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Saskatoon Boast Squash Open
24 - 29 Oct, Saskatchawen, Canada, $10k |
29-Oct-06, FINAL:
Eric Galvez (Mex) bt
Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (Mex)
11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6 (95m) |
28-Oct-06:
Galvez
wins
all-Mexican final
Daryl Foreman reports
Eric Galvez beat fellow countryman
Jorge Ferreira in the all Mexican final of the 2006 Saskatoon Boast in his
typical style.
He gave the last few points away in the fourth game but stormed back in
the fifth game to win. Better to start fresh at zero zero in the fifth
than fight back from being down 9-6 in the fourth, I guess. Risky strategy
to be sure but it was again successful as Galvez went on to control the
fifth game storming out to a 4-1 lead and maintaining the cushion to win
11-6 and capture the title.
The final featured an amicable match with breathtaking drops from the back
of the court by Ferreira and Galvez flying around the court, pounding
shots back, always counterpunching, always retrieving, and laughing with
the crowd after getting yet another let call to extend the rallies.
Galvez looked tired in the second and fourth games but dug down deep and
found a burst of energy in the fifth. He started finishing rallies with
forehand overheads into the nick, playing very aggressively in the fifth
and just did not miss any shots. Ferreira looked to extend his giant
killing by forcing a fifth game but Galvez found the reserves he needed
and combined them with some timely attacking squash to secure the 2006
Boast Title.
Both players showed tremendous determination, stamina, and sportsmanship.
It was the best final seen in many years as often the players are beat up
by Sunday and many finals have been one sided. These two Mexicans put
everything they had into the match and the crowd truly appreciated the
fine display of shot making and especially the retrieving and grit.
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Eric Galvez
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 Saskatoon
Boast
Squash Open
Saskatchawen, Canada, 24 - 29 Oct, $10k |
Round One
26 Oct |
Quarters
27 Oct |
Semis
28 Oct |
Final
29 Oct |
[1] Eric Galvez (Mex)
11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (39m)
Wade Johnstone (Aus) |
Eric Galvez
11-9, 12-10, 11-5 (55m) David Phillips |
Eric Galvez
11-6, 10-11 (6-8), 11-5, 3-11, 11-10 (3-1) (120m)
Bradley Ball |
Eric Galvez
11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6 (95m)
Jorge Ferreira |
[8] Rob Sutherland (Wal)
11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (43m)
[Q] David Phillips (Can) |
[3] Bradley Ball (Eng)
11-4, 11-9, 11-5 (42m)
[Q] Jose Becerril
(Mex) |
Bradley Ball
11-3, 11-6, 11-5 (23m)
Laurence Delasaux |
[8] Laurence Delasaux
(Eng)
11-5, 11-3, 11-5 (18m)
Matthew Serediak (Can) |
[Q] Jorge Ferreira (Mex)
11-9, 11-8, 11-8 (40m)
[7] Steve Finitsis (Aus) |
Jorge Ferreira
11-4, 11-8, 11-9 (45m)
Scott Arnold |
Jorge Ferreira
11-5, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7 (55m)
Jesse Engelbrecht |
Scott Arnold (Aus)
11-4, 3-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4 (63m)
[4] Simon Rosner (Ger) |
[Q] Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11-10(2-0), 4-11, 11-10(3-1), 11-5 (59m)
[5] Jesse Engelbrecht (Zim) |
Jesse Engelbrecht
11-3, 5-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9 (57m)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez |
Martin Knight (Nzl)
11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 (75m)
[2] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col) |
Qualifying :
Finals, 25-Oct:
David Phillips (Can) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (IND)
11/9, 11/5, 11/3 (37m)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Andrew McDougall (CAN)
11/2, 12/10, 11/8 (40m)
Jorge Ferreira (MEX) bt Patrick Bedore (CAN)
11/6, 7/11, 11/3, 11/6 (47m)
Jose Becerril (MEX) bt Daniel Sibley (CAN)
11/3, 11/8, 11/6 (25m)
Round One, 24-Oct:
Dave Phillips (CAN)
Bye
Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) bt Russ Warner (CAN)
11/3, 11/2, 11/4 (15m)
Andrew McDougall (CAN) bt Armando Olguin (MEX) 11/2,
11/4, 11/7 (25m)
Jorge Ferreira (MEX) bt Birch Baldwin (CAN)
11/8, 11/4, 11/4 (30m)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Justin Todd (CAN)
11/9, 11/5, 11/8 (31m)
Patrick Bedore (CAN) bt Chris White (CAN)
11/4, 11/6, 11/3 (21m)
Daniel Sibley (CAN) bt Michael Reid (CAN)
11/9, 11/7, 9/11, 12/10 (94m)
Jose Angel Becerril (MEX)
Bye
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28-Oct-06:
Galvez takes marathon Semi
Daryl Foreman reports
A 2 hour match! After 118 minutes
between Eric Galvez and Bradley Ball the score was 11 all in the fifth game.
Both players looking
totally spent yet still managing dazzling rallies at the end of the
match with terrific gets and aggressive volleys. It was a pity one had
to lose. But in the end Eric seemed to loosen up at the right time and
took the final 2 rallies and a ticket to the final. The last rally
featured a perfect length to the back forehand corner to complete the 2
hour slugfest. Galvez gave away the final 3 points in the fourth
game with Ball serving at 8-3 but the risky move worked as he had just
the energy he needed in the fifth.
The crowd rose and gave both players
a standing ovation at the end of the match. Miguel Rodriguez of Columbia
refereed the semi-final match and fittingly receiving the A.H. Raazi
Memorial Sportsmanship Award at the conclusion of the match. A.H. Razzi
was a squash enthusiast and his love of the game prompted his son Mateen
Razzi to donate the trophy in his father's honour. Bradley Ball seemed
to have the match in hand at 10-8 in the fifth but the gutsy Eric Galvez did
not give up and eventually won 13-11.
Qualifier Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira
of Mexico is ranked 186 but is playing like he's in the top 40 as
he dispatched the fifth seed Jesse Engelbrecht of Zimbabwe in the other
semi-final. Ferreira won 3-1 and after the match Jesse said his legs
just didn't have the same jump after his tough 5 set victory over Miguel
Angel Rodriguez in the quarter finals.
Jesse said Jorge played a very
controlled game and Jorge's deception holding his backhand drops and
flicks combined with his slightly tired legs proved too much to
overcome. Jesse said Jorge will move up in the rankings quickly based on
the skills he's demonstrating here in Saskatoon. Jesse commented he's
having fun playing squash again after a tough year and he's looking
forward to his other upcoming tournaments.
Taking out the second seeded
player in an exciting 5th game would be fun I bet.
So we have an all
Mexican final at the Saskatoon tournament which could be attributed to
the warm courts and 19 inch tin or perhaps the fantastic retrieving and
fine shotmaking of Eric Galvez and Jorge Ferreira also could have a lot
to do with it.
The fans here have been treated to excellent matches and
are looking forward eagerly to the finals on Sunday.
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Eric Galvez
Bradley Ball
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27-Oct-06:
Quality Quarters in Saskatoon
Daryl Foreman reports
Wow, what an exciting night of matches. Eric Galvez dashed Canadian
hopes as he put the last remaining Canadian out of the draw beating David
Phillips in 3 tough games. The game score did not reflect the closeness of
the match, however, as the first and second games were very tight. After
the match David said this is the third time he's played Eric in 2 months
and unfortunately Eric has beat him every time. Dave said he's been
working on his mental toughness with his coach Yvon Provencal in Montreal
but credited Eric with being very fit and fast and playing the last points
from 8 all in each game just a little better. Dave said on these hot
courts with the 19 inch tin you have to play aggressive but be so careful.
Dave said qualifying in each tournament is tough as even though you may
win 3-0 you are still on the court for 45 minutes and it still takes a
toll on your body. He looks forward to his ranking moving up in the next
month and hopefully getting into some main draws without the hardship of
qualifying. Dave gave full credit to Eric but wouldn't pick a player to
win as he said the remaining players all have a good chance. After the
match Eric said he is playing fairly relaxed at the moment and although he
had a momentary lapse of concentration in the second game and Dave played
better to pulled even at 8 all he played the last important points a bit
better. Eric credited his coach Sardar Ali Jhan in Mexico city with his
strong play of late after playing seriously in Mexico and on the PSA for
the last 2 years.
Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira of Mexico dispatched Scott Arnold in
straight games also but Scott fought hard and controlled most of the
rallies. Jorge just ran everything down and played a patient waiting game
and still seemed to wind up winning the rallies. Jorge has the ability of
getting all the balls back and playing dying length to the back on his
cross court passes. Jorge's backhand drop has to be shown a lot of respect
and that opens up the back court. Jorge seems to enjoy these warm courts
and was seen smiling on the court even while politely discussing let calls
with the referee.
Bradley Ball looked like he was late for another appointment as he quickly
defeated fellow Englishman Laurence Delasaux in 3 games and 23 minutes.
This is only Bradley's second month back playing on the tour after a
forced 10 month lay off with a back injury and no competitive matches and
he seems keen to get back to his former ranking in the mid twenties.
Bradley hits the ball so hard with such pace and really dominates the T
when he wants. Laurence is young and gaining experience and also shows
flashed of brilliant play but tonight Mr. Ball was just to much to deal
with.
The best match of the night featured the number 2 seed Miguel Angel
Rodriguez of Columbia against Jesse Engelbrecht of Zimbabwe. Miguel was
hampered by an ankle injury (although he still flew around the court,
diving for game balls) and Jesse was throwing up with the flu the night
before but both put on a display the Saskatoon fans will be talking about
for months. Jesse surprised everyone by handily winning the first game
11-3 but Miguel picked up his game and reduced his tin in the second and
levelled the match a one game each 11-5. Jesse started anticipating the
forehand crosscourts passes and punished them with aggressive hard volleys
and that put Miguel under tremendous pressure. Jesse would work the rally
until he could get a forehand volley and then Miguel would be off to the
races. It seemed to be the only chink in Miguel armour and Jesse
relentlessly kept hammering away at it. Jesse took the third game 11-8 and
things looked bleak for the number 2 seed but to Miguel's credit he did
not fold his tent but played a very patient 4th game with lots of backhand
length and Jesse found the tin again and again. Miguel took the 4th game
11-4. The fifth game was awesome. Miguel went out to a 6-1 lead with only
one side out but Jesse fought back to 5-7 and then eventually a 9-8 lead.
Miguel started diving for balls in the rallies and Jesse went for 2 very
dangerous drop nicks and made them both. Jesse had match ball at 10-8 but
Miguel hit perfect length to close the gap to 9-10. Jesse managed one more
aggressive rally and fittingly won the match on a forehand crosscourt
volley, his bread and butter shot of the match. This was an incredible
match and well played by both players. 2 points in the fifth was all that
separated these two and the match could have gone either way. Both showed
tremendous grit and determination.
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26-Oct-06:
Round One in Saskatoon
Daryl Foreman reports
Eric Galvez put in a workmanlike performance in dismissing Wade
Johnstone in the first round. Wade forced Eric to earn the performance by
extending the rallies but at the critical times of the match Eric elevated
his game and won the critical rallies for a 3 nil victory.
David Phillips pulled off the first upset of the main round in
Saskatoon as he surprised Rob Sutherland of Wales in straight games. The
rallies were long but Rob appeared tentative and did not move with the
same fluidity he usually possesses, no doubt because of his injured right
shin he had taped for the match. After the match Rob said his injury
didn't particularly bother him during the match but he didn't feel
confident with his movement so he went for the "perfect shot at the
earliest opportunity and instead found the tin". He said he wanted to get
David moving around the court. Rob gave Phillips full credit and said Dave
is playing well and in good form.
Bradley Ball overcame a slight deficit in game two to comfortably
win in 3 games over young Jose Becerril of Mexico. Jose is improving
rapidly however and the game score did not reflect the closeness of the
match as the Mexican played very well and he kept the Englishman on the
court for 43 Minutes.
Laurence Delasaux of England gave the young Canadian Matthew
Serediak his first taste of life on the PSA tour with a convincing 11-5,
11-3, 11-5 tour of the court. To the young Canadian's credit, he dug in
and fought for every point he won and he chased down a lot of balls.
Laurence was pitching and Matthew was catching however and just like in
the World Series of Baseball, good pitching wins. Matthew has been
training in Toronto with former legend Jonathon Power's coach Mike Way and
Matthew's father Ernie Serediak said Mike has already changed Matthew's
strokes so we look forward to seeing Matthew's future progress.
Another upset was Mexican Jorge Ferreira's 3-nil win over Steve
Finitsis of Australia. Steve appeared to be fighting the flu but Jorge
took full advantage and the angel faced assassin extended the rallies and
played his delicate feather drop shots to keep Steve off balance and
stretching for forehand drops to the right corner.
Scott Arnold looked fitter than Simon Rosner in his win although
Simon fought back to force the match to 5 games and Jesse Engelbrecht
got his revenge over Ryan Cuskelly of Australia for the 13-11 loss in
fifth game at the Ottawa PSA event two weeks ago with a 3-1 game victory
here in Saskatoon. Ryan appeared to be suffering from a cold but Jesse's
retrieving and shotmaking took him through to the second round.
Martin Knight put up a valiant effort but went down 3-1 to Miguel Angel
Rodriguez of Colombia 3-0. The match featured Miguel put on a
retrieving exhibition with many back wall gets and amazing anticipation.
Miguel was struggling with an ankle injury and yet still relied on his
retrieving to secure the victory.
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Laurence Delasaux
Miguel Angel Rodriguez |
25-Oct-06:
Qualifying Complete in Saskatoon
Daryl Foreman reports
Round One:
Evidently the match of the day belonged to the young Canadians with
Daniel Sibley coming out victorious over Michael Reid after 94
gruelling minutes. The match was very close throughout but Daniel had the
edge in the closing stages of each game. When the score reached 8 all or
9-8 he seemed to play a bit more consistently and Michael found the tin.
The match was filled with let and no let calls and a much tougher one to
referee than was expected in the first round of qualifications. Dan and
Michael actually played a practice match the day before in Saskatoon to
get used to the courts before the qualification draw was made.
The Finals:
David Phillips (Can) bt Gaurav
Nandrajog (Ind)
11/9, 11/5, 11/3 (37m)
plays Sutherland
Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) bt Andrew McDougall (Can)
11/2, 12/10, 11/8 (40m)
plays Engelbrect
Jorge Ferreira (Mex) bt Patrick Bedore (Can)
11/6, 7/11, 11/3, 11/6 (47m)
plays Ball
Jose Becerril (Mex) bt Daniel Sibley (Can)
11/3, 11/8, 11/6 (25m)
plays Finitsis |
Dave Phillips looked convincing
against Gaurav Nandrajog with some nice controlled squash. There were some
really long hard rallies but Dave seemed to win most of them.
Ryan Cuskelly welcomed 18 year old Andrew McDougall to only his
second professional event with a solid pace.
Jorge Ferreira looked steady getting past young Patrick Bedore from
Canada in four challenging games. It proved to be the longest match of the
night at 47 minutes.
Finally, Jose Becerril powered his way past Daniel Sibley with some
aggressive squash. Daniel looked a little tired from his marathon match
yesterday in the first round. |
"That was a much tougher match
[against Justin Todd] than the scoreline indicates.
"It was good to have a tough first match as I got in the swing of
things and want to build from this first match and hopefully play
better as the tournament progresses.
"I was happy with my performance against Andrew, now looking forward
to playing Jesse for the second time in two weeks. He won 13-11 in
the fifth last time so this looks to be a tough match."
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 "I'm
not used to the pace and consistency that he generates.
"In juniors you can hit and run but against these pros you have to
be thinking all the time"
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