English man. He came out the eventual winner 3-0
in 42 minutes.
The other Irish man Arthur Gaskin was drawn to play Robbie Temple.
This turned out to be the most contentious match of the tournament
so far. In an ill tempered battle Temple prevailed in a hotly
disputed five set encounter. The match lasting well over an hour,
with neither player being in total control. Temple raced to a 10-4
lead in the fifth game but despite clawing his way to a 9-10 Gaskin
made an unforced error to hand a relieved Temple the match.
In a keenly contested four set match qualifier Ben Ford brought to
an end Steve Coppinger’s recent winning streak in PSA events. After
52 minutes of very evenly matched squash. Ford emerged victorious
11/9, 7/11, 11/7, 12/10.
Rooney and Crawford through to final in Galway
The first match on the centre court saw Scottish man Stuart Crawford
play English man Robbie Temple. Crawford looked in control from the
off, racing to a 1-0 lead. Temple seemed tired after his morning 5
set match. The Scot came out a 3-0 match in 36 minutes.
The 2nd semi-final saw local man John Rooney play English qualifier
Ben Ford. In front of a packed gallery of almost 100 people, Rooney
lost the first but managed to win the next two. Rooney had 3 match
balls in the fourth but Ford managed to claw his way back to bring
the match into the fifth. Rooney looked tired at this stage but
battled on, the game went to a tiebreaker which saw Rooney emerge
victorious but only just.
|
08-Apr-07, FINAL:
[8] John Rooney (Irl) bt
[3] Stuart Crawford (Sco)
8/11, 11/2, 11/9, 11/13, 13/11 (70m)
|
 Garavan's
West Of Ireland Open 2007
Galway, Ireland, 05-08 April, $3k |
Round One
06 Apr |
Quarters
07 Apr |
Semis
07 Apr |
Final
08 Apr |
[1] David Barnett (Eng)
10/12, 13/11, 11/6, 11/6 (65m)
Matias Valenzuela (Arg) |
David Barnett
11/7, 11/8, 11/7 (40m
John Rooney |
John Rooney
8/11, 11/2, 11/9, 11/13, 13/11
Ben Ford |
John Rooney
8/11, 11/2, 11/9, 11/13, 13/11 (70m)
Stuart Crawford |
[8] John Rooney (Irl)
11/4, 11/2, 11/3 (20m)
Matias Tuomi (Fin) |
[LL] Bruno Vega (Esp)
11/1, 12/14, 11/6, 11/4 (20m)
[Q] Ben Ford (Eng) |
Ben Ford
11/9, 7/11, 11/7, 12/10 (52m)
Stephen Coppinger |
[6] Stephen Coppinger (Rsa)
13/11, 11/6, 11/7 (27m)
[Q] Tom Phipps (Eng) |
[Q] Shahid Khan (Eng)
12/10, 7/11, 11/1, 11/2 (48m)
[7] Jason Barry (Rsa) |
Jason Barry
11/9, 11/8, 11/3 (42m)
Stuart Crawford |
Stuart Crawford
11/7, 13/11, 11/7
Robbie Temple |
[Q] Jethro Binns (Wal)
11/13, 11/6, 11/8, 11/4 (46m)
[3] Stuart Crawford (Sco) |
Robbie Temple (Eng)
11/5, 11/5, 11/6 (38m)
Thomas Javanaud |
Robbie Temple
6/11, 11/6, 11/6, 4/11, 11/9 (68m)
Arthur Gaskin |
Jamie Haycocks (Eng)
11/8 11/5 11/4 (28m)
[2] Arthur Gaskin (Irl) |
Qualifying:
Jethro
Binns (Wal) bt Eddie Charlton (Eng) 11/3 11/9 11/9
Shahid Khan (Eng) bt Lewis Walters (Eng) 11/6 11/7
12/10
Ben Ford (Eng) bt
Will Newnham (Eng)
11/8 11/6 11/3
Tom Phipps
(Eng) bt
Bruno Vega (Esp)
11/8 7/11 11/6 12/10
Round One, 05-Apr:
Jethro
Binns (Wal) bye
Eddie Charlton (Eng) bt Keith Moran (Irl) 11/5,
11/5, 11/9
Lewis Walters (Eng) bt Ross Lillis (Irl)
11/3, 11/6, 13/11
Shahid Khan (Eng) bt Alex Ingham (Eng) 12/14,
11/4, 9/11, 11/9, 11/5
Ben Ford (Eng) bt Rory Pennell (Irl)
11/7, 11/3, 11/4
Will Newnham (Eng) bt Bryan Byrne (Irl)
12/10, 11/8, 8/11, 11/6
Bruno Vega (Esp) bt Paul Linehan (Irl)
11/9, 11/9, 11/5
Tom Phipps (Eng) bye
|
 06-Apr-07, Round One:
Top seeds through
in Galway
Edwin Brennan reports
The first round matches have concluded in the Garavan’s West of
Ireland Open in Galway Lawn Tennis Club.
Top seed David Barnett had a tough battle with Argentine Matias
Valenzuela; the South American got an early lead going one up,
however English Man and number 1 seed David Barnett came into form
and narrowly won the next three, he came out a 3-1 winner after an
hour and 5 minutes.
Next on the centre court was local man John Rooney, the Salthill man
showed his experience in front of a packed gallery defeating Finish
Matias Tuomi 3-0 with ease in 20 minutes.
South African Jason Barry played qualifier Shahid Khan in a hard
hitting match, the final score was 3/1 but doesn’t reflect the
standard of play.
Number three seed Stuart Crawford played Welsh qualifier Jethro
Binns. The physical encounter resulted in the Scottish man coming
out on top in a 3/1 victory.
Experience again prevailed in the match between Qualifier Ben Ford
and Lucky Loser Bruno Vega. Ford the English man proved to be to
strong for the Spaniard, defeating him 3/1 in 30 minutes.
English Man Robbie Temple played fellow countryman Thomas Javanuad.
Temple had a comfortable win, he played some great Squash to secure
a 3-0 victory in 38 minutes.
South African Stephen Coppinger, fresh off several tour win,
defeated with ease young Englishman Tom Phipps. He comfortably won
3-0 in 28 minutes. He could cause a few upsets on his way through
the rounds.
The final match of the evening saw number two seed Irish man Arthur
Gaskin take on wild card entry Jaymie Haycocks. Gaskin was in fine
form looking very strong was to much for the English man, defeating
him 3-0 in 28 minutes.
The quarter finals are set for tomorrow morning and see Barnett v
Rooney, Coppinger v Ford, Barry v Crawford and Temple v Gaskin.
06-Apr-07, Qualifying finals:
West of Ireland under way
Edwin Brennan reports
The qualification rounds of the Garavan’s West of Ireland finished
this morning. The results are as follows – Welsh man, the top seed
in the qualification Jethro Binns defeated Eddie Charlton 3/0.
Shahid Kahn continued to impress the local crowd as he defeated
Lewis Walter 3/0 this morning. Ben Ford also continue to show his
experience defeating William Newnham 3/0. The number 2 qualifier Tom
Phipps had a 3/1 victory over Spaniard Bruno Vega in the closest
match of the morning session.
With the late withdrawal of the number 4 seed Rene Mijs from the
Netherlands it leaves way for a lucky loser which was drawn by Irish
man Arthur Gaskin, he drew Bruno Vega to take Rene’s spot in the
main draw. The winning qualifiers were drawn this afternoon and Ben
Ford plays the lucky loser Bruno Vega, Tom Phipps was drawn to play
the number 5 seed Stephen Coppinger, Shahid Kahn is down to play
South African Jason Barry, while welsh man Jethro Binns plays
Scottish player Stuart Crawford.
The main draw stills looks like it is wide open and this evening’s
first round matches may cause a few upsets in the seedings.
05-Apr-07, Round One:
West of Ireland under way
Edwin Brennan reports
The qualifying round of the Garavan’s West of Ireland Open got under
the way this evening. Top seed’s in the qualifying draw Jethro Binns
and Tom Phipps getting byes in their matches.
The biggest upset of the evening was in the match between 16 year
old Alex Ingham and Shahid Kahn. Kahn came out onto after a tough 5
setter which lasted over an hour.
Will Newnham defeated local spot player Brian Byrne 3/1, Lewis
Walters also was victorious over another local spot player Ross
Lillis coming out a 3/0 winner, Spanish player Bruno Vega won his
game 3/0 against Paul Linehan, Eddie Charlton had a comfortable win
over Keith Moran another local spot player coming out a 3/0 winner.
Ben Ford defeated Rory Pennell in a close encounter, but had
experience on his side winning 3/0.
Event Preview
by Edwin Brennan
This years West of Ireland Open promises to be the best Squash event
to be seen in the West. For the first time ever it has PSA status,
there are currently a whole host of international players lined up
to play. The competition will be held in Galway Lawn Tennis Club
over Ester weekend the 5th to 8th of April.
The event is sponsored by Garavan’s Bar,
William Street, Galway
who have kindly agreed to continue their generous sponsorship and
have enabled the event to become a reality.
There will be significant Irish interest from
the number 2 seed Arthur Gaskin from Carlow, the
current Irish number 4. There will be considerable local interest in
John Rooney the number 8 seed from
Galway, who
will be attempting to continue his recent string of good results in
front of his crowd: “I am delighted to be able to have the chance to
play in a PSA event in my home club”. The current Irish number 2 is
recovering from a serious injury: “It has been a long road to
recovery, but its great to be able to play Squash at a high level
again”.
|
|
