Prague Open 2008

Noom takes Prague title
Tomas Forter reports

The Top seed justified her seeding and was able to lift the winner's trophy in Prague open. Home crowed was hoping Lucie Fialova can continue her fantastic run in the tournament but today she lost to a better opponent.

Lucie started her first final very nervously. She started with hitting the tin too often. Orla raced to 8/1 lead in just a couple of minutes. After that Lucie started rallying more and got into the match finally. She was able to come back to 7/8 but Orla was able to keep the lead and won 11/8. In the second Lucie was more confident, led from the beginning, survived a comeback from Orla who got the lead at 7/5 and closed the game at 11/7.

Lucie served out on the first point of the third and the rest of that game looked similar. The rallies were full of low hard hitting from both players but Orla was able to win most of them. She moved Lucie around the court a bit better and Lucie started to make easy mistakes again. Orla won the game easily 11/3.

The fourth was much closer. Both players were able to win a few points at the front. Lucie cut down the mistakes, got the lead halfway through and although Orla was coming back strongly Lucie was able to get the fourth game and force the decider. Orla got to better start but Lucie came back to 3/4, missed forhand boast to go 3/5. A low kill got Orla to 6/3. 7/3 after crosscourt nick from Orla. Three mistakes by Lucie gave Orla first matchball and another boast that hit the tin gave Orla the title.

"It was really tough match. Lucie has been playing well the whole week beating Celia and Deon. I think the court suited Lucie's game really well but once I was able to control the ball and stop hacking I managed to take control.

"I am very happy to come out as the winner. And now I am really looking forward visiting Prague tomorrow with Olga."

"I was very glad I was able to get to the final. It is my best result so far. In the final I played well so I am very satisfied.

"Still I was making a lot of mistakes especially in the first and fifth game which is something I need to work on."

Final Gallery

Prague Open 2008 Prague, Czech Republic, 19-22 Nov, $4k
Round One 20-Nov	Quarters 20-Nov	Semis 21-Nov	Final 22-Nov
[1] Orla Noom (Ned) 11/6 11/13 11/8 11/8 45m [Q] Kanzy El Defrawy (Egy)	[1] Orla Noom 11/9 11/7 11/7 30m [8] Anna-Carin Forstadius	[1] Orla Noom 10/12 6/11 11/3 11/8 11/1 41m [3] Fiona Moverley	[1] Orla Noom 11/8 7/11 11/3 8/11 11/3 42m [5] Lucie Fialova
[8] Anna-Carin Forstadius (Swe) 7/11 11/6 11/8 11/8 37m Kerri Shields (Irl)
[3] Fiona Moverley (Eng) 12/14 11/6 11/5 11/2 31m Olga Ertlova (Cze)	[3] Fiona Moverley 11/3 11/7 8/11 8/11 11/5 45m [7] Lotte Eriksen
[7] Lotte Eriksen (Nor) 11/4 11/9 11/5 25m Milou Van Der Heijden (Ned)
Birgit Coufal (Aut) 11/9 11/4 9/11 11/8 33m [5] Lucie Fialova (Cze)	[5] Lucie Fialova 11/5 12/10 6/11 3/11 11/3 45m [4]Celia Allamargot	[5] Lucie Fialova 8/11 11/9 11/5 5/11 11/4 46m [2] Deon Saffery
[Q] Linda Hruzikova (Svk) 11/5 11/9 11/4 25m [4]Celia Allamargot (Fra)
[Q] Gabrielle Delavison (Fra) 10/12 11/4 11/7 11/3 26m [6] Emma Chorley (Eng)	[6] Emma Chorley 12/10 11/4 10/12 11/8 46m [2] Deon Saffery
[Q] Salma Hany (Egy) 11/5 4/11 11/8 11/9 46m [2] Deon Saffery (Wal)

Qualifying Finals:
Kanzy El Defrawy (EGY) bt Anna Detter (SWE)                   11/3 11/4 11/5 22 m
Linda Hruzikova (SVK) bt Veronika Koukalova (CZE)          11/8 11/8 11/8 33 m
Salma Hany (EGY) bt Laura Pomportes (FRA)                     11/7 11/9 11/7 35 m
Gabrielle De Lavison (FRA) bt Anna Klimundova (CZE) 11/8 11/6 7/11 11/3 25 m
Qualifying first round:
Kanzy El Defrawy (EGY) bt Sina Wall (GER)                       11/7 11/4 11/9 40 m
Anna Detter (SWE) bt Karolina Uhrinova (CZE)                  11/3 11/4 11/8 26 m
Linda Hruzikova (SVK) bt Nikola Polanska (CZE)                11/5 11/4 11/8 29 m
Veronika Koukalova (CZE) bt Hana Vagnerova (CZE)         11/0 11/5 11/7 25 m
Salma Hany (EGY) bt Chloe Mesic (FRA)                            11/9 11/6 11/4 25 m
Laura Pomportes (FRA) bt Denisa Ticha (CZE)                  12/10 11/6 11/6 20 m
Anna Klimundova (CZE) bt Tereza Ctvrtnickova (CZE)        11/7 11/6 11/6 21 m
Gabrielle De Lavison (FRA) bt Klara Janoskova (CZE) 9/11 11/6 11/7 11/7 29 m

Fialova flies into Prague final
Tomas Forter reports

Czech hopes are still alive in Prague as Lucie Fialova was able to win another five setter to reach her first ever WISPA final.

The first semi was between top seed Orla Noom and Fiona Moverley. Fiona started better and got 7/2 with a few of her typical tight backhand drops. Orla started to rally more and she got back to 7/7. Next three points were won by Fiona but Orla managed to save 3 gameballs and forced the tie-break only to lose 10/12.

Fiona was very confident, her short game was working very well and she won the second quite comfortably. Orla came back strongly in the third she tried to push Fiona to the back to avoid her dangerous drops and this tactics worked well. From 5/3 Orla won 6 straight points. She was more confident with her short game after winning the third. She went for low kills and they were coming in. Orla led 7/4 but Fiona was able to come back to 7/7 only to lose next two points on easy drops in the tin. Orla closed the game 11/8.

In the beginning of the fifth Orla was just too good for Fiona who strugled a bit with her movement after being pushed hard in fast rallies. Orla got to 5/0, then Fiona scored her first points but it was her last as well as Orla won next 6 points to book her place in tomorrow´s finals.

"Fiona played really well in first two games. I think my length was not good enough so she had a lot of chances for her volleys which are very good. I just kept running for every ball and tried to make it hard for her and make her tired. In the third game she made a few mistakes and as I got the lead I became more confident. In the end I think I won on fitness."

"I was very pleased with the way I played in first two games. After that she started to play very well in next two and my confidence dropped. I was disappointed how I played in the fifth but she played very well and I made a lot of errors. In the last two games my fitness was lacking a bit and I was not able to keep the pace."

The second semifinal featured second seed Deon Saffery and home favourite fifth seed Lucie Fialova. In the first game Lucie´s length was not good and Deon was able to move her around the court which Lucie doesn´t like. She made a lot of mistakes and Deon won the first 11/8. Lucie started to hit better length in the second pushed Deon to the back corners and was able to win it 11/8.

In the third Lucie played really well. She hit hard to the back, forced a loose balls from Deon and was able to put them away at the front which is something she usually struggles with. Although the rallies were hard and Lucie had to worked hard she won the third 11/5. The hard worked paid off for Deon in the fourth as Lucie was getting more tired and started to make mistakes again.

Very important beginning of the fifth went Lucie´s way. She rested a bit in the fourth and was moving very well again. Deon really had to hit very good shot to win a point. Lucie hit a few low kills and drops, raced to 8/2 and finally won 11/4.

"I had a good start in the first. I worked her around a lot. In the next two I got caught up in hard hitting length game. She is a good player when the ball is open to hit. She can kill it well. I am not too disappointed with how I played. I just need to go away and learn from it and get used to play that type of game."

"I don´t know what to say I am just soooooo happy and I can´t believe it. I was nervous in the first. From the middle of second game I was able to play my game. In the fourth I slowed down a bit but in the fifth I found my game again and managed to win. I am just very happy now."

Semis Gallery

WISPA debut in Prague
Tomas Forter reports

Tomorrow's semis in the first ever WISPA event in the Czech Republic will feature top three seeded players and the domestic hope.

In the first match Orla Noom played a bit too fast for Anna-Carin Forstadius. Anna-Carin fought well, she was able to keep the score close in the first but in the second and third Orla ran away at the beginnings and always managed to keep the lead till the end.

"My first match today was very tough. Kanzy was the one qualifier I was hoping not to play. She played really well. It was very good match. In the second match I don't think I played well. I lost a length a bit. I was lucky to win the first game and then to win in three games. The last time I played Fiona I had to retire injured so I am looking forward to it."

Orla Noom

"I was quite happy with the first match. I was thinking too much about being hit by her racket in the first but after that it was fine. In the second match Orla played really high pace. I think I played well but she was too consistent. She was just too good but I am happy with the way I played."

Anna-Carin Forstadius

The second match was between Fiona Moverley and Lotte Eriksen. Fiona has got a great touch in the front and it was just too good for Lotte in the first two games. Lotte kept fighting, forced Fiona to make a few mistakes and was able to win the third.

In the fourth Fiona made too many mistakes and although Fiona came back strongly at the end the deficit was too high and Lotte levelled. Fiona started the final game better this time all her drops were coming in. She got to 5/1, 8/2 and finally won the game 11/5.

The last Czech player in the draw Lucie Fialova played against Celia Allamargot from France. Lucie started the match with her trade mark hard hitting. Fast pace was working well for her and she won the first two games. She got a bit tired in the third and lost it narrowly. After that Celia was dominating the fourth. Lucy rested a bit in the fourth and started the fifth strongly. She got a good lead and managed to close the match.

The last match was the longest. Deon Saffery was able to finally beat Emma Chorley after more than 50 minutes of good quality squash. Deon won the close first game and easier second but Emma did not give up. She came back in the third, saved matchball and won it in tie-break. The fourth was very close again but Deon played the crucial points better and won it.

"It was a difficult match because she is hitting the ball very hard. I had to play slowly but it is not my game so I was not comfortable with it. I was not very fit I tried to use my technique instead but it was not enough. She played very good match. Hopefully I can do better against her next time."

"My first match was tough but I was satisfied with the way I played. In the evening match I played really well in first two games. Then she changed her game and I was not able to react. In the fifth I found my game again and I was able to get my best result in WISPA events so far."

Quarters Gallery

"I was playing well in first two games. My shots were really good but she started to fight and come back in the third. I started to make lots of errors. I started the final game with more basic game and it worked well. I am looking forward to play tomorrow."

"I was nervous at the beginning. She was able to put away everything. In the third and fourth I started to play better. I got a bit too excited in the fifth. I started to think that I could win the match but she played better in the fifth."