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|
EBS Dayton Open 2007
24 - 29 Jan, Ohio,
USA, $50k |
|
29-Jan-07, Final:
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [4] John White (Sco) 8/11, 7/11, 11/6,
12/10, 11/2 (72m) |
RAMY'S
REVENGE
IN DAYTON
Charlie Johnson reports
In an electrifying five game match in front of a capacity gallery, Egypt's
Ramy Ashour (World # 6) defeated Scotland's John White
(World # 8) in 1 hour and 12 minutes. Down two games, after a tentative
start where he hit a lot of tins, went short too early and seemed a bit
flat on his feet, Ashour changed his tactics and concentrated on moving
White around the court. Once he created openings, the confidence was there
for his tremendous racquet skills to shine and he applied the pressure
that wore White down.
White started the third (he hoped the final) game with a couple of
punishing crosscourt kills that had been winners previously and Ashour not
only got them, but pushed White to the limit to retrieve his gets and
continue the point. Once Ashour got the lead at 6-5, that game was his.
The fourth game was a war as each player knew what was at stake. Back and
forth scoring, with incredible rallies saw Ashour up 8-5 before White ran
off 4 straight to take the lead at 9-8. Ashour tied it and 9-all and the
crowd was on edge: at 10-all, Ashour finally took it 12/10.
The fifth game started and the players traded points until 2-all and that
was it. Ashour reeled off 8 straight rallies with and incredible display
of absolute determination to get every ball and precision shot-making that
left White diving around the court in an all out effort to stay in the
match. Ashour's 11-2 win in the fifth was dominating and showed he really
is ready to play at the upper echelon of the PSA ranks.
Ashour was ecstatic with his third PSA tournament win and thanked all in
Dayton for making this his PSA tournament "home" and vowed to come back
next year to defend.
 |
 "Wowowo
... two in a month ... I'm glaaaad with that ... really I am... It was
tough... How was it?
"First I went on court, found the explosive White slamming and slamming
nicks and I was enjoying and laughing ... No, I'm just kidding, of course,
I wasn't enjoying it, but I was really amazed, and I laughed in a couple
of points, coz I was just amazed and shocked from the too many nicks...
"Then I had to come back again and stop going short too early, as Karim
told me in between games... thanks Kimooo...
"And then it worked, and we had some long rallies and thank God, I managed
to get most of them..... And the fourth was such a struggle coz we had a
tie ... which I'm lucky to get it at the end.............
"Thanx my coaches for me ... Difooo ... and Matany ... and Hilly and Agih."
 "Quit
coming to Dayton!"
to Ramy |
|
28-Jan-07, Semi-Finals:
[4] John White (Sco) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/9, 17/15, 9/11, 11/6 (58m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [3] Karim Darwish (Egy)
11/8, 11/8, 11/7 |
28-Jan-07, Semis:
WHITE
& ASHOUR REPEAT IN
DAYTON OPEN FINAL ...
Charlie Johnson reports
 In
today's first semi-final match, World # 8 John White of Scotland
defeated Ong Beng Hee (World # 16 from Malaysia) 3 games to 1 in 58
minutes. White won the first game 11-9, the second 17-15, Beng Hee won the
third game 11-9, but then White closed it out, winning the last game 11-6
in six minutes. Beng Hee didn't look to worse for wear after his 5 game
war last night with World # 4 Thierry Lincou to advance to this match but
when I interviewed him after the match, Beng Hee admitted that White's
play was "just too good."
 In
the other semi-final, World # 6 and rising start Ramy Ashour
defeated fellow Egyptian countryman Karim Darwish 3 games to none in 38
minutes. Ashour flew around the court, keeping the pressure on Darwish who
has a strong, world-class game and the game scores were 11-8, 11-8, 11-7.
Ramy told me in the locker-room that he successfully implemented his match
strategy of keeping pressure on Darwish by using his speed to take the
ball early and not give Darwish, who's game he fully respects, a chance to
get on a run and turn the momentum.
Tomorrow at 6:00 PM, Ashour & White meet in the final, a repeat of last
year's climax: the difference being last year Ashour was ranked # 45 in
the world, had to play two extra matches to qualify for entry in the main
draw and looked tired in the final match, losing to White love-three. This
year, Ashour has rocketed to # 6 in the world, the fastest climb up the
world rankings that I'm aware of and White's world ranking of # 8 suggests
that it should be a fairly even contest. Ashour looks fresh & White looks
strong: it should be a great final and we expect a full house of sponsors
and patrons of the event to be on hand ...
|
27-Jan-07:
BENG HEE
BATTLES INTO
SEMI-FINALS ...
Charlie Johnson reports
In action worthy of a Super Series
championship match, world # 16 Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia upset the
#1 seed and world # 4 Thierry Lincou of France in quarter-final
play as the jam-packed crowd at the Dayton Squash Center easily saw some
of the best squash in the six year history of this $50,000 PSA event.
The opening match of the afternoon, Lincou seemed to be in control as
the match began, winning long rallies and crucial points to take the
first game 11-7. Beng Hee battled back to take the second game 11-9,
displaying the skill he has which made him a former World Junior
Champion who has risen to a career high # 7 in the world ranking system.
The gallery knew they were in for a battle when only midway through the
second game, the simultaneous quarter-final match between John White
(Scotland) and Mohammad Abbas (Egypt) finished with White the winner in
25 minutes.
Beng Hee seemed confident in the third game and while both players used
the entire court to try and punish the opponent, Beng Hee retrieved,
displaying some of the speed he's known for, and won more than he lost
when both players were trying to see how close they could drop the ball
above the 17" tin. Prevailing 11-7, Beng Hee was poised to pull of the
upset. Lincou, however had other ideas and the crucial 4th game was a
war!
Trading punishing rally for punishing rally in this game, the crowd was
on the edge of their seats (or the tip of their toes for those standing
behind the bleachers!) and 28 minutes into the game, Beng Hee found
himself with a match ball at 10-9. In a long, frenzied rally, Lincou
found himself penned against the right wall mid-court as his shot played
came through the middle of the court, angling toward back-right. Racquet
at the ready, 1-2 feet from Lincou's head, Beng Hee held the shot
assuming a stroke and gave a slight fist pump for the hard fought
battle......LET was the call: in the referee's opinion, the front wall
was a safe and clear shot. Winning the replay and tying the match at
10-all, Lincou showed rare emotion to pump himself up and go on to win
an agonizing tie breaker 5-3 marked by several more let calls that were
decided unfavourably to both players when they had match ball
situations.
This match, well over an hour old at this point, had the capacity
crowd's attention and # 2 seed Ramy Ashour (Egypt) began his
quarter-final match against Azlan Iskandar (Malaysia) with hardly
any spectators: they were all poised to see how Beng Hee reacted in the
5th game after being so close to securing a win several times in the
4th.
Beng Hee won 6 of the first 7 rallies in game 5: all of which were
incredible displays of squash in which neither player wanted the other
to sense defeat. Lincou, a former world # 1 in 2005, however knew what
was at stake (prize money and the valuable Ranking Points) and again,
showing emotion, fought hard to get back to 6 all as Beng Hee's
concentration lapsed, no doubt thinking how close he was to a win. Beng
Hee dug deep and won the next rally to go up 7-6 with a re-drop of a
re-drop of a re-drop of a drop shot that just wouldn't bounce. They
again traded similar kinds of points with no-one in the crowd going
anywhere (Ramy still playing while most of the gallery was focused next
door.! ) until 9-all.
1 hour and 28 minutes after it started, it was over. Beng Hee, with a
tricky reverse angle and subsequent low hard cross-court that was
irretrievable by Lincou, had pulled off the upset and placed himself in
Sunday's Semi-Final match against last year's champion John White.
White, as mentioned above, made quick work of Egypt's Mohammad Abbas
3 games to 0 in 25 minutes. In speaking with Abbas after the match, he
admitted to being unable to change strategy during the match. White's
punishing power style of play requires a certain degree of patience to
deal with it and/or to neutralize it, one must change the pace. Abbas
said his mind (and coaches Darwish & Omneya Abdel Kawy) said to "slow it
down" but "my body seems to want to prove that I can out-hit the
opponent" To break through into the top ten (a goal of his), hopefully
he'll listen less to the "little man on my shoulder that tells me to hit
the ball hard, hit it early, harder than the other guy......no easy task
against John White!"
Abbas has made friends in Dayton over the years, attending the last 4
EBS Dayton Open tournaments, and was generous with his time to sponsors,
patrons & club members both on and off the court while he was here. Many
of the professional men & women took time to work with sonsors & patrons
in several clinics and spent time getting to know local club players and
their families. This is what makes this a special event.
In other quarter-final action, # 3 seed Karim Darwish (Egypt)
beat Australia's Cameron Pilley 3-0, setting up an all-Egyptian
semi-final. Although Pilley worked hard to make a game of the match and
was up 8-6 in the second game before losing 9-11, Karim Darwish, the
2004 EBS DAYTON OPEN Champion seems determined to try and make it back
to the final round but must first meet rising Egyptian star Ramy Ashour.
Ashour played a slightly sick Azlan Iskandar and dispatched him 3-0 in
19 minutes: sparking many in the gallery, engrossed in the Beng Hee -
Lincou match (1st on tonight) just finished to ask "when Ramy Ashour,
you know, that squash guy on the front page of the Dayton Daily News
Sports, plays....I want to watch." Problem was, he'd already played, won
and was sitting down to referee. |
MEN'S DRAW
WOMEN'S DRAW
2006 Event
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM FOR KAWY
In her third visit to Dayton, Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egypt &
world # 9) defeated New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes (world # 24) 3
games to 1 in tonight's championship match.
Omneya, a finalist in 2005 & 2006, cruised through the first three
rounds of this tournament without dropping a game. Hawkes' tenacious yet
graceful nature on court would not allow her to become another 3-0
victim and after dropping the first two games 5-9, Hawkes in the third
game reeled off 3 points for every 1 of Omneya's in order to win the
game.
At the start of the 4th game, Kawy shut down Hawkes' momentum by gaining
an early 6-1 lead and it looked like the match was over. Hawkes,
however, battled back half-way into the game and at 5-6, looked to make
a run at it. Omneya, however, had different plans and once re-gaining
serve at 6-5, served the match out to claim her first EBS Dayton title.
SUPER SUNDAY
Sunday should be a great day of squash for the Dayton Squash Center as
the 110 amateurs on hand to play in a tournament that coincides with the
professional tournament, along with the patrons and sponsors, get to see
Ashour and Darwish battle it out for "King of Egypt" (at least in
Dayton, OH).
If Ong Beng Hee shows the same tenaciousness and retrieving skills
against White that he did beating # 1 seed Lincou, then the crowd will
be in for a treat. |
|
|
 EBS
Dayton Open 2007
Ohio, USA, 24 - 29 Jan, $50k |
Round One
25 Jan |
Quarters
26 Jan |
Semis
27 Jan |
Final
28 Jan |
[1] Thierry Lincou (Fra)
11/4, 11/6, 15/13
[Q] Shawn Delierre (Can) |
Thierry Lincou
7/11, 11/9, 11/7, 13/15, 11/9
Ong Beng Hee |
Ong Beng Hee
11/9, 17/15, 9/11, 11/6
John White
|
John White
8/11, 7/11, 11/6,
12/10, 11/2 (72m)
Ramy Ashour |
[7] Olli Tuominen
(Fin)
11/7, 11/9, 12/10
Ong Beng Hee (Mas) |
[4] John White (Sco)
11/4, 11/9, 12/14, 11/4
Rob McFadzean (Usa) |
John White
11/5, 11/6, 11/6
Mohammed Abbas |
[8] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
11/3, 11/7, 12/10
Shahier Razik (Can) |
Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/7, 14/12, 11/8
[6] Adrian Grant (Eng) |
Cameron Pilley
11/6, 11/9, 11/5
Karim Darwish |
Karim Darwish
11/8, 11/8, 11/7
Ramy Ashour |
[Q] Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
11/2, 11/5, 11/4
[3] Karim Darwish (Egy) |
[Q] Jean-Michel Arcucci (Fra)
12/14, 6/11, 11/7, 11/1, 11/3
[5] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) |
Azlan Iskandar
11/4, 11/5, 11/2
Ramy Ashour |
[Q] Jonathan Kemp
(Eng)
11/4, 11/6, 11/8
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) |
Qualifying Finals:
Jean-Michel Arcucci (Fra) bt Tarek Momen (Egy)
11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8
Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Eric Galvez (Mex)
11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10
Shawn Delierre (Can) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
11-6, 5-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5
Jon
Kemp (Eng) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11-9, 11-9, 11-1
Round One:
Tarek
Momen (Egy) bt Renan Lavigne (Fra)
11-8, 12-10, 11-1
Jean-Michel Arcucci (Fra) bt Patrick Chifunda (Zam) 11-6,
11-5, 6-11, 11-3
Eric Galvez (Mex) bt Chris Simpson (Eng)
11-5, 11-6, 11-6
Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Jamie Crombie (USA)
12-10, 11-6, 11-8
Shawn Delierre (Can) bt Mark Krajcsak (Hun)
11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9
Tom Richards (Eng) bt Rafael Alarcon (Bra)
14-12, 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-3
Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt Tony James (Aus)
11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5
Jon Kemp (Eng) bt Joe Millman (Eng)
11-4, 11-6, 11-2
|
 EBS
Dayton Open 2007
Ohio, USA, 22 - 27 Jan, $15k |
Round One
24 Jan |
Quarters
25 Jan |
Semis
26 Jan |
Final
27 Jan |
[1] Omneya Abdel Kawy
(Egy)
9/4, 9/1, 9/4
Aisling Blake (Irl) |
Omneya Abdel Kawy
9/2, 9/2, 9/5
Latasha Khan |
Omneya Abdel Kawy
9/6, 9/0, 9/0
Joshna Chinappa |
Omneya Abdel Kawy
9/5, 9/5, 3/9, 9/5
Jaclyn Hawkes |
[7] Latasha Khan (Usa)
6/9, 9/2, 9/2, 9/3
Amelia Pittock (Aus) |
[4] Becky Botwright
(Eng)
9/7, 9/5, 9/4
[Q] Georgina Stoker (Eng) |
Becky Botwright
6/9, 9/10, 10/8, 9/4, 9/3
Joshna Chinappa |
[6] Nicolette
Fernandes (Guy)
7/9, 9/5, 9/2, 10/8
Joshna Chinappa (Ind) |
[Q] Carolyn Russell
(Can)
9/1, 9/0, 10/8
[5] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) |
Jaclyn Hawkes
9/6, 9/2, 7/9, 9/6
Lauren Briggs |
Jaclyn Hawkes
8/10, 10/9, 9/3, 1/9, 9/6
Shelley Kitchen |
[Q] Alana Miller (Can)
9/0, 9/6, 9/6
[3] Lauren Briggs (Eng) |
Manuela Manetta (Ita)
9/3, 3/9, 9/10, 9/3, 9/1
Samantha Teran (Mex) |
Samantha Teran
9/0, 9/3, 9/4
Shelley Kitchen |
[Q] Tenille Swartz (Rsa)
9/2, 9/0, 9/1
[2] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl) |
Qualifying:
Alana Miller (Can)
bt Tara Mullins (Can)
3/9, 10/8, 9/1, 9/3
Tenille Swartz (Rsa) bt Lisa Camilleri (Aus)
10/8, 5/9, 9/7, 9/6
Georgina Stoker (Eng) bt Ileana Novelo (Mex)
9/3, 9/0, 9/3
Carolyn Russell (Can) bt Lauren Siddall (Eng)
9/7, 9/4, 5/9, 9/5
|
26-Jan-07:
RAMY RIDES INTO
TOWN!
Charlie Johnson reports
World # 6 Ramy Ashour of Egypt comes to
Dayton Ohio riding on a wave of success: well, actually flew into town
from Chicago where he was a semi-finalist in the Windy City Open right
after winning the Pace Canadian Classic the week before: his first
super-series title.
Although one of the evening's late matches, an extremely large crowd was
on hand to watch # 2 seed Ashour make quick work of qualifier Jonathan
Kemp (England) due in some part to favorable local media coverage.
Ashour was featured on the front page of the Dayton Daily News Sports
Section and had an accompanying article calling him the "Michael Jordan"
of squash and describing his meteoric rise in the men's professional
ranks: beginning here in Dayton last year, where he went from qualifier
to finalist.
Ashour began his ride into another EBS Championship match in dazzling
fashion, winning 3-0 against Kemp in 21 minutes. Talking to Kemp after
the match, he echoed Arnold Palmer's' words about Tiger Woods ("he plays
a game with which I'm not familiar") when he said. "Ramy plays the game
at another level. He takes every good shot that against a normal guy on
tour, would create pressure or at least move them around the court, and
not only gets it, but turns the table: his hand speed is so quick that
it keeps you under pressure at all times even when you think you're in
control of the rally."
Kemp, no slouch himself at world # 33, was the only seeded player to
make it through qualification into the main draw and had an unfortunate
meeting with Ashour. (That's the "luck of the draw" when used in a
negative context!) Down 2 games to 0 and 2-6 in the third, Kemp changed
strategy and just tried to win rallies by going for the nick and winners
at every opportunity. He hit 7 over the course of the next 10 rallies
but admitted "trying to win a game with 11 straight nicks is not a
percentage strategy!" Ramy was there at the interview and said, "yeah,
but he got 7 and if he got 8, I was going to be worried!!! ....when he
tinned the last one, I was ready to finish." That he did.
Ashour meets world # 18 Azlan Iskandar (Malaysia), who prevailed 3-2
tonight (after dropping the first two games) over qualifier Jean-Michel
Arcucci (France) in the quarter-final round tomorrow night and we expect
a very large crowd of squash enthusiasts from the area who are in
attendance for one of the largest amateur sectional squash tournaments
in the U.S. (147 racquets!): the Revenge of the Baby Boomers.
#1 seed Thierry Lincou, #3 seed Karim Darwish, #8 seed Mohammed Abbas
and Ong Beng Hee all won their matches three games to love but not
without difficulty for Lincou against qualifier Shawn Delierre who
forced a 3rd game tie-breaker that Lincou won. Abbas also was forced to
a final game tiebreaker by Canadian Shahir Razik. Darwish, however,
disposed qualifier Saurav Ghosal 2, 5, & 4 and looked in good form as we
head into the weekend. Beng Hee, although world ranked 16 now, was not
seeded at the time of the draw and had #7 seed and current world #17
Olli Tuominen in the evenings opening match. This close in the
ranking's, one could predict that there would be lots of long rallies,
retrieving and an entertaining contest. That it was and the 3-0 outcome
to Beng Hee, although Tuominen forced a tiebreaker in the 3rd, seems to
show Beng Hee is ready again to be a force to be reckoned. with as
Tuominen fought hard
In other firstst round PSA action, Dayton's touring professional Rob
McFadzean, recently becoming an American citizen, had to play last
year's Champion John White. McFadzean, although unable to train at the
PSA tour level any longer due to his significant coaching responsibility
here in Dayton, acquitted himself well, losing 3 games to 1 to White,
currently ranked world # 8 and hoping to get to defend his title.
World #13 and #5 seed Adrian Grant was upset in three games by
Australia's Cameron Pilley, currently world #22. Grant seemed flat at
the start of the match, losing the first game 7-11 and then in a back &
forth second game, seemed to find his form to force a tiebreaker but
couldn't prevail. The third game, although competitive, saw Pilley use
his height to volley and keep the pressure on Grant, forcing mistakes.
Cameron is a local favourite here in Dayton as he's attended all but 1
of the 6 EBS Dayton Open events and is quick to chat up the fans,
sponsors and patrons. Talking to him after the match, he feels he ready
to try and make a push into the top 20 world rankings: maybe that push
begins here in Dayton, OH (it worked for Ramy!) |
MEN'S DRAW
WOMEN'S DRAW
2006 Event
CHINAPPA'S RIDE ENDED!
In women's Semi-Final action, # 1 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt ended
India's Joshna Chinappa'' remarkable run. Kawy, currently ranked world #
9 and a finalist in each of the last two years since the EBS event added
a WISPA draw, showed Chinappa the game it takes to be a top 10 player.
In 24 minutes, Kawy dispatched her opponent 9-6, 9-0, 9-0 to set
herself up for a third appearance in the EBS final.
The other - all New Zealand - semi-final saw #5 seed Jaclyn Hawkes,
World # 24 defeat World # 14 and #2 seed Shelly Kitchen in a 5 game
struggle that took well over an hour. Losing the 1st game 8-10, Hawkes
continued to fight hard, trading rallies and points back & forth, based
on length and power, with Hawkes prevailing 10-9. Hawkes went on to win
the third 9-3 but Kitchen came out strong in the fourth and won 9-1.
Hawkes had seemed to be firing on all cylinders in winning game three
but somehow in game four Kitchen, who'd been battling the flu all week,
managed to find some inner-strength to will herself to keep pushing:
result, she wins the game 9-1.
Although Kitchen continued to push hard, flu or no flu, in the 5th &
final game and appeared to have momentum on her side, Hawkes traded
rally for rally, point for point, until finally prevailing 9-6 and
earning a chance to play Kawy in tomorrow's final.
An expected capacity crowd will be on hand to see if for Omneya, "the
third time's the charm!" Or if Jaclyn can prevail over the top two seeds
... |
25-Jan-07:
Upsets continue as
Indians reign ...
Charlie Johnson reports
On the third night of the 2007 EBS Dayton
Open the capacity crowd on hand saw the upset trend that began last
night continue.
In women's Quarter-Final Main Draw action, India's Joshna Chinappa
pulled off her second straight defeat of a seeded player in this
tournament by defeating # 3 seed Rebecca Botwright (England) in 5
grueling games: grueling on several different levels! Chinappa lost the
first game 9-6, then down 8-1 in the second seemed to be a one shot
wonder after her defeat of # 6 seed Nicollette Fernandes last night.
Chinappa however, fought back tenaciously when down 8-1, winning 7
straight rallies to gain the serve and tie the score at 8-all. Losing
this game in the tie-breaker to Botwright 9-10 should have taken the
wind out of her sails but through 36 more back & forth rallies in the
third game, trading serve, Chinappa continued to fight until the point
where Botwright got to 8-5 and match ball. Chinappa seemed to be
finished but then was resuscitated and reeled of 5 straight rallies,
winning 4 points to tie the third game at 8-all again: different results
this time as she won the tie-breaker 10-8. That seemed to be the
difference in the match as Chinappa went on to win 9-4 in the fourth and
9-3 in the final game.
I spoke to Joshna after the match and first asked her about the 2nd
game, pointing out to her that in defeating the # 3 seed she had been
down 1-8 in the second, fought back to a tiebreaker only to lose, and
then down 5-8 - match ball in the third and managed to win and her
comment was "Botwright was the # 3 seed! Wow!" When pressed, she went on
to describe fighting back in the second as regaining focus on the task
at hand (she had concerns about travel back to India that were on her
mind). Then in the 3rd game, she felt that during the grueling back &
forth rallies around 4 & 5 all, where she and Botwright traded serves,
she felt severe cramping in her right hamstring or gluteal muscle, was
in pain but tried not to show it, and just decided "then and there to
gut it out." That she did and went on to win 9-4 in the 4th and 9-3 in
the final game: an impressive win from the rising Indian star who last
year lost in the first round of the qualifying event at this tournament.
In other WISPA Quarter-Final action, # 4 seed Lauren Briggs (England)
and # 5 seed Jaclyn Hawkes (New Zealand) had a 1 hour, 15 minute
"rally-fest." Long rallies featuring power, good length and lots of
impressive work with back and forth trades of serve: no one really
attacking the front of the court. Hawkes pulled off the mild upset,
winning 3-1 and both girls were gracious after the match signing
autographs for the substantial number of young girls and boys on hand
from our club & jr. program on hand to watch these WISPA matches. Both #
1 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egypt) and #2 Shelly Kitchen (New Zealand)
cruised to victory in 3-0 matches. Kawy's win over Latasha Kahn (USA),
the highest ranking American on either the women's or men's World Tour,
took 48 minutes and was a good showing on Latasha's part and the still
slightly ill Kitchen dispatched Samantha Teran (Mexico) in only 28
minutes. Samantha seemed tired from her previous night's 5 game match
with Italy's Manuela Manetta.
The PSA (men's) Qualifying Matches tonight, which determine the 4
players who make it through to tomorrow night's Main Draw, once again
saw a seeded player fall.
Saurav Ghosal (India), a soft spoken but speedy player, upset the
outspoken, flamboyant # 4 seed Qualifier Eric Galvez (Mexico) 3 games to
1 in tonight's second qualifying match. The first qualifying match saw
Tarek Momen (Egypt) lose in 5 gruelling games to France's Jean-Michel
Arcucci that took 1 hour and 15 minutes. The only seed to make it
through to the $50,000 Main Draw, # 2 seed Jonathan Kemp (England)
dispatched his opponent Omar Mosaad 3-0. The first two were close (both
11-9 to Kemp) as Mosaad was doing his best to battle an opponent only 10
spots different in the world rankings. Kemp's match play experience
seemed to be the difference in the third and final game, however, as he
seemed to adjust and work the back of the court more to punish Mosaad
and then attacking when he got the loose ball with Mosaad out of
position
The large crowd on hand was treated to another 5-game slug-fest in match
3 when Tom Richards (England), who had previously defeated the # 3 seed,
lost in 5 games to Shawn Delierre (Canada): both players seemed to fully
realize that a win put them in the main draw of a $50,000 tournament
with lots of ranking points, not to mention prize money, at stake.
Richards, gracious in defeat and his first time in Dayton, vowed to come
back next year and try copy other returning qualifiers (Ramy Ashour,
Cameron Pilley, etc.) who've gone on to success both here in Dayton and
at other world tour events.
With this kind of action and capacity crowds on hand for tonight's men's
qualifying matches and women's quarter final matches at the EBS Dayton
Open, one can only imagine what tomorrow night (Friday) will be like
when 110 amateur players descend on Dayton to play in one of the
Midwest's largest squash tournaments: the Revenge of the Baby Boomers.
PSA Main Draw starts tomorrow night and there are some great 1st round
match-ups. As the PSA draw unfolds, several of the players have stated
that this may be one of the toughest draws to make it through to the
finals ... |
MEN'S DRAW
WOMEN'S DRAW
2006 Event
here are some questions
about upcoming matches:
* Former World Jr. Champion & current World # 16 Ong Beng Hee returns to
Dayton for the second time and will play World # 17 Olli Tuominen. This
promises to be one of the most competitive matches for tomorrow night:
who will win and get to face Thierry Lincou, World # 4, who returns to
Dayton for the second time (finalist in 2003).
* Can the Dayton Squash Center's touring/teaching professional Rob
McFadzean, late a South African but now a U.S. citizen and Wild-Card
entrant, defeat last year's EBS Champion John White?
* Can one of the PSA Qualifiers pull off another upset and advance to
the second round or beyond of the Main Draw to gain huge ranking points
(not to mention prize money!)?
* Can Joshna Chinappa continue her "Giant Killer" progress through the
draw by defeating World # 9 Omneya Abdel Kawy in tomorrow's semi-final
match?
* Can Egyptian rising star Ramy Ashour (World # 6 and # 2 seed for the
EBS Dayton Open) go from qualifier at last year's event, who made it to
the finals only to lose to Champion John White, to 2007 Champion which
would propel him into the elite top 5 players in the world? |
24-Jan-07:
Women's Round One,
Men's Qualifying
Charlie Johnson reports
The women's (WISPA) Main Draw began and there
were several exciting matches.
#1 seed Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egypt) & # 2 seed Shelley Kitchen (New
Zealand) easily dispatched their opponents 3-0. Kitchen, although
fighting the flu all week, made quick work of her match against upcoming
qualifier Tenille Swartz (South Africa) who looked tired from her recent
successes in other tournaments. Another match that appeared to be a
cake-walk, # 5 seed Jaclyn Hawkes (New Zealand) vs. qualifier Carolyn
Russell (Canada), saw the first 2 games go 9-1, 9-0 to Hawkes. But
Russell is a fighter, as evidenced in her qualifying play, and made a
game of it in the third game, forcing a tie-breaker that Hawkes won
10-8.
Joshna Chinappa (India), a Qualifier participant in last year's EBS
Dayton Open who lost in the first round, showed marked improvement in
her game by beating # 6 seed & "2006 WISPA Most Improved Player"
Nicolette Fernandes (Guyana) 3 games to 1. Chinappa exhibited a deft
combination of power and control, including some remarkable touch in the
front part of the court, and pushed through to win the 4th & final game
in a tiebreaker. The final WISPA match of the night saw Manuela Manetta
(Italy) fight hard against # 7 seed Samantha Teran (Mexico). Teran won
the 1st game as Manetta appeared to start slow, but Manetta fought back
to take the next two games, including a tie-breaker in the 3rd. That
tie-breaker however, proved to be her undoing as she ran out of steam
and lost the next two games 9-3, 9-1. Teran pushed her hard and they had
some great, long rallies, both hitting the ball very hard trying to
blast it by the other player but in the end, Manetta said she thought
that the drain of playing deep into the last two WISPA tournaments took
its toll on her.
The men's Qualifying Draw got underway on Tuesday and it was a costly
night for two of the top 4 seeded players. #1 seed Renan Lavigne
(France) lost in three games to Tarek Momen (Egypt). Lavigne fought in
the first two games, losing 8-11 & 11-13 in a tiebreaker 2nd game, but
the struggle seemed too much for him and he was overpowered 1-11 in the
final. Momen continued the trend for Egyptian players to have success
here in Dayton and no doubt he hopes he can duplicate last year's
runner-up Ramy Ashour's feat of going from the Qualifier Draw all the
way to the Championship match: we'll find out tonight if he has a
chance. Another Egyptian in the draw, Omar Mosaad, was tested by local
qualifier Tony James (Australia) who is now teaching in Cleveland, Ohio.
Mosaad won 3-2 but James fought hard, winning the 2nd & 3rd games 11-9,
11-9. Mosaad prevailed in the 4th 11-8 and the 5th game was back & forth
until Mosaad broke away winning 2 rallies to James' 1 in each exchange:
the math adds up to a win!
The other big match of the night saw # 3 seed Rafael Alarcon (Brazil)
fall in a hard fought match to Tom Richards (England). The large gallery
new they were in for a good match (and probably Alarcon also!) when the
first game went to a tie-breaker which Alarcon won 14-12. Richards
continued to fight hard and took the second game 11-8 and the third
11-5. Alacron was not done, however, and won the fourth in a back and
forth, punishing fashion. That effort seemed to tire him though as
Richards won the 5th & final game easily 11-3.
# 2 seed Jonathan Kemp (England) and # 3 seed Eric Galvez (Mexico), both
winning 3-0, appear to have a shot at winning through to the main draw
but upsets have been the trend so we'll find out tonight. |
2006 Event |
24-Jan-07:
Under
way in Dayton
Charlie Johnson reports
Last night, world class professional squash returned to Dayton, Ohio USA
as the 2007 EBS Dayton Open Squash tournament officially began with four
women's qualifying matches in the $14,800 WISPA draw.
After a quick first match, the packed gallery (unusual for early
qualifying matches but characteristic of the enthusiastic local support
for the sport of squash) witnessed three exciting qualifying matches that
sent the four top seeds into tonight's main draw.
The action heats up tonight as the Women's main draw matches & first round
of the men's qualifying draw begin and culminates next Monday night with
the men's championship match.
Now in its sixth year, the EBS Dayton Open has grown from a $10,000 men's
PSA tournament to this year's $50,000 purse and is a successful fixture on
the men's professional squash tour. Adding the women's professional event
two years ago, the EBS Dayton Open is one of the few tournaments in the
U.S. that features world class male and female athletes competing in this
fast paced racquet sport. |
2006 Event |
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