24-Jul, Finals:

[1] Zac Alexander (Aus) bt Raphael Kandra (Ger)
           11-7, 11-7, 11-1
[4] Siyoli Waters (Rsa) bt [2] Song Sun Mi (Kor)
          13-11, 11-6, 11-6

Alexander stamps authority
on Queensland Open
Andrew Dent reports

Brisbane’s Zac Alexander stamped his authority on the rest of the field when he took out the Queensland Open squash title on Sunday without dropping a game throughout the tournament.

The top seed downed German giant killer Raphael Kandra 11-7, 11-7, 11-1 to claim his first Queensland senior title after winning multiple junior honours.

The New York-based Alexander was using the Queensland Open to fine tune his game head of qualifying for the Australian Open next month.
“I didn’t concede a game all week, which was sort of my goal at the start of the tournament,” Alexander said.

“It was tough today, I’d never seen or heard of him before but I knew he was a giant killer. He upset the number two seed, the number six seed and the fourth seed this week, so I didn’t know what to expect.

“It was tough for the first two games but I think by the end he was feeling the effects of his long week.”

Alexander was thrilled to add the senior title to his trophy cabinet.

“I won a few junior titles but to win the senior one is really good and hopefully it will give me a bit of confidence going into qualifying for Canberra,” he said.

Earlier South Africa’s Siyoli Waters won her first tournament on the women’s tour when she beat Song Sun Mi of Korea 13-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Waters used her incredible speed around the court and the power and accuracy of her shots to surprise Song, who was on the back foot from the start of the match.

The South African took the first game in a tiebreak then dominated her opponent after that, holding her nerves to clinch her first major trophy.
She said while she was happy with her movement, her shot making had been the difference.

“My speed around court has been working well, my speed is one of my strengths, but I think the accuracy of my shots is what contributed today.
“I was able to put her under a lot of pressure today and I’m very happy about that.

“It’s still sinking in,” she added. “I’ve finally sealed the deal. I’ve come close a few times, losing 3-2 a couple of times, so to finally win it three-love is a nice surprise.

“I spent a week with Malcolm Willstrop a couple of weeks ago which I think was a tremendous help. It was such a short amount of time but it had the right effect.”
 

22-Jul, Round One:
Alexander on fire at Queensland Open
Andrew Dent reports

Top seed Zac Alexander stormed into the quarter-finals of the Queensland Open squash tournament with two impressive victories on Friday.

Alexander, who grew up in Brisbane but is now based in New York, demolished Scotland’s Kevin Moran 11-0, 11-2, 11-4 in the first round before seeing off fellow Queenslander Nathan Turnbull 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 later in the day.

He will now take on either Englishman Alex Phillips or seventh seeded Victorian Josh Cardwell in the final eight on Saturday morning.

Alexander was in great touch on Friday, dominating his opponents despite not having played a tournament since earlier in the year.

“It’s been a few months since I played but it’s a good way to start,” he said after beating Moran.

“The whole idea of these 32-player draws, when you are playing more matches, is to get on and off as quickly as possible and save your energy.

“I’m pleased with the way I’m hitting it. They are different courts from what I’ve been playing on in America, the concrete courts here make it a bit bouncier than the panel courts in America.

“So it’s a different game, you have to slow the ball down – you don’t get as much value for hitting the ball hard, so you have to adjust.”

Second seed Kashif Shuja of New Zealand crashed out in a major first round shock when he was beaten in five games by Germany’s Raphael Kandra 12-14, 6-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7.

In a good day for the Germans, qualifier Norman Junge also progressed to the second round when he beat eighth seeded Queenslander Jamie McErvale 11-7, 11-9, 11-5.
 

Press Cut
 

Quarter-finals

Men
1-Zac Alexander (Qld) bt Alex Phillips (ENG) 11-6, 11-1, 11-2
3-Bradley Hindle (MLT) bt Rory Penell (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3
4-Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Norman Junge (GER) 11-9, 11-3, 14-12
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt 6-Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 9-11, 12-10, 19-17, 11-6

Women
9-DeonSaffery (WAL) bt 15-Christine Nunn (ACT) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7
4-Siyoli Waters (RSA) bt 8-Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5
11-Ahn Eun Chan (KOR) bt 12-Lisa Aitken (SCO) 11-7, 11-7, 11-4
2-Song Sun Mi (KOR) bt 10-Zoe Petrovansky (Qld) 11-6, 14-12, 11-6

Semi-finals

Men
1-Zac Alexander (Qld) bt 3-Bradley Hindle (MLT) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt 4-Lewis Walters (ENG) 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9

Women
4-Siyoli Waters (RSA) bt 9-DeonSaffery (WAL) 9-11, 11-3, 11-7,11-3
2-Song Sun Mi (KOR) bt 11-Ahn Eun Chan (KOR) 12-10, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7

Second round

1- Zac Alexander (Qld) bt Nathan Turnbull (Qld) 11-6, 11-5, 11-2
Alex Phillips (ENG) bt 7- Josh Cardwell (Vic) 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10
Rory Penell (ENG) bt 5- Nathan Stevenson (Qld) 11-4, 11-6, 10-12, 8-11, 14-12
3- Bradley Hindle (MLT) bt Ondrej Ertl (CZE) 11-1, 11-2, 11-5
4- Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Owais Khan (PAK) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5
Norman Junge (GER) bt Paul Coll (NZL) 13-11, 11-9, 11-9
6- Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Joseph Watts (NZL) 14-12, 11-1, 11-3
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt Roman Svec (CZE) 11-7, 13-11, 11-6

Women

9- Deon Saffery (WAL) bt 1- Kylie Lindsay (NZL) 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3
15- Christine Nunn (ACT) bt 6- Samantha Davies (Qld) 15-13, 8-11, 11-4, 12-14, 11-4
4- Siyoli Waters (RSA) bt 13- Sally Skaarenborg (DEN) 11-1, 11-8, 11-7
8- Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt 14- Grace McErvale (Qld) 11-4, 11-3, 11-3
12- Lisa Aitken (SCO) bt 5- Sarah Cardwell (Vic) 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7
11- Ahn Eun Chan (KOR) bt 3- Melody Francis (Vic) 11-2, 11-8, 8-11, 17-15
10- Zoe Petrovansky (Qld) bt 7- Maggy Marshall (Tas) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6
2- Song Sun Mi (KOR) bt 16- Emily Stack-Masula (Qld) 11-3, 11-2, 11-2

First round results

Men

1-Zac Alexander (Qld) bt Kevin Moran (SCO) 11-0, 11-2, 11-4
Nathan Turnbull (Qld) bt Bryce Redman (NZL) 11-2, 11-6, 11-6
Alex Phillips (ENG) bt Sunil Seth (Qld) 11-7, 11-4, 11-2
7- Josh Cardwell (Vic) bt Chris Ferguson (SCO) 11-5, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6
5- Nathan Stevenson (Qld) bt Joshua Stack-Masula (Qld) 11-5, 11-4, 11-0
Rory Penell (ENG) bt Tsukue Shinnosuke (JPN) 11-9, 11-8, 13-11
Ondrej Ertl (CZE) bt Courtney West (Qld) 11-7, 11-6, 12-10
3-Bradley Hindle (MLT) bt Lukas Burkhart (SUI) 11-5, 11-1, 11-1
4-Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Luc Rance (Qld) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6
Owais Khan (PAK) bt Ben Takamizawa Harris (JPN) 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-4
Paul Coll (NZL) bt Jonas Daehler (SUI) 11-8, 11-3, 11-9
Norman Junge (GER) bt 8-Jamie McErvale (Qld) 11-7, 11-9, 11-5
6-Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Evan Williams (NZL) 5-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8
Joseph Watts (NZL) bt Luke Sims (Vic) 14-12, 11-8, 11-9
Roman Svec (CZE) bt James Skiffington (NZL) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt 2-Kashif Shuja (NZL) 12-14, 6-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7

Women

15-Christine Nunn (ACT) bt Bae Chan Mi (KOR) 12-10, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6
13-Sally Skaarenborg (DEN) bt Cigany Sierveld (NED) 11-5, 11-8, 11-7
14- Grace McErvale (Qld) bt Natalie Newton (Qld) 13-11, 11-5, 11-7
12-Lisa Aitken (SCO) bt Eloise O'Connor (WA) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4
11-Ahn Eun Chan (KOR) bt Bine Malund Lind (DEN) 11-3, 11-1, 11-4