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05-Oct-2008 - Finals
[1] Adrian Grant (Eng) bt [2] LJ Anjema (Ned)
7/11, 11/9, 11/13, 11/5, 13/11
(105m)
Women's Challenge Final:
[1] Laura L-Massaro bt [2] Vicky Botwright
7/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/7 (45m)
3rd/4th:
[3] Jaclyn Hawkes bt [4] Dominique Lloyd-Walter
15/13, 5/11, 11/4, 11/4
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Grant wins marathon final
Rachel Pullan reports
England’s World No.13 Adrian Grant continued his remarkable
run in the UK’s largest club-based squash championships to record an
impressive victory over World No.16 and Dutch No.1 Laurens Jan
Anjema to clinch the 2008 Wolverhampton Open title, his fifteenth
World Tour success.
Both finalists, competing in the event as part of their final
preparations for the Hi-Tec World Squash Championships to be staged
in Manchester next week, showed remarkable resilience and powers of
endurance in one of the longest matches on the men’s professional
World Tour this year.
The 27-year-old Englishman, who reached the final with victories
over Mohamed El Shorbagy, Jonathon Kemp and Alister Walker,
intelligently combined defence with subtle disguise and attack to
extend the rallies and ultimately negate the explosive assault of
his younger opponent, to the delight of a knowledgeable capacity
crowd at the Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, winning in 105
minutes.
In a spectacular prelude to the men’s final, Laura
Lengthorn-Massaro defeated compatriot Vicky Botwright to claim
her third successive Wolverhampton title. The World No.9 and English
No.3 overcame a tentative and error prone opening game to register a
confidence boosting 45-minute victory over her senior compatriot, a
finalist in the inaugural Wolverhampton Open in 2006.
Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand defeated Dominique Lloyd-Walter of
England to treat the packed crowd to a display of high quality
squash in the play-off for third place.
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 "This is my first tournament for two
and a half months and today has proved my fitness and given me a lot
of confidence leading up to next week's World Open in Manchester.
"I had to dig really deep to win against LJ today, having had tough
matches in every round. Although the competition for this event is
getting stronger each year, I’m already looking forward to being
back next September."
 "Vicky and I have both been training
hard over the summer for next weeks World Open in Manchester and
both of us wanted to register a win to give us that extra bit of
confidence going into the biggest event of the year.
"The first game was particularly tough and I had to work really hard
and I’m just so pleased to have defended my title."
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 Wolverhampton Open
2008
30-Sep to 05 Oct, $30k |
Round One
02 Oct |
Quarters
03 Oct |
Semis
04 Oct |
Final
05 Oct |
[1]
Adrian Grant (Eng)
14/12, 11/7, 3/11, 11/7 (63m)
[Q] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) |
[1] Adrian Grant
11/8, 10/12, 9/11, 11/9, 14/12 (92m)
[6] Jon Kemp |
[1] Adrian Grant
11/9, 9/11, 11/6, 11/3 (73m)
[8] Alister Walker
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[1] Adrian Grant
7/11, 11/9, 11/13, 11/5, 13/11 (105m)
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema |
[6]
Jon Kemp (Eng)
11/2, 11/6, 11/5 (29m)
[Q] Martin Knight (Nzl) |
[4] Renan Lavigne (Fra)
11/7, 11/8, 11/3 (32m)
[Q] Ben Ford (Eng) |
[4] Renan Lavigne
16/14, 6/11, 11/7, 11/4(75m)
[8] Alister Walker |
[8]
Alister Walker (Eng)
11/5, 11/4, 11/8 (43m)
Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) |
Kashif Shuja (Nzl)
11/6, 3/11, 11/9 rtd (33m)
[5] Joey Barrington (Eng) |
Kashif Shuja
8/11, 11/6, 9/11, 11/2, 11/6 (53m)
Aamir Atlas Khan |
Aamir Atlas Khan
11/1, 11/3, 11/3 (37m)
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema |
Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak)
11/5, 11/6, 4/11, 11/7 (53m)
[3] Cameron Pilley (Aus) |
[Q] Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
13/11, 5/11, 11/1, 3/0
conduct game (57m)
[7] Davide Bianchetti (Ita) |
[Q] Steve Coppinger
11/13, 11/9, 11/6, 5/11, 11/2 (78m)
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema |
Jaymie Haycocks (Eng)
11/4, 11/5, 11/4 (28m)
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) |
01-Oct, Qualifying Finals:
Ben Ford (Eng) bt Stacey Ross (Eng)
11/7, 11/6, 11/7 (30m)
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Robbie Temple (Eng) 11/9, 11/7,
9/11, 11/9 (42m)
Martin Knight (Nzl) bt Rob Sutherland (Wal)
11/9, 11/5, 11/5 (50m)
Steve Coppinger (Rsa) bt Shaun Le Roux (Eng)
11/9, 11/7, 11/7 (56m)
30-Sep, Qualifying Round One:
Martin Knight (Nzl) bt Jon Harford
(Eng) 13/11,
11/8, 12/10
Rob Sutherland (Wal) bt Adil Maqbool (Pak) 14/12, 11/8, 11/3 (39m)
Stacey Ross (Eng) bt Sam Hodgkins (Eng) 11/4, 11/4, 11/3 (15m)
Ben Ford (Eng) bt Shahid Zaman (Pak)
11/4, 11/4, 10/12, 3/11, 11/7 (52m)
Steve Coppinger (Rsa) bt Richard Birks (Eng) 11/8, 11/0, 11/2 (24m)
Shaun Le Roux (Eng) bt Wade Johnstone (Aus) 11/5, 11/5, Rtd
Robbie Temple (Eng) bt Curtis Tomlinson (Eng) 11/9, 11/2, 11/8
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Andrew Birks (Eng) 11/4,
11/3, 11/6
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Wolverhampton
Open 2008
30-Sep to 05 Oct |
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04-Oct-2008 - Semi-finals
Laura L-Massaro (Eng) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter
11/8, 13/11, 5/11, 11/8 (45m)
Vicky Botwright bt Jaclyn Hawkes
11/8, 13/11, 11/9 (38m)
[1] Adrian Grant (Eng) bt [8] Alister Walker (Eng)
11/9, 9/11, 11/6, 11/3 (73m)
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt
Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) 11/1, 11/3, 11/3
(37m)
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04-Oct, Semis
Top seeds
make Wolves finals
Rachel Pullan reports
Adrian Grant of England defeated compatriot Alister Walker to
reach the men’s final of the 2008 Wolverhampton Open, the UK’s
biggest club-based squash championships staged at Wolverhampton Lawn
Tennis & Squash Club.
In an epic 73-minute encounter, the No.1 seed showed no signs of
fatigue, despite progressing to the penultimate round via an arduous
92-minute quarter-final less that twenty-four hours earlier against
Jonathan Kemp - one of the longest matches of the on the Men’s World
Tour this year. Although Walker sought to seize the initiative with
more adventurous attacking squash, Grant eventually overcame his
countryman’s challenge with greater consistency, aligned with smooth
and efficient movement and often breathtaking retrieval.
 “Today
was very hard and I had to dig really deep to win,” said the World
No.13. “Alister has improved a lot this year and I’m pleased to have
progressed to the final and looking forward to giving it a good go
tomorrow.”
The 27-year-old Englishman will face second seed Laurens Jan
Anjema of the Netherlands who was in devastating form in a
clinical 37-minute victory over Pakistan No.1 Aamir Atlas Khan.
 “I
played out of my skin tonight,” said Anjema, the three time Dutch
Champion. “Playing on traditional courts is very different to
playing at the bigger events on the all-glass court, but often
playing in front of a smaller but knowledgeable crowd like today
creates more atmosphere. I hope I can come back tomorrow and give
the supporters something to shout about.”
Top seeds Laura Lengthorn-Massaro and Vicky Botwright
were both made to battle to reach the ladies final of the 2008
Wolverhampton Open with wins over Dominique Lloyd-Walter and Jaclyn
Hawkes respectively.
England No.3 and World No.9, Lengthorn-Massaro was made to fight
against third seed Lloyd-Walter before registering a 45-minute
victory.
“Dominique played really well tonight,” said the No.1 seed. “The
third game was particularly tough. I had to work really hard and I’m
just so pleased to have made it to the final and to have the
opportunity of defending my title,” said Lengthorn-Massaro, the two
time Wolverhampton Open Champion.
Second seed Botwright, a finalist in the inaugural Wolverhampton
Open in 2006, had an equally competitive match, eventually
overcoming World No.18 Hawkes of New Zealand in thirty-eight
minutes.
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04-Oct-2008,- Quarters
Walker makes the
Wolves semis
Rachel Pullan reports
Alister Walker, one of the UK’s rising squash stars, scored
an impressive win over French fourth seed Renan Lavigne to progress
to the semi-finals of the 2008 Wolverhampton Open, held at the
Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, England.
The reigning British Grand Prix Champion, who defeated Malaysia’s
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan in his opening match, outplayed his French
opponent with a combination of high tempo length, subtle changes of
pace and attacking angles and drop shots to record a memorable
victory which will see the English No.6 continue his climb up the
world rankings.
 “I
felt really strong today,” said the Botswana born World No.27 after
his 75-minute victory.
“Apart from the second game when I lost a little focus, I was really
pleased to win against an opponent who has so much experience.
Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going against Adrian tomorrow in
the semis.”
In the second quarter-final, second seed Laurens Jan Anjema
of the Netherlands fought back from a first game deficit to record a
hard fought 78-minute win over a determined and often inspired
Stephen Coppinger of South Africa.
England’s Adrian Grant, the No.1 seed of the star-studded
men’s field, overcame compatriot and local favourite Jonathan Kemp
in the longest match of the evening, winning a 92-minute match
punctuated will lets and repeated appeals to the referee.
The final match of the evening saw Pakistan’s Aamir Atlas Khan
clinch the remaining semi-final place, defeating Kashif Shuja in a
high quality and entertaining 53 minute encounter
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Top seed tested in Wolverhampton
Rachel Pullan reports
World No.13 Adrian Grant of England, who reached the
semi-finals of this event in 2007, had to work hard to overcome
qualifier and World Junior Champion Mohamed El Shorbagy of
Egypt before climaxing with a 14-12 11-7 3-11 11-7 win in the first
round of the 2008 Wolverhampton Open.
Shorbagy, who had reached the first round via a relatively
straightforward qualifying competition, played well to take the
first game to a tie-break before conceding the second 11-7. In the
third the talented Egyptian attacked his experienced opponent with
forceful drives and volleys to capture the game before Grant
countered with almost faultless squash to close-out the match for
the loss of a further seven points.
Ben Ford, who also claimed his place in the main draw via the
qualification competition, with two unexpected wins over Pakistan’s
Shahid Zaman and England’s Stacey Ross, failed to progress to the
quarter-finals after losing 7-11 8-11 3-11 to No.4 seed Renan
Lavigne of France. Alister Walker eased through to the
second round with a resounding 11-5 11-4 11-8 win over Mohd
Nafiizwan Adnan.
Italy’s Davide Bianchetti had a controversial match with
South Africa’s Stephen Coppinger. Trailing 2/1 and 0-3
Bianchetti received a third conduct stroke, followed by a conduct
game for continuing dissent, resulting in Coppinger winning the
match 13-11 5-11 11-1 0-3 (conduct game awarded).
Pakistan’s Aamir Atlas Khan produced the other shock of the
night with a 3-1 defeat over third seed Cameron Pilley of
Australia, who is currently ranked 16 places above Khan, whilst No.5
seed Joey Barrington was forced to retire injured at 11-6,
3-11, 11-9 ret against New Zealand’s Kashif Shuja. Laurens
Jan Anjema of the Netherlands had a straightforward win over
England’s Jaymie Haycocks.
Qualifier Martin Knight from New Zealand was unable to
breakdown the solid consistency of England’s sixth seed Jonathan
Kemp, who was playing his best squash for some time – the
Englishman eventually winning 11-2 11-6 11-5.
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01-Oct,
Qualifying Finals:
Qualifying complete
in Wolverhampton
New Zealand’s Martin Knight , who defeated the highest ranked
qualifier Jon Harford in the first round of qualification
yesterday, continued his impressive form in the 2008 Wolverhampton
Squash Open to qualify for the UK’s biggest club-based squash
championships with an enthralling win over Rob Sutherland of
Wales.
Ben Ford
of England showed no signs of fatigue, having endured a fifty-two
minute opening qualifier against Pakistan’s
Shahid Zaman
the previous evening, and recorded a comfortable victory over
compatriot Stacey Ross.
World Junior
Champion, Mohamed El Shorbagy from Egypt earned his place in
the main event with a far from convincing win over England’s
Robbie Temple, whilst Stephen Coppinger defeated Shaun
Le Roux to secure the final qualification place.
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Ticket info |
11 of the best for Wolves
The 2008 Wolverhampton Open, the UK’s biggest club-based squash
championships, to be staged at the Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis &
Squash Club in the West Midlands of England from the 30th September
to 5th October and has once again attracted a high class
international field.
England’s Adrian Grant, the World No.14 heads the draw in the
PSA Men’s World Tour event, with Laurens Jan Anjema of the
Netherlands and 2007 finalist Cameron Pilley from Australia seeded
No.2 and No.3 respectively.
Defending ladies Champion Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, Vicky Botwright,
and Dominique Lloyd-Walter of England together with New Zealand’s
Jaclyn Hawkes will contest a highly competitive women’s championship
with Lengthorn-Massaro seeded to meet Botwright in a repeat of the
inaugural Wolverhampton Open.
Now in its third year, the Wolverhampton Open, held in association
with Marston’s, will provide perfect preparation for players
competing in the Hi-Tec World Squash Championships in Manchester
from 11th to 19th October.
“We have been delighted with the interest that the championships
have generated over the past two years,” said Tournament Director
Stephen Russell. “The enthusiasm and support of our members and all
of our sponsors has been integral in developing the championships
still further this year, and everyone is looking forward to the club
again showcasing some of the world's most exciting players.”
Rachel Pullan of internationalSPORTgroup added: “The continued
success of the Wolverhampton Open has demonstrated just how exciting
and a major club-based competition can be for players, spectators
and sponsors alike. The championships have quickly established
itself as a permanent fixture on the domestic squash calendar and we
look forward to working with Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club
to deliver another successful event.”
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The
club has 7 squash courts, two of which are glass backed, 15
tennis courts of which three are indoors, a large gym with the
latest Technogym equipment and an aerobic and dance studio. 
