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15-Jun, Finals:
[1] Scott Arnold bt [3] Steve
Finitsis
7-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-4
[1] Kasey Brown bt [2] Donna Urquhart
9-5, 9-2, 9-7
Brown wins third successive title, Arnold stops Finitsis
Andrew Dent reports
Taree’s Kasey Brown won her third successive Australian
Closed Squash Championship title when she beat second seed Donna
Urquhart in straight games in Sydney on Sunday.
Brown, the world number 13, was playing her first tournament in
Australia this year and showed why she is tipped to become the
country’s next top 10 player as she beat fellow Australian Institute
of Sport scholarship holder Urquhart 9-5, 9-2, 9-7.
In the men’s event, Sydney’s Scott Arnold won his first
Closed title when he ended Queenslander Steve Finitsis’s long
winning run with a tough four-game victory. Finitsis won the first
game but then ran out of steam as Arnold triumphed 7-11, 11-4,
14-12, 11-4.
Finitsis had won his last four Professional Squash Association
tournaments but after three close games he “ran out of legs” in the
fourth as Arnold cruised to victory. Earlier Arnold beat Newcastle’s
Mathew Karwalski 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 in one semi-final, while
Finitsis upset second seeded Ryan Cuskelly 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6.
NSW Squash director Carin Clonda said the tournament, played at the
association’s headquarters at Thornleigh in north-west Sydney, had
been a great success.
“It’s the first time we’ve held the Australian Closed and it was
great to have a lot of our New South Wales players back from
overseas or back from the Australian Institute of Sport,” she said.
“It’s great that we’ve been able to have a major event for them to
come back to. “We are now in discussions with Squash Australia to
host the tournament for another two years and we are looking to
triple the prize money.
“It’s brilliant for our club players to be able to see the calibre
of squash we have seen here this weekend.
“I also want to thank our tournament controller, Sue Doherty, who
made sure we stayed on schedule for the whole tournament.”
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14-Jun-08:
Finitsis hoping to
stop NSW charge
In form Queenslander Steve Finitsis will be hoping to stop a
New South Wales clean sweep when the semi-finals of the Australian
Closed Squash Championships get underway in Sydney on Sunday.
New South Wales is guaranteed a winner in the women’s event after
Kasey Brown and Donna Urquhart lived up to their seedings
by reaching the women’s final.
Finitsis is the only non-NSW player left in the men’s draw, with
Scott Arnold, Ryan Cuskelly and Mathew Karwalski
all making the final four.
The 25-year-old Queenslander will take on Cuskelly in one semi-final
and must be confident of success. He has won the last four
professional tournaments he has been in, while Cuskelly is only just
returning to competition after a long injury lay-off.
Results (NSW unless stated):
Men
Round two
1-Scott Arnold bt Doug Oxley
12-10, 11-4, 11-4
2-Ryan Cuskelly bt James Ethan
11-2, 9-11, 11-2, 11-2
3-Steve Finitsis (Qld) bt Julius Kraus (Qld)
11-3, 11-3, 11-5
4-Matthew Karwalski bt Andrew Fraser (Qld) 11-0,
11-0, 11-0
5-Simon Carruthers bt David Hunt
11-7, 11-9, 11-8
David White bt 6-Luke Forster
11-7, 11-8, 11-8
7-Brent Dunkley bt Anthony Thomas
12-10, 11-9, 11-9
8-Nathan Kam bt Shahroze Khan
11-3, 11-4, 11-4
Quarter-finals
1-Scott Arnold bt Nathan Kam
11-3, 11-9, 11-3
4-Matthew Karwalski bt 5-Simon Carruthers 11-9, 11-7,
2-11, 9-11, 11-5
3-Steve Finitsis (Qld) bt David White
11-3, 12-10, 11-1
2-Ryan Cuskelly bt 7-Brent Dunkley
11-8, 11-4, 11-7
Semi-finals
1-Scott Arnold bt 4-Matthew Karwalski
6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4
3-Steve Finitsis (Qld) bt 2-Ryan Cuskelly
11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6
Women
Quarter-finals
1-Kasey Brown bt Sarah Nelson
9-2, 9-4, 9-3
2-Donna Urquhart bt Stacey Sephton
9-2, 9-3, 10-8
3-Shannon McNamara bt Carin Clonda
9-3, 9-4, 9-1
4-Melody Francis (Vic) bt Samantha Davies (Qld) 9-7,
1-9, 9-0, 8-10, 9-3
Semi-finals
1-Kasey Brown bt 4-Melody Francis (Vic)
9-2, 9-2, 9-0
2-Donna Urquhart bt 3-Shannon McNamara
9-4, 9-4, 9-3
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