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BIG JOHN TOO FAST...
report by Charlie Johnson

A packed gallery of over 150 people was there to admire World #9 John White, who used his years of PSA experience and high power game to blast his way past opponent Ramy Ashour 3/0 in the championship match of the 2006 EBS Dayton Open.

Add to that a bit of motivation (losing in the first round in the 2005 EBS Dayton Open), and White looked like a man with a mission when he stepped on court to begin the match. Down 1-4 early in the first, White started to take control, tying the game at five all and then blasting off seven straight points to take the game.

The second game seemed over before it started as White won rallies in big chunks to take it 11-3 while Ashour tried to slow the pace by lobbing the ball with some of his excellent racquet control.

With slowing the pace not working as a strategy, Ashour tried to fight his way back in the third game by determining to run down every punishing drive & attacking shot that White threw at him.

Playing 20 games (coming through the qualifying draw to the main draw where he had some brutal matches) before this big championship match, however, started to take its toll on the current World Junior Champion and White's power proved to be too much.

Ashour took a lead to 4-2 but then White polished off seven straight points and it was quick work for White to reach the final point and take the title.

Gracious in defeat, Ashour thanked the gallery and sponsors for a great week. Despite the loss, his play this week in Dayton serves notice to the PSA World Tour that he will be an up and coming star.

DAYTON TITLE FOR ELRIANI
Charlie Johnson reports from Dayton

The Women's final was a repeat of last year's championship match but instead of winning 3-0 as in 2005, it took defending champion and World # 6 Linda Elriani 5 hard fought games to again claim the trophy.

After claiming the first game 9-6 in the back & forth scoring that reflected the whole match, Elriani dropped the second and third games but regrouped to take the fourth.

The decisive fifth game was tight, with long rallies and each player refusing to give in until 6-all: at that point Elriani pulled away and went on to claim her second EBS Dayton Open Championship 9-6.

Men's Draw
  
Women's Draw

"I  knew from the start that if hacking & slashing worked at first, why not stick with it!" "I just wanted to thank the title sponsors, EBS Asset Management of Dayton, along with other presenting sponsors including Prince Squash, ZonePerfect Nutrition Bars, Quanta Capital Holdings, Friedman Billings Ramsey, The Connor Group, UBS, and Courtyard Marriott." "Also, Rob McFadzean & Charlie Johnson of the Dayton Squash Centre for organizing and running a fabulous event that looks after the professional players wonderfully well.             John White

Photos by David Probert

MORE PHOTOS
by David Probert

RAMY REPEATS HIS MAGIC

For the first time in the 5 year history of the EBS Dayton Open, a qualifier has made it through to Sunday's championship match. Egypt's Ramy Ashour (World # 39) once again produced an upset, by defeating # 2 seed Olli Tuominen 3-2 in a match that was an incredible display of squash for the packed crowd on hand at the Dayton Squash Centre.
 

Ashour, down 3-10 (game ball) in the first game, won 7 straight points with incredible drops & cross drops, all the while retrieving every punishing length Tuominen threw at the current World Jr. Champion. At this point, the crowd knew they had a "game on the stage."

World # 14 Tuominen won games 2 & 3 in work-man-like fashion, willing to concede the great shot from bad position but he was working hard to control the centre and dictate play.

It worked,.... but..... after going up 5-1 in the fourth game, Ashour realized it was "now or never" and ran off 4 straight points to tie it at 5, but then got down 6-10, after all that work, and faced match ball. He again dug down deep and retrieved every potential winner Tuominen struck and replied with phenomenal shots of his own to tie the game up and went on to win the tie-breaker 2-0.

 

In Sunday's final, Ashour will face World # 9 John White who beat Mohammed Abbas 3/1.

After going down 1-6 & 3-8 in the first, one might have thought that White would pack in the opening game, but instead he made Abbas work very hard for the win and forced a tie-breaker.

The second game was close but White's punishing pace and length, combined with some excellent shot making, kept Abbas always a point behind and he took the second game 11-8. White completely dominated the third game but Abbas, always a favourite with the spectators in Dayton, fought hard in the 4th game and forced a tie-breaker but White again, proved too strong and won the tie-breaker 2-0.

  
         Hisham & Ramy Ashour

MORE PHOTOS
by David Probert

Qualifying 25/26 Jan:

Finals:
Gavin Jones (Wal)  bt Nick Kyme (Ber)            11/1, 11/5, 11/5
Stacey Ross (Eng) bt Mark Heather (Eng)         11/8, 2/11, 11/8, 5/11, 11/9
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Laurent Elriani (Fra)       11/2, 11/6, 11/9
Hisham Ashour (Egy) bt Jamie Crombie (Usa)   11/6, 11/8, 11/3

Round One:
Gavin Jones (Wal)  bye
Nick Kyme (Ber) bt Wade Johnstone (Aus)       11/9, 11/9, 8/11, 11/8
Mark Heather (Eng) bt Patrick Chifunda (Zak)  11/6, 9/11, 11/7, 11/8
Stacey Ross (Eng) bt Nathan Duggan (Usa)     11/6, 11/3, 11/5
Laurent Elriani (Fra) bt Mark Krajcsak (Hun)    7/11, 12/10, 11/9
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Chris Gordon (Usa)      11/4, 11/5, 11/1
Jamie Crombie (Usa) bt Arshad Burki (Pak)     10/12, 11/8, 11/7, 2/11, 11/4
Hisham Mohd Ashour (Egy)  bye

Qualifying:

Finals 24/Jan:
Karen Kronemeyer (Ned) bt Kirsty McPhee (Eng)        9/2, 9/1, 9/5
Lauren Siddall (Eng) bt Tara Mullins (Can)                  6/9, 9/3, 9/6, 9/1
Orla Noom (Ned) bt Aisling Blake (Irl)                        8/10, 7/9, 9/2, 9/2, 9/4
Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) bt Georgina Stoker (Eng)    9/4, 9/0, 10/8

Round One:
Lauren Siddall (Eng) bt Joshna Chinappa (Ind)   9/6, 9/2, 9/7

28-Jan, Quarter Finals:

Ramy marches on
Charlie Johnson reports from Dayton

Incredible matches tonight at the Dayton Squash Center, hosting the $50,000 EBS Dayton Open, where Ramy Ashour once again pulled off an upset with flashy shots, speedy retrievals & youthful exuberance, by beating World # 25 Shahier Razik 3-0. Ramy dropped the first game, won a close 2nd and then took control. The Egyptians were tight & testy for two games (split) and then El Hindi seemed hindered , and was later seen with ice in his hand headed to referee. In the next match. 

John White, the # 1 seed dropped the first game to Cameron Pilley (who's been at the EBS Dayton Open 4 of its 5 years!) and then went on to find his stride and win three straight. Olli Tuominen, # 2 seed, also took 4 games to advance to the semi-finals.

In women's action, World # 6 Linda Elriani was tested in the third game of her semi-final match by a no quit Fiona Geaves, but Elriani just proved too strong in the 4th. In the other semi-final, Egypt's Omneya Abdel Kawy dominated Pamela Nimmo who tried hard but just couldn't find her well polished game.

27-Jan, Round One:
Ramy Rocks Beng Hee

A packed gallery was assembled and were treated to some fabulous matches in the men's 1st round main draw. The first two matches to take place saw both Egyptian 4 & 5 seeded players make it through to the Quarter Final round. Mohammed Abbas beat countryman Hisham Ashour 3-0 but was tested in games 2 and 3. Wael El Hindi defeated local touring pro Rob McFadzean, who acquitted himself well in front of the home crowd.

In  the next scheduled matches at the Dayton Squash Center the seeded players made it through to the next round although 3 of the 4 winners were severely tested. Cameron Pilley dispatched qualifier Gavin Jones 3-0 but #1 seed John White dropped the second game to Mark Chaloner before winning the match 11-10 in a crowd thrilling 4th game. The next matches saw # 2 seed Olli Tuominen also take 4 games to beat Qualifier Stacey Ross and Dan Jenson & Jonathan Kemp put on a show in a 5 game match that took 80m Jenson got down 1 game to 2 and then gutted out a gruelling 11-9 fourth game and went on to prevail 11-5 in the fifth.

The stage was set for the last matches of the day and all the spectators were crowded in behind court 5 where Ong Beng Hee, former World Jr. Champion and ranked # 15 in the world, was playing current World Jr. Champion Ramy Ashour, currently ranked # 38 in the men's world rankings. The other match saw Shahier Razik quickly dispatch Renan Lavigne 3-0 so that gallery joined the already large group watching Beng Hee & Ashour square off. This final match of the night , lasting 87m, was an incredible treat to the appreciative audience as they witnessed the attacking & retrieving skills of both players. Beng Hee won the first game in a tie-breaker and then dropped the second 9-11 and the third 3-11. It didn't look good for Beng Hee, but as a fierce competitor ever since he started climbing the men's rankings once he left the juniors, he regrouped and managed to win a back and forth 4th game 11-7. The stage was set for a 5th game with sponsors and patrons of the event on the edge of their seats and more than willing to postpone the player/sponsor catered dinner brought to the club. Ashour went up 4-1 early and then held this three point lead as they both attacked and retrieved to win rallies but at 7-4, Ashour found another level of strength and pulled away to 10-4 and the 11-5 finish was a foregone conclusion.

Ong Beng Hee, ever the quiet warrior, was gracious in defeat and the infectious smile on Ramy Ashour's face at the end of the match told all: the men's ranks are now his playground!

In Women's action, all four seeds in the semi-finals were victorious with only # 3 seed Fiona Geaves dropping a game in her match with Lauren Briggs. Friday's semifinal matches, pitting Elriani against Geaves & Nimmo vs. Kawy will not only be good squash, but have the potential to set up a re-match of last year's inaugural final between Elriani & Kawy

26-Jan, Qualifiers:
Egypt Invades Dayton !
Charlie Johnson reports

Tonight's final round action in the Men's Qualifying round of the $50,000 EBS Dayton Open saw Egyptian brothers Ramy & Hisham Ashour advance to the main draw of the tournament to join two other talented world tour players from Egypt.

Ramy (current World Junior Champion) will play world # 15 Ong Beng Hee (a past World Junior Champion) in the first round of the main draw, and his brother Hisham plays fellow countryman and returning EBS Dayton Open participant Mohammed Abbas. Both Abbas, ranked # 24 in the World, and the other Egyptian in the draw, Wael El Hindi (world # 19 who plays Dayton's own touring professional Rob McFadzean in tomorrow's main draw action) are very popular with the Miami Valley Squash crowd as they've played incredible matches in past EBS Dayton Opens and give their time and talent to teach clinics for adults and juniors while here in Dayton.

Gavin Jones of Wales and Stacey Ross of England were the other two qualifiers making it through to the men's main draw. Jones seems to be on his game, winning handily 3/0 over Nick Kyme of Bermuda in just over 30 minutes, while Ross was tested by England's Mark Heather, now the touring professional at the famed New York Athletic Club, as their match went the full five game distance with Ross winning 11/9 in the 5th in just over 90 minutes!

WISPA seeds advance

The first round of the Women's Main Draw saw all the eight seeded players advance in front of a packed house of over 150 enthusiastic squash fans (many non/players attended who were seeing world class squash for the first time as tonight's matches were open to the public). World # 22 Sharon Wee of Malaysia, the # 5 seed in the 16 player draw, was tested a bit as Italy's Manuella Manetta stretched her to four games, winning a one/point tiebreaker in the third game. Wee went on to finish off the match 9/2 in the fourth.

All the other women's matches were won 3/0 by the seeded players (see draw attached) but Guyana's Nicolette Fernandes (a qualifier) lost a long 18 minute 1st game 8/10 to world # 8 Omenya Abdel Kawy of Egypt and New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes, after a slow start against Scotland's Pamela Nimmo (ranked # 18 in the world), rallied in the 2nd game to stretch it to a tie/breaker before losing that game 8/10 and the final game 5/9.

25-Jan:
Big Week in Dayton
Charlie Johnson reports

Qualifying action in the $50,000 EBS Dayton Open Squash Championships heated up tonight at the Dayton Squash Center. Over 100 spectators from around the Miami Valley were on hand to watch Women's final round qualifying and the Men's first round qualifying matches. Updated draws are attached.

Four Women's qualifying matches tonight sent 2 Dutchwomen to the main draw, Karen Kronemeyer who won convincingly and Orla Noon proved the stronger in a 75 minute 5 game contest. Lauren Siddall of England prevailed for a second night, winning in 4 games over Tara Mullins of Canada and # 2 seed qualifier, Nicolette Fernandes of Guyana won 3/0 against Georgina Stoker. In game 3, Stoker had leads of 7/0 and then 8/2, but the tough Fernandes, who lives and trains in Manchester, England, gutted it out and came back to win the tie/breaker and take the game 10/8

In tonight's 6 Men's qualifying matches, there was a "good news" / "bad news" result for American squash. The bad news (good news for the international seen) is that Chris Gordon of the USA & currently ranked 97th in the world was soundly defeated 3/0 by Ramy Ashour of Egypt. Ashour is the current World Junior Champion, the youngest ever to win this title at the age of 16 in 2004.

The good newsfor the USA and for local squash fans in the Miami Valley is that Cincinnati's touring professional, Jamie Crombie, upset seeded qualifier Arshad Burki of Pakistan in a 80 minute 5 game match. Losing the first game in a tie/breaker (0/2), Crombie continued to fight hard and took games 2 & 3, got far behind early in the fourth and decided to save his energy for the deciding game 5. Much to the delight of the highly supportive crowd from Dayton & Cincinnati, Crombie took control of game 5 and won convincingly 11/4.

The other men's matches tonight saw all four of the seeded qualifiers move on to the next round.

24/Jan:
Big Week in Dayton
Charlie Johnson reports

A big week of Professional Squash and World Class Athletic competition began tonight in the Miami Valley at the Dayton Squash Center.

The fifth annual version of the $50,000 EBS Dayton Open officially began tonight with one first/round qualifying match in the Women's Draw. Over 50 energized spectators saw Lauren Siddall of England defeat Joshna Chinappa of India in straight games in just over 30 minutes.

Lauren moves on to tomorrow's final qualifying round to face Tara Mullins of Canada. Six other women professionals will fight it out tomorrow in 4 matches beginning at 4:00 pm to fill 4 spots in the $10,000 Main Draw beginning on Wednesday at 4:00 pm and featuring 2 players in the top 10 world rankings.

Men's qualifying also begins tomorrow, where 16 players, including Cincinnati Professional Jamie Crombie, are vying for 4 spots in the $40,000 Men's Draw. The Men's Professional draw features 4 players ranked in the top 20 of the World Rankings and Dayton's own Touring Professional, Rob McFadzean.