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19-Jun, Finals:

[1] Rafael Alarcon (Bra) bt [Q] Bernardo Samper (Col)
      11-6, 11-9, 11-4 (30m)

[1] Samantha Teran (Mex) bt [4] Silvia Angulo (Col)
       9-0, 9-2, 9-4 (32m)

Alarcon and Teran
take Hacienda Titles
Juan Carlos Santacruz reports from Bogota


With the PSA title for the brazilian Rafael Alarcon and the Wispa title for the mexican Samantha Teran on this sunday afternoon, La Hacienda Squash Open reached an end. An end that gave a pleasing impression for the professional players that accepted the invitation of Colombia.

The two finals were played in court two, in front of a huge crowd that enjoyed a great level of squash, with the titles going to the top seeds in the PSA and WISPA draws.

Teran's Experience Tells

The first match was the women's final. Teran imposed her experience, great level and the huge potence of her shots that were precise and certain, to defeat the mental strength and desire of the colombian Silvia Angulo who fought for every ball but couldn't design a strategy to allow her to gain points to win the match.

The first game was for Teran 9-0, only conceding the service two times, taking advantage of the anxiety of the colombian player. For the second game, Angulo tried to surprise Teran with brilliantly-played cross courted drops, but Teran rapidly anticipated her shots to play to the back of the court with great length to sum up to 9-2.

In the third game, Angulo was more precise on her front game, she even had the advantage of points at the start of the game, backed up by her public. It was the best time in the match, the longest game. However, Teran imposed her strength, anticipated her game and ended the rallies with strong lengths and drives. Shots that always left the colombian without a chance and, however big her spirit, she had to admit the superiority of the mexican player who won 9-4 and obtained the Wispa title.

Alarcon dashes home hopes

The second match was between Alarcon and Samper. There was a huge expectancy of the colombian public. Many in this club had seen Bernardo Samper win various times. However, the precise game of Alarcon had more power and precision at the front to make his opponent commit many mistakes.

The first game was very clear to Alarcon, who could impose his mobility with a variety of shots, especially cross courts to the drive, shots which he hides with incredible talent giving the colombian a hard time. 11-6 was the result of the first game that left a sweet and sour taste for the supporing colombians.

The second game had the best squash of the final. Samper managed to go forward, attacked the shots directly and anticipated the shots and managed to go up 6-3. Everybody desired an equality.

However, the reality was very different, Alarcon managed to equal the score and went forward. Samper couldn't maintain the pressure and Alarcon could keep his winning shots to end the game at 11-9.

The end of the second game marked the result of the match, Samper pressured to win the third game but made many errors to the tin and unprecise responses to the service that gave Alarcon a fast advantage in the final game.

Samper couldn't recover and in the shortest game, only 6 minutes, Alarcon made an emphatic 11-4, that gave him the PSA title.
  

Tom Richards

     Qualifying:

    Finals, 17-Jun:
      Juan Diego Torres (Col) bt Paul Rawden (Eng)            11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (22m)
      Bernardo Samper (Col) bt Fernando Hernández (Col)  11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (23m)
      Rodrigo Torres (Col) bt Federico Mclenburg (Per)        9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 (46m)
      Arturo Jaramillo (Col) bt Thomas Phipps (Eng)            11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8 (27m)

     Round One, 16-Jun:
       Paul Rawden (Eng)  bye
       Juan Torred (Col) bt Andres Vargas (Col)                 11/9, 11/9, 11/8 (28m)
       Bernardo Samper (Col) bt Jose Eliad (Per)                11/5, 11/2, 11/6 (31m)
       Fernando Hernandez (Col) bt Juan Jose Ferro (Col)    7/11, 9/11, 11/8, 11/8, 11/8 (48m)
       Rodrigo Torres (Col) bt Alejandro Saenz (Col)           11/5, 11/5, 11/9 (20m)
       Federico Mclenburg (Per) bt Hernan Marino (Ven)       6/11, 11/5, 11/9, 4/11, 11/9 (41m)
       Arturo Jaramillo (Col) bt Gonzalo Tapiz (Arg)             11/5, 11/9, 11/9 (28m)
       Thomas Phipps (Eng)  bye
  

Silvia Angulo

9-4, 9-6,9-0 (32m)

Mariana De Reyes

18-Jun, Qtrs/Semis:
Colombians march
into Hacienda finals

Colombian fans will be able to cheer on their favourites in both finals in Bogota, after Bernardo Samper and Silvio Angulo upset the seedings to reach the men's and women's climaxes, respectively.

Samper, a qualifier, won a tough quarter-final against Andreas Fuchs before going on to beat Sabir Butt, who had taken out second seed Luca Mastrostefano, in straight games in the semis.

In the final he will meet Brazilian top seed Rafael Alarcon.

Women's top seed Samantha Teran has also reached the final, conceding just nine points in her two matches, and faces Angulo, who upset fellow-Colombian Mariana De Reyes in the semi-final.

17-Jun, Round One:
Samper leads Colombians into Quarters

Colombia's top-ranked players Miguel Rodriguez and qualifier Bernardo Samper kept home hopes alive in Bogota as they beat their German and Welsh opponents, respectively, in fornt of a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Club Campestre to reach the quarter-finals of the La Hacienda Open .

Top seeds Rafael Alarcon and Luca Mastrostefano also reached the quarters, although both needed tie-breaks to secure straight-games wins.

In the women's event three colombians passed the first round, with Mexico's top seed Samantha Teran and the hosts' second seed Mariana De Reyes entering the fray at the quarter-final stage.

Men's Qualifying Finals, 16-Jun:

Four Colombians Qualify in Bogota
For the first time in a PSA draw four Colombians qualified for the Main Draw of the La Hacienda Open, taking the home representation to six.

The first player to qualify was Juan Diego Torres, the South American Under 19 Champion, who defeated England's Paul Rawden 3-0. The second spot was for Bernardo Samper who defeated fellow Colombian Fernando Hernandez in three games.

The third spot was claimed by Arturo Jaramillo who had no problems in winning 3-1 over Thomas Phipps. Finally, the fourth place was secured in the toughest match of the night, to the delight of the Colombian fans who came out in strength for Rodrigo Torres who defeated Peruvian Federico Mclenburg 3-2.