19-Apr-08, Finals:

[3] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (Eng) bt [2] Alison Waters (Eng)    9/1, 0/9, 9/6, 2/9, 10/8 (78m)

[1] John White (Sco) bt [3] Azlan Iskandar (Mas)                11/9, 8/11, 11/4, 5/11, 11/8 (75m)
  

The ladies final was a replay of the British National Women’s Final earlier this year, between No 3 seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro and No 2 seed Alison Waters, which was a great match won by Alison, but this match was so much more, one of the best women’s matches I have ever watched. Laura started off so strongly taking the first game, after a slow start with several hand-outs, 9/1.

Alison came back strongly in the second, and again after a slow start she took the game 9 points to nil. The third game proved to be a very hard fought close encounter with the score very level up to 6/6, but then Laura showed her fighting spirit, the reason for her great improvement recently, and served out to take the game 9/6, this match being watched by a huge appreciative audience. Alison was not to be outdone however, and stormed back to take the fourth game 9/2.

Two games each and the decider to come. Both players really wanted to win this match, playing really great squash and showing huge determination the score went to 8/8 and set 2. Laura managed to hold her nerve and after 3 match balls she took the game 10/8, to win her second major WISPA tour title, to add to her win at Wolverhampton last year.

She has certainly shown massive improvements in her game over the last twelve months or so, and is quickly closing the gap on the higher ranked English girls.

Top seed triumphs in five

Another great final in prospect when the men’s final started, between No 1 seed John White and No 3 seed Azlan Iskandar from Malaysia. Azlan started off the stronger taking a four point lead, but hard hitting John crept back into the game up to 8/8, and then finished strongly to take the game 11/9. Azlan again started the second strongly but after the score stayed fairly level for most of the game he went on strongly to take the game 11/8.

In the third the genius that is John White proved once again his strength and experience to win the game 11/4. John unfortunately just could not keep up the pace in the fourth game, the younger Azlan soaring away to a 11/5 win.

But no matter the age of his legs, John again showed all his genius and experience to win the deciding game 11/8. Match to John White 3 games to 2, amid rapturous applause from the huge appreciative audience here at Fitzwilliam, which brought to an end what has been an amazing week of squash.
 

[4] Alex Gough

11/9, 8/11, 11/4, 5/11, 11/8 (75m)

[3] Azlan Iskandar

[3] Azlan Iskandar

5/11, 11/7, 15/13, 11/3 (71m)

[2] Adrian Grant

15-Apr, Qualifying Finals:

Romain Tenant (Fra) bt Barnardo Samper (Col)                13/11, 11/6, 11/3 30m)
Tom Richards (Eng) bt Shaun Le Roux (Eng)                    11/4, 12/10, 11/3 (25m)
Rob Sutherland (Wal) bt Joshua Greenfield (Nzl)        4/11, 11/6, 11/4, 11/4 (34m)
Nafiizan Adnan (Mas) bt Ben Ford (Eng)         11/9, 11/7, 6/11, 8/11, 13/11 (90m)

14-Apr, Qualifying Round One:

Barnardo Samper (Col) bt Peter Emanuel (Ngr)                    11/4, 11/2, 11/5 (22m)
Romain Tenant (Fra) bt Gilly Lane (Usa)            13/11, 4/11, 8/11, 11/7, 11/9 (70m)
Tom Richards (Eng) bt Niall Rooney (Irl)                              11/3, 11/5, 11/5 (21m)
Shaun Le Roux (Eng) bt Robbie Temple (Eng)      11/7, 8/11, 11/8, 5/11, 11/5 (74m)
Rob Sutherland (Wal) bt Steve Coppinger (Rsa) 11/8, 5/11, 6/11, 11/7, 12/10 (68m)
Joshua Greenfield (Nzl) bt Tony James (Aus)    12/14, 11/7, 4/11, 12/10, 11/6 (50m)
Ben Ford (Eng) bt Rory Byrne (Irl)                                       11/1, 11/5, 11/1 (20m)
Mohd Nafiizan Adnan (Mas) bt Derek Ryan (Irl)             9/11, 11/7, 11/7, 11/1 (55m)

[3] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro

 9/1, 0/9, 9/6, 2/9, 10/8 (78m)
 

[2] Alison Waters

[2] Alison Waters

15-Apr, Qualifying Finals:

Elise Ng (Hkg) bt Lauren Selby (Eng)                 9/2, 9/7, 7/9, 7/9, 9/5, (75m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Joelle King (Nzl)                            9/5, 10/8, 9/0 (40m)
Vicky Hynes (Eng) bt Laura Mylotte (Irl)            6/9, 10/8, 7/9, 9/7, 9/0 (61m)
Fiona Moverley (Eng) bt Celia Allamargot (Fra)    10/8, 10/8, 9/10, 9/1 (56m)

14-Apr, Qualifying round one:

Elise Ng (Hkg) bt Belen Etchechoury (Arg)                        9/2, 9/4, 9/5 (30m)
Lauren Selby (Eng) bt Birgit Coufal (Aut)           4/9, 9/7, 8/10, 9/6, 9/1 (68m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Luz Etchechoury (Arg)                     9/3, 9/0, 9/2 (26m)
Joelle King (Nzl) bt Olivia Blatchford (Usa)                9/1, 9/0, 8/10, 9/0 (26m)
Vicky Hynes (Eng) bt Kerri Shields (Irl)                            9/3, 9/1, 9/4 (22m)
Laura Mylotte (Irl) bt Olga Ertlova (Cze)                           9/4, 9/1, 9/1 (28m)
Celia Allamargot (Fra) bt Tanya Owens (Irl)                      9/5, 9/1, 9/6 (23m)
Fiona Moverley (Eng) bt Orla Noom (Ned)                           9/5, 9/2 rtd (21m)
 

18-Apr, Semis:
Waters puts Perry out in Dublin
Kevin Moore reports

Madeline Perry's hopes of a quartet of Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open titles were dashed as she was beaten by second seed Alison Waters from England. The Irish player was up against it, facing an in-form opponent ranked two places above at world number 12. 31 year old Perry had a difficult year with injury and has struggled to recapture the form that saw her reach world number 6. Waters capitalised on a series of loose crosscourts to take control of the match early on taking a two game lead.

Perry began to play much tighter controlled squash and came through the third 9/4. The pair then played a fantastic fourth game and were locked at six points all when waters found an extra gear to pull away and take her place in the final.

In the other semi-final England's Laura Lengthorn-Massaro upset the seedings by taking out top seed and compatriot Vicky Botwright in straight sets to reach the final. Massaro produced a faultless display to win 9/7, 9/3, 9/3 in 27 minutes and will face Waters at 4pm on Saturday in Fitzwilliam

White through to the final

In one of the games of the tournament, top seed John White made it through to Saturday's Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open final after he defeated defending champion Alex Gough. With a contrast in styles, the veteran pair played out a very entertaining 72 minute match in front of a packed house at Fitzwilliam Squash Club. At aged 37, Gough is still able to compete with the world's best and played a rock solid match full of disciplined and patient squash. 34 year old White on the other hand was full of aggression and flair. The former world number one is the hardest hitter in the game and breezed through the first game 11/3.

Gough then slowed the game down in the second and managed to settle into the match taking a tight second 11/9. Showing signs of the form that crowned him Irish Open champion last year, Gough took the third game 11/9. Space became hard to come by in the Fitzwilliam gallery as the crowd anticipated a fifth and final set. White duly obliged taking the fourth 11/7. With Gough showing signs of fatigue, White took the iniative in the fifth and increased the pace of the game. Gough defended valiantly but in the end his legs gave way and White booked his place in the final taking the decising set 11/3.
 

17-Apr, Quarters:
Seeds succeed in Dublin
Arthur Curran reports from Dublin



First match on court today at the start of the second round here at Fitzwilliam was a ladies match which turned out to be a cracker. English girl Vicky Botwright, No 1 seed, was up against ever-improving Mexican girl Samantha Teran, No 8 seed and recently entered the top 20 WR.

Vicky never had things her own way, with Samantha making great returns from what Vicky must have thought were winners, but Vicky held out to take the game 9/7. When Vicky then won the second game 9/0 we may have thought it was all over – but no. Samantha came back very strongly to win the third 9/4 and looked like getting back into the match. However then Vicky took control to take the fourth 9/3 and the match. A very entertaining 50 minutes which the small crowd appreciated.



Next up saw No 3 seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) move comfortably into the semi finals with a 3-0 win over No 7 seed Isabelle Stoehr (FRA), and she now meets her England and Lancashire teammate Vicky Botwright tomorrow,

The giant-killing of young Malaysian girl Delia Arnold came to an end tonight when she was decisively beaten by Irish girl Madeline Perry the No 4 seed and defending champion, 3 games to nil. It was a very brave effort this week by Delia, and I am sure we will see a lot more of her in the future.

In the last ladies match of the evening No 2 seed Alison Waters (ENG) ensured all top 4 seeds are in the semi finals when, despite a very brave fight in the second game, she defeated No 6 seed Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL). Alison now meets the only non-English player left in the semi’s, that is the crowd’s favourite Madeline Perry.

First match in the men’s draw saw No 2 seed Adrian Grant from England defeat No 6 seed Kashif Shuja 3 games to nil, although the first two games were very tight Adrian held out, to then take the third comfortably 11/3.

Next up saw No 4 seed Adrian Gough (WAL) win 3 – 0 against No 7 seed Aaron Frankcomb from Australia in a long drawn out match which lasted 64 minutes.

No 3 seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the Malaysian player quickly moving up the rankings recently, had a real tussle here with crowd favourite No 8 seed Liam Kenny, he of course being Irish. With lots of long rallies and great squash it took Azlan 66 minutes to come out the winner 3 games to one.

Last up was the genius who is John White. In what was a very entertaining match against qualifier Tom Richards from England, John finished a comfortable winner despite Tom taking the second game. All credit to Tom for progressing this far as a qualifier. With all the top four seeds through in the men’s as well as the women’s, I am certain we will see some great squash tomorrow.

16-Apr, Round One:
Richards romps
into Dublin quarters
Afternoon session report from Arthur Curran

Very nearly a surprise in the men’s first round first match, with unseeded Stacey Ross trading games with No 6 seed Kashif Shuja up to two games each. Ross went 10/3 down in the fifth, and with every serve a match ball against, pulled back to 9/10 and looked as though he could pull it off, but then Shuja played a brilliant volley to win the match 3/2 in 58 minutes.



In the next match we did get a surprise, with qualifier Tom Richards from England defeating No5 seed Julian Illingworth from the USA in three long exciting and entertaining games. Richards now goes on to play the winner of John White (no 1 seed) and Julien Balbo of France.

Third match was between two Welshmen, No 4 seed Alex Gough defeating fellow countryman, qualifier Rob Sutherland, despite a slight hiccup in the third which he lost 11/1, went on to win 3 games to 1.

In the final game of the afternoon, No 2 seed Adrian Grant (ENG) won a well contested match against qualifier Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 3 games to nil.

First game up in the women’s first round draw saw two very evenly ranked and evenly matched young ladies, with Mexico's Samantha Teran defeating Dominique Lloyd-Walter of England 3 games to nil, in a match which lasted 43 minutes thanks to the great play from both players, always a shame in these sort of matches that there has to be a loser.

Next up No 3 seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, looking in great form, defeated qualifier Elise Ng comfortably, dropping only six points in the three games. Next up another qualifier, young Fiona Moverley from Yorkshire, was defeated fairly comfortably in three games by No 7 seed Isabelle Stoehr from France, but this was the first tournament Fiona had made it through qualifying to play in the first round, so she was quite happy with the result.

Finally No 1 seed Vicky Botwright from Manchester had a good workout against Irish girl Aisling Blake but won 3 games to nil, despite a plucky effort from Aisling who had great support from the local Irish crowd.




Cheers for now from Arthur ...
   

Photos from Arthur Curran

15-Apr, Qualifying Finals:
Mylotte Crashes Out
Kevin Moore reports

Irish hopeful and world number 45, Laura Mylotte, suffered a surprise defeat to crash out of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Squash Open at the final qualifying stage. Up against England's Vicky Hynes, Mylotte carried a weight of expectation in front of her home crowd at Fitzwilliam.

The pair could not be separated for most of the match and it was destined for a deciding fifth set. However it was Hynes who proved the stronger and coasted through the final game 9/0 to take the match and with it a place in the main draw.

England's Fiona Moverly, Malaysia's Delia Arnold and Hong Kong's Elise Ng also won their final qualifying matches to earn a much sought after place in the main draw which starts tomorrow in Dublin


Top Professionals
Squash into Fitzwilliam

Fitzwilliam Squash Club was packed with talent as top squash professionals from around the globe arrived ahead of the opening round of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Squash Open.

Former World number one John White of Scotland, now number 15, heads up the men's event with defending champion Alex Gough of Wales seeded fourth. The veteran Welshman will find it tough to defend his title with the strength in depth of this year's draw. Wildcard entrant, Carlow's Arthur Gaskin will face seventh seed, Australia's Aaron Frankcomb. Ireland's Liam Kenny is eigth seed and the world number 54 will face England's Jonathon Harford.

In the women's draw Ireland's Madeline Perry will start as number four seed as she attempts to win her fourth successive Irish Open title. Now world number 14, Perry is up against it this year after dropping down the rankings recently. English pair Vicky Botwright and Alison Waters head up a strong field in this year's event. Ireland other female representative, world number 33, Sligo's Aisling Blake is faced with a tough task as she faces top seed Botwright in the opening round.
 

Photos from Arthur Curran

Hynes & Mylotte

Arnold & King

Photos from Arthur Curran

Schedule:

Entrance for this year’s event is free for every match at

Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Appian Way, Dublin 6

Qualifiers –
Monday 14th (2.00pm to 9.00pm) and Tuesday 15th (2.00pm to 6.00pm)
 
1st Round –
Wednesday 16th (2.00pm -9.00pm)

Quarter- Finals –
Thursday 17th (2.00pm-9.00pm)

Semi-finals –
Friday 18th (5.00pm to 9.00pm)

Finals –
Saturday 19th
(4.00pm to 6.00pm)