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 Burning
River Classic
2009
30 Jan-04 Feb,
Cleveland Racket Club, Ohio, $39k |
Round One
01 Feb |
Quarters
02 Feb |
Semis
03 Feb |
Final
04 Feb |
[1]
Rachael Grinham (Aus)
11/5, 11/13, 11-4, 11-2
[Q] Line Hansen (Den) |
[1]
Rachael Grinham
11-5, 11-5, 11-8
Tania Bailey |
[1]
Rachael Grinham
11-2, 11-4, 11-5
[3] Alison Waters |
[3] Alison Waters
9/11, 11/1, 11/6, 11/4
[2] Natalie Grainger |
[6]
Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/3, 7/11, 11/4, 11/3
Tania Bailey (Eng) |
[3]
Alison Waters (Eng)
11/13, 13/11, 12/10, 11/4 (69m)
Engy Kheirallah (Egy) |
[3] Alison Waters
11/6, 11/8, 13/11
Jaclyn Hawkes |
[8]
Samantha Teran (Mex)
14/12, 13/15, 9/11, 11/6, 11/9 (101m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) |
[Q] Sarah Kippax
11/4, 11/3, 11/6
[5] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (Eng) |
[5] Laura L.Massaro
11/4, 9/11, 11/6, 11/4[4] Omneya Abdel Kawy |
[5] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro
11/9, 11/6, 11/8
[2] Natalie Grainger |
Lauren Briggs (Eng)
11/3, 11/9, 13/1
[4] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) |
[Q] Latasha Khan (Usa)
11/9, 10/12, 11/7, 7/11, 11/5
[7] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg) |
[7] Rebecca Chiu
11/2, 11/8, 11/8
[2] Natalie Grainger |
[Q]
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng)
11/7, 11/3, 11/6
[2] Natalie Grainger (Usa) |
31-Jan,
Qualifying Finals:
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) beat Joey Chan (HKG) 11/6,
11/6, 7/11, 5/11, 11/6
Line Hansen (DEN) beat (USA)
11/6, 11/7, 11/4
Latasha Khan (USA) beat Laura Hill (ENG)
11/7, 11/8, 11/4
Sarah Kippax (ENG) beat Suzie Pierrepont (ENG)
6/11, 14/12, 12/14, 11/7, 11/4
30-Jan, Qualifying round one:
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Carolyn Russell (CAN)
11/5, 11/3, 11/7
Joey Chan (HKG ) bt Alana Miller (CAN)
9/11, 11/4, 11/6, 11/7
Line Hansen (DEN) bt Amanda Sobhy (USA)
11/9, 11/4, 11/5
Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Aisling Blake (IRL)
11/7, 11/8, 8/11, 4/11, 12/10
Laura Hill (ENG) bt Annelize Naude (NED)
12/10, 11/5, 11/6
Latasha Khan (USA) bt Olivia Blatchford (USA)
11/8, 11/9, 11/6
Suzie Pierrepont (ENG) bt Elize Ng (HKG)
11/6, 11/4, 11/8
Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt Manuela Manetta (ITA)
11/8, 9/11, 11/3, 11/9
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2008 Event
2007 Event |
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 02-Feb,
Quarters:
Top two ease into
Cleveland
semis ...
Nathan Dugan reports
Rachael Grinham and Natalie Gainger both moved one
step closer to a potential final show down on Monday night at the
Cleveland Racquet Club in Ohio, USA.
Natalie continued the defence of her title with a convincing
performance against world number 15 Rebecca Chiu from Hong Kong.
Natalie took early leads in every game and never really looked
threatened throughout the match despite some determined retrieving
from the 2002 Asian Games gold medalist.
 Rachael’s
place in the semi finals was made easier than it might have been had
her opponent Tania Bailey been able to chase balls down as she had
the night before against Madeline Perry. Unfortunately for Tania and
the Cleveland gallery a strain which occurred during the match the
night before never loosened and Tania’s body language suggested a
tough fight was not going to be on the cards.
Rachael’s opponent on Tuesday night will be Alison Walters
who defeated New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes in three straight games.
This may not have been a huge surprise after the grueling 101 minute
match that Jaclyn faced last night. Alison was always just a step
ahead at the start of each game and in the first two Jaclyn was
unable to mount that resilient a comeback. In the third however at
9-5 down Jaclyn started chasing balls down in a last desperate bid
to keep her tournament alive which pressured Alison into a couple of
errors which hadn’t been occurring during the rest of the match. So
effective was the charge that Jaclyn found herself at 10-9 game ball
with a loose forehand waiting to be killed and kill it she did, but
unfortunately not above the tin and that was to be the end of the
last stand.
In the most anticipated game of the night world number 7 Omneya
Abdel Kawy was up against Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, just
one place below the Egyptian in both seeding and world ranking.
Laura started much the stronger of the two with her accurate
placement of the ball restricting the flair from her opponent’s
racquet. Omneya came out looking like a different player though in
the second game taking a commanding three point lead before a couple
of quick errors allowed Laura back into the match. She got back on
track though and displayed some great attacking play, using holds
and fakes to open up the court and level the match.
The start of the third was to be the pivotal point of the match and
a couple of tough rallies won by Laura seemed to take the
penetration out of Omneya’s game. Errors crept in with more
frequency as Laura maintained good width and depth with the ball,
taking the opening when it arose with some tidy holds of her own to
end the points. Facing a 1-2 game deficit, Omneya didn’t really look
like she wanted to take up the fight and submitted without too much
resistance in the fourth.
The victory for Laura sets up an exciting semi final clash with
Natalie Grainger which will be surely the defending champion's
sternest test in the three years she has been playing the event in
Cleveland.
While the quarter final matches were taking place the first round
losers were trying their hand in a Pro-Am hardball doubles event.
Engy Kheirallah with partner Rachel Leizman won the Ladies
doubles and Sarah Kippax partnered Mike Shaughnessy of
tournament sponsor ColorMatrix to victory in the mixed doubles.
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01-Feb, Round One:
Hawkes & Teran in 101-minute Cleveland
clash ...
Nathan Dugan reports
Jaclyn
Hawkes and Samantha Teran battled for 1 hour and 41
minutes in the first round of the National City Burning River
Classic in Cleveland tonight. The match is certainly longer than
anything we have seen in the previous two years and amazingly this
is with the new scoring system that was questioned for making
matches too short! There was nothing between the players throughout
the whole match with the referee a constant part of the games
proceedings. Samantha certainly had her chances to win the match,
holding a 9-7 lead in the deciding game but Jaclyn put four
consecutive points on the board to end a marathon encounter.
The match followed another tremendous contest between Alison Waters
of England and Egyptian Engy Kheirallah. The first two games
where shared 13-11 in 45 minutes with Engy having a game ball that
she failed to convert in the second to give her a 2-0 advantage.
Game three followed a similar pattern with numerous lets and neither
playing willing to budge. Engy again had game balls at 10-8 but was
unable to convert as Alison finished the stronger winning 12-10.
This seemed to take the wind out of Engy’s sails as Alison dominated
the fourth in a match that lasted for 1hour and 9 minutes.
Seven times American National Champion Latasha Khan fell just
short of making it three straight appearances in the quarter finals
in Cleveland when losing to seventh seed Rebecca Chiu from
Hong Kong. The first two games were very tight with Rebecca’s
consistency making the difference in the first and Latasha’s
attacking play being the factor in the second. The same pattern
occurred in the third and fourth games albeit with more convincing
score lines. Latasha gained a 4-2 lead in the fifth but she was only
able to muster one more point as Rebecca found a few perfect drop
shots and Latasha made some costly mistakes.
Natalie Grainger started her title defence in a rematch of
the 2007 and 2008 semi-finals against Dominique Lloyd-Walter.
The result was business as usual for Natalie in Cleveland who has
now only dropped one game in nine matches in front of the Cleveland
crowd. It took something special from Dominique to win a point as
Natalie steamrolled into the quarter finals.
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro’s debut in Cleveland was equally as
impressive as she saw of the challenge of qualifier Sarah Kippax
without too many problems. The display of accurate shot making and
deceptive hold makes Laura a real threat to lift the 2009 title.
Another title contender will surely be Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy
who defeated last year’s losing semi finalist Lauren Briggs
in three games. Lauren had an opening in the third but at 10-9
game ball she broke a string which sent the ball into the tin. With
the change of racquet and momentum Omneya was able to secure a
quarter final spot.
Top seed, world number three Rachael Grinham had a small
scare in her opener, losing the second game 13-11 to Danish Champion
Line Hansen. Rachael stepped up the intensity and the pace in
the third and fourth though ending up a comfortable winner. When
asked what was going through her mind when she reached game ball in
the second game Line responded “I thought she was being lazy!”
The last match of the evening featured an upset of the seeding but
as world number nine Madeline Perry had never recorded a win
over her opponent Tania Bailey before tonight’s match, the
upset may have not been a complete surprise. Tania took control of
the match from the start, working Madeline up and down the backhand
side of the court. This seemed to be working with great effect and
with the exception of a lapse in the second game where Madeline was
able to take advantage of seven errors from Tania’s racquet, the
game always looked to be going Tania’s way. Tania’s win has set up
an intriguing quarter final match up with Rachael Grinham tomorrow.
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31-Jan, Qualifying Finals:
Two go the distance
as qualifiers are decided
Nathan Dugan reports
Clevelanders
were treated to two fantastic matches as eight became four in day
two at the National City Burning River Classic. Joey Chan
came from two games down to force a fifth against the top seeded
qualifier Dominique Lloyd-Walter.
The world number 23 from London was too strong in the first two
games attacking her left handed opponent deep to the backhand before
finishing the rallies with tight drop shots, but the 2o year old
from Hong Kong showed her potential in the third and fourth,
retrieving ball after ball waiting for Dominique to make a mistake.
At 6-6 in the final game the match could have gone either way but it
was maybe the extra experience that Dominique posses that helped her
to play the big points well and she reeled of the last five points
in a row.
The victory set up a repeat of the 2007 and 2008 semi-finals here in
Cleveland with defending champion Natalie Grainger in the first
round.
Line Hanson had started proceedings for the evening at the
Cleveland Skating Club with a relatively straight forward victory
against Amelia Pittock. Line took advantage of her opponents
five game match the night before and worked Amelia around the
corners, often wrong footing the Australian with some deft trickle
boasts.
The reward for Line may not have been what she hoped for as an
audible sigh occurred when pulling top seed Rachael Grinham out of
the hat for Sunday.
The third and Fourth matches of the day at the Cleveland Racquet
Club produced similar results. The first match between Latasha
Khan and Laura Hill was a relatively one sided affair
despite a good physical effort from the English player. Latasha was
just a little sharper around the center of the court and with her
accuracy to the corners.
The seven times USA Champion was able to get ahead at the start of
each game and maintain a small cushion throughout. Latasha will now
have to conquer seventh seed Rebecca Chiu if she is to make it a
third straight year into the quarter finals here in Cleveland.
The last match of the day was a hugely entertaining affair between
the world number 29 and 31. On paper it looked like it would be
close and the crowd were not disappointed as the game seesawed back
and forth. Suzie Pierrepont, enjoying her highest world
ranking to date started of exceptionally well carving drop winners
and taking advantage of a few uncharacteristic errors from her
opponent.
Sarah Kippax again looked in trouble in the second and at 8-10
down it looked as if Suzie was going to take a commanding two game
lead. This was not to be though as the tin saved Sarah and gave her
a life line into the match. Suzie made two errors to tie the match
at 10-10 before hitting a superb winner to move to third game ball,
that shot must have been running through her mind as she tried it
again next rally only to tin. The same sequence happened in the next
two rallies with Suzie tinning a drop with Sarah going the wrong
way! One more error and a winner from Suzie secured we were in for a
tough battle. In the third game Suzie once again held a 10-8 lead
before making errors to tie the match at 10-10.
This time however she was able to win the game 14-12 but it looked
to be taking a little more out of the taller player. Sarah won six
points without reply to take the fourth game and a wilting giant
gave one last push to get within one point at 5-4 in the final game
before again Sarah was to go on a run without reply taking the match
11-4.
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro is waiting for Sarah on Sunday in the first
round of the main draw. |
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30-Jan, Round One:
Burning river grows in Cleveland
Nathan Dugan reports
The
Cleveland Racquet Club and the Cleveland Skating Club were both used
for the first round of qualifiers tonight here in Cleveland for the
third annual running of the Burning River Classic. Each year the
event has grown in stature with the total purse being just shy of
$40,000 this time around.
Annelize Naude served the first ball of the tournament against
England’s Laura Hill at the Cleveland Racquet Club but didn’t put a
performance in to merit her second seed in the qualifying draw. The
squash from both players was a little sloppy in the first game with
Laura saving a game ball before winning it 12-10. This may have
proved to have been the turning point of the match as in the second
and third Annelize never seemed to have the legs or bounce to give
Laura much of a test.
In the second match of the evening 16 year old American prodigy
Olivia Blatchford took on seven time US National champion Latasha
Khan. This was the first time the two players had faced each other
in competition and Latasha may have been a little surprised to be
trailing at the start of each of the games. Olivia played very
attacking squash, using the front corners whenever she had the
opportunity, but on too frequent an occasion the ball would catch
the tin allowing Latasha to take the first two games 11-8, 11-9.
Latasha started to become more effective with her backhand straight
kills in the third game and despite some resilience from the
youngster Latasha was able to close out the match in three.
Match three at the Racquet club was a fairly one sided affair
between Suzie Pierrepont and Elise Ng. Suzie controlled the pace of
play from the start and was very effective with her volley drop
shots. Elise seemed to have trouble getting around her taller
opponent and never really looked as though she had the game on the
day to establish much of a threat.
The last match at the Racquet Club was a highly entertaining affair
between Sarah Kippax and 2007 semi-finalist Manuela Manetta. Sarah
started the match much the stronger of the two players racing to a
6-0 lead before Manuela mounted a comeback, but it was all a little
too late. The second game was much closer and at 9-9 the players
produced the rally of the night ending in an inch perfect backhand
drop shot from Manuela which she followed up with a forehand kill to
level the match. Sarah continued to apply the pressure in the third
game and a combination of some lucky bounces and a few untimely
errors from Manuela’s racquet gave her a 2-1 game lead. Manuela
looked as though she was going to level the match once again but
Sarah clawed her way back from a 9-5 deficit winning six straight
points winning the match on another unforced error.
The first match at the skating Club was the longest of the first
days play. Amelia Pittock worked a two game lead against higher
ranked Aisling Blake but at 4-4 in the third she seemed to have a
concentration lapse and Aisling took full advantage leveling the
match at two apiece. The fifth game was close throughout and at a
crucial point at 9-9 Amelia served out giving Aisling match ball.
Aisling was unable to convert this opportunity though as Amelia won
the next three rallies and the match.
The second match at the Skating Club featured another teenage
American sensation Amanda Sobhy. She put up a good fight in the
first game against the Danish National Champion Line Hansen narrowly
losing out 11-9, but in the second and third games Line’s experience
showed as her 15 year old opponent’s movement slowed.
The third game of the evening between Alana Miller and Joey Chan
produce another upset to the seeding. Alana won the first game
before the speed of the 20 year old from Hong Kong started to have a
huge impact on the match. Joey turned the deficit into a 3-1 victory
with a fairly convincing score line.
Top seed in the qualifiers, England’s Dominique Lloyd Walter proved
too strong for Canadian Carolyn Russell in the last match of the
evening. Carolyn, a previous National Champion proved to have no
answer to how early Dominique was taking the ball.
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Top International Female Squash Players Compete
in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio – January 24, 2009 . . . The world’s best female
squash competitors will compete for $40,000 in prize winnings during
the WISPA tournament held in Cleveland January 30 to February 4,
2009. This is the third time this event has been held in NE Ohio.
The National City Burning River Classic will be the largest women’s
squash event ever held in North America, and is one of the five
biggest women’s squash events in the world. The prize purse has
attracted players from 12 different countries including Australia,
New Zealand, Egypt, Italy, Canada, England, Mexico, Denmark,
Ireland, Holland, Hong Kong and the USA.
Australia’s Rachael Grinham, ranked #3 in the world, heads
the line up in a very strong field that includes six of the worlds
Top Ten ranked players as well as 11 others in the Top 30.
The main draw matches of the event begin Sunday, February 1 at the
Cleveland Racquet Club, 29825 Chagrin Boulevard in Pepper Pike. This
follows two days of qualifying matches, which will take place both
at the Cleveland Racquet Club and the Cleveland Skating Club, 2500
Kemper Road in Cleveland at Shaker Square. Play will continue daily
though to the Championship Final on February 4th.
Over the last three years this event has been held in Cleveland, it
has grown in size and stature. National City and Sterling Private
Client Group have continued their title sponsor support of the
event, joined by Alpha Imaging, ColorMatrix, Kirtland Capital, CB
Richard Ellis, and Boston Scientific. “In a tough economy, we are
pleased to be able to continue showcasing women’s professional
squash in the Cleveland area – it couldn’t have happened with out
the generous support of our sponsors,” said Nathan Dugan,
Burning River Classic tournament director.
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What
the crowd witnessed stunned them into almost a breathless silence as
the disbelief of what they were seeing sunk in. Alison put on a
display of the highest caliber as she kept the former world number
one on the defensive then finished rallies with some decisive shot
making. Rachael was only able to put two points on the board in the
first game but it was not through errors that she found herself in
the position, Alison took advantage of any lose ball by burying the
next shot in a straight nick. 
