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11-Aug-07:
Bronze for New Zealand
New Zealand has won the bronze medal in the teams event at the World
Junior Women's Squash Championships in Hong Kong.
The third seeded kiwis have bounced back from the disappointment of
a semifinal loss to Malaysia, to beat fourth seeded Hong Kong 2-1 in
the playoff for third place.
New Zealand number one Joelle King rediscovered her winning form to
give the kiwi team the early advantage, taking out the opening match
9/1 9/6 9/4 against Annie Au.
However, Shin Nga Leung levelled the tie for the home side, with a
9/2 9/3 9/7 victory over kiwi number two Kerry Wickett.
That left the battle of the number threes to decide the bronze
medal, and Auckland teenager Lana Harrison grabbed the spoils for
New Zealand with a thrilling 5/9 9/0 10/8 9/7 victory over Liu Tsz
Ling.
New Zealand also won bronze in the individual event, with Joelle
King claming third place after losing to world champion Raneem El
Weleily from Egypt in the semifinals.
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3. New Zealand beat
4. Hong Kong 2-1
1. Joelle King beat Annie Au 9/1 9/6 9/4
2. Kerry Wickett lost to Shin Nga Leung 9/2 9/3 9/7
3. Lana Harrison beat Liu Tsz Ling 5/9 9/ 10/8 9/7 |
10-Aug-07:
Kiwis in to semis in HK
New Zealand has survived an early scare to win through to the
semifinals of the teams event at the World Junior Women's Squash
Championships in Hong Kong.
The third seeded kiwis have bounced back from one match down, to
beat 8th seeded USA 2-1 in the quarters.
New Zealand number three Amanda Cranston looked set to get the side
off to a winning start after taking the first two games against
USA's Emily Park, but the American came storming back to win the
next three 9/5 9/5 9/5 to put the kiwis on the back foot.
New Zealand number one Joelle King quickly restored the balance with
a 9/0 9/0 9/1 demolition of Logan Greer, leaving Kerry Wickett the
task of wrapping up the tie against Olivia Blatchford. The kiwi
number two duly obliged, winning a tight encounter 10/8 9/5 9/4.
New Zealand will now face fifth seeded Malaysia in the semifinals
overnight tonight (NZT). Malaysia is through after a surprise 3-0
demolition of second seeded England.
Top seeded Egypt will face fourth seeded Hong Kong on the other side
of the draw.
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3. New Zealand beat
8. USA 2-1
3. Amanda Cranston lost to Emily Park 1/9 3/9 9/5 9/5 9/5
1. Joelle King beat Logan Greer 9/0 9/0 9/1
2. Kerry Wickett beat Olivia Blatchford 10/8 9/5 9/4
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09-Aug:
Kiwis storm into quarters
New Zealand has stormed into the quarterfinals of the teams event at
the World Junior Women's Squash Championships in Hong Kong.
The third seeded kiwis have finished top of Pool C, after a stunning
3-0 victory over sixth seeded France, led by a magnificent
performance from Joelle King.
The Waikato teen has demolished European champion Camille Serme 9-3
9-6 9-3. Serme finished runner-up to Egyptian star Raneem El Weleily
in the individual event earlier this week.
Amanda Cranston then confirmed a New Zealand victory, with a 9/2 9/1
9/0 thrashing of Gabriella De Lavison, and kiwi number two Kerry
Wickett completed the whitewash with a 9/5 9/5 9/6 win over Faustine
Gilles.
New Zealand team manager Julie Hawkes says it was a superb
performance from all of the players, but in particular from Joelle
King.
"Joelle played some magnificent squash, and never really allowed
Camille into the match. It has certainly given the girls a huge
confidence boost heading into the quarterfinals tomorrow."
New Zealand will meet USA in the quarterfinals.
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3. New Zealand beat
6. France 3-0
1. Joelle King bt Camille Serme 9/3 9/6 9/3
3. Amanda Cranston bt Gabriella De Lavison 9/2 9/1 9/0
2. Kerry Wickett bt Faustine Gilles 9/5 9/5 9/6
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08-Aug:
No dramas on Day Two
Gary Denvir reports
No major dramas for New Zealand on day two of the teams event at the
World Junior Women's Squash Championships in Hong Kong.
The third seeded kiwis have cruised to 3-nil wins over both China
and Switzerland.
New Zealand rested top star Joelle King for both ties, but still
managed to drop just one point in total from the three matches
against China, while the Swiss were also put to the sword.
New Zealand faces its stiffest test in pool play in tonight's final
round against sixth seeded France.
Play gets underway 9 o'clock.
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New Zealand
beat
China 3-0.
Lana Harrison bt Ding Yating 9/1/ 9/0 9/0
Kerry Wickett bt Xiu Chen 9/0 9/0 9/0
Amanda Cranston bt Qian Jiayi 9/0 9/0 9/0
New Zealand beat Switzerland 3-0.
Lana Harrison bt Agapi Kazamia 9/2 9/7 9/0
Kerry Wickett bt Jasmin Ballman 9/2 9/6 9/0
Amanda Cranston bt Caroline Bachem 9/0 9/1 9/1 |
07-Aug:
Safe start
in the teams
Gary Denvir reports
A comfortable first-up win for New Zealand in the teams event at the
World Junior Women's Squash Championships in Hong Kong.
The third seeded kiwi side has cruised to a 3-nil victory over India
in their opening tie in Pool C.
Kerry Wickett started the ball rolling with a 10/8 9/4 3/9 9/4
victory over Indian number two Anwesha Reddy, before kiwi number one
Joelle King wrapped up the tie with a 9/3 10/8 9/0 win over Dipika
Pallikal.
Lana Harrison then completed the 3-nil scoreline with a 9/3 9/4 9/4
thrashing of India's number three, Surbhi Misra.
New Zealand will face Switzerland and China tomorrow, before
wrapping up pool play against France on Thursday.
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Day Five,
05-Aug:
Semi-Final: Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt Joelle King
9/4, 9/7, 9/2 (34m)
CP Semi: Olivia Blatchford (Usa)
bt Lana Harrison
9/0, 7/9, 9/4, 9/6 (36m)
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King bows out but team
stays at three
Gary Denvir reports
New Zealand's Joelle King has bowed out of the individual event at
the World Junior Women's Squash Championships in Hong Kong.
The kiwi number one has lost her semifinal in straight games to the
top seed, defending champion Raneem El Weleily from Egypt.
New Zealand team manager Julie Hawkes says Joelle put up a good
fight in the opening two games, but eventually went down 9/4 9/7
9/2, with El Weleily clearly a class above the other players at the
tournament.
Meanwhile, fellow kiwi Lana Harrison has also missed out on a spot
in the Classic Plate final, after going down 9/0 7/9 9/4 9/6 to
American Olivia Blatchford.
However, there is some good news for New Zealand, with the
confirmation of the seedings for the teams event.
The kiwis have retained their interim ranking of third seed based on
their efforts in the individual event.
Not surprisingly, Egypt remains top seed while England has improved
three spots from fifth to second seed, while Hong Kong drops two
places to fourth.
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Team Pool C:
[3] New Zealand
[6] France
[11] India
[14] Switzerland
[19] China
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Day Four, 04-Aug:
King
through to the semis
Gary Denvir reports
New Zealand's Joelle King
is through to the semifinals at the World Junior Women's Squash
Championships in Hong Kong.
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kiwi number one has produced a superb fight back in her quarterfinal
clash against Egyptian Heba El Torky, recovering from two games down
to win 6/9 8/10 9/2 9/5 9/2 in 71 minutes.
The Waikato teen now faces the stiff task of toppling top seed and
defending champion Raneem El Weleily in the semifinals.
Weleily is bidding to become just the second player in history to
win the title twice, after current world women's number one Nicol
David from Malaysia.
Meanwhile, more good news for New Zealand ahead of next week's teams
event, with Lana Harrison starting to hit her straps.
Harrison is through to the semifinals of the Classic Plate, after
playing one of the best matches in her career to beat Hong Kong's
Leung Shin Nga 9/4 9/5 9/6.
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Day Three, 03-Aug:
King Sole Survivor
Joelle King is the sole New Zealander still in the title hunt
after another dominant performance at the World Junior Women's
Squash Championships in Hong Kong.
The kiwi number one has cruised into the last eight, with a
comfortable 9/3 9/2 9/6 victory over Canadian Laura Gemmell. King
will meet Egypt's Heba El Tourky in the quarters.
The Waikato teenager is now the only New Zealander remaining in the
title hunt, after teammate Kerry Wickett's winning run came
to an end with a 9/1 9/1 9/6 defeat to second seeded Camille Serme
from France.
Lana Harrison has gained revenge for her second round defeat
to India's Dipika Pallikal, with a 9/4 9/3 10/8 victory in their
rematch in the second round of the Classic Plate. However, the
fourth member of the New Zealand team, Amanda Cranston, has
lost to England's Victoria Bell 9/7 1/9 9/4 9/2.
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Day Two, 02-Aug:
Two Kiwis into Last 16
New Zealand's top two players are both safely through to the last 16
at the Junior Women's World Squash Championships in Hong Kong. After
first up byes, Joelle King and Kerry Wickett have both picked
up two convincing wins on day two of the individual event.
King, a 3/4 seed, has cruised past Egypt's Salma Hany in the second
round, winning 9/2 9/1 9/6 in just 21 minutes, before crushing South
African number one Milnay Louw 9/1 9/4 9/4.
Wickett has also made light work of her two matches, thumping
Cheri-Ann Parris from Barbados 9/1 9/0 9/6 followed by a 9/4 9/5 9/0
victory over Melissa Meulenbelt from the Netherlands.
Fellow New Zealand team members Lana Harrison and Amanda Cranston
both bowed out in the second round, but not without a fight.
Harrison went down 9/4 9/5 10/9 to India's Dipika Pallikal, while
Cranston lost a tense battle against Malaysia's Low Wee Nee 9/5 9/10
5/9 9/6 9/3.
Meanwhile, Otago's Alana Sincock made it through to the third
round with a stunning fight back against Switzerland's Jasmin
Ballman, edging home 1/9 1/9 9/7 9/7 9/5. However, she was unable to
repeat her heroics in the round of 32, going down 9/1 9/4 9/4 to
German Sina Wall. Wellington's Emma Miller also found the
going a bit tough in her second round clash against Malaysian Low
Wee Wern, losing 9/2 9/0 9/0. |
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Day One, 03-Aug:
A Good Opening Day
Encouraging signs for New Zealand after the opening day of the
Junior Women's World Squash Championships in Hong Kong.
Kiwi team members Amanda Cranston and Lana Harrison have made
winning starts to their individual campaigns, winning their opening
round matches in straight games.
Cranston has crushed Switzerland's Agapi Kazamia 9/0 9/2 9/0 in just
17 minutes, while Harrison has been equally impressive in a 9/0 9/1
9/3 victory over American Hannah Conant. Fellow team members Joelle
King and Kerry Wickett get their campaigns underway tomorrow, after
byes in the opening round.
Two other New Zealanders who are competing as individuals have also
picked up first round wins. Emma Miller has taken an
astonishing 9 minutes to thrash Singapore's Kimberley Chew Lin 9/2
9/1 9/0, while Alana Sincock has produced a superb
performance to down Korean Yang Yeon-Soo 3/9 9/5 9/6 4/9 9/4.
However, Aliesha Watene and Sarah Gilmore have bowed out.
Watene went down 7/9 9/5 9/2 9/4 to Hong Kong's Dorothy Ko while
Gilmore was outclassed 9/2 9/0 9/0 by Faustine Gilles from France. |
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