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Knight's Day in Christchurch
Gary Denvir reports
 Top
seed Martin Knight has taken out the title at the
Christchurch Casino Canterbury and South Island Open on the PSA
men's world tour. Knight beat second seeded fellow New Zealander
Graeme Wilson in straight games in the final.
It's the world number 98's second PSA title this year, after he also
won April's Barossa Valley Open in South Australia.
Meanwhile, top seed Shayle Higginson won the local women's draw, but
it was anything but one way traffic. 15-year-old rising star Megan
Craig pushed Higginson to a deciding fifth game, before going down
in one of the most thrilling finals in recent memory.
Knight impressive - Stuff
Top two in South
Island Final
The top
two seeds are through to the final of the Christchurch Casino
Canterbury and South Island Open, on the PSA men's world squash
tour.
New Zealand's Martin Knight and Graeme Wilson will
square off in the title decider, after avoiding the early round
carnage that saw three of the top five seeds bow out on day one.
Knight's experience proved the difference as he earned his place in
the final with a straightforward 11/3 11/3 11/9 victory over sixth
seeded youngster Evan Williams. Wilson's maturity was also a factor
as he swept to a 11/4 12/10 11/7 win over seventh seed Cameron
Jamieson.
However, the experience of making it through to semifinals should
serve Evan Williams and Cameron Jamieson well, when they head off to
represent New Zealand at the upcoming World Junior Men's Squash
Championships in Switzerland.
In the women's local draw, top seed Shayle Higginson cruised
into the final with a 9/3 9/3 9/6 win over Ann Harliwich. Higginson
will face surprise package Megan Craig in the title decider,
after the 15-year-old thrashed Erin Dippie 9/5 9/1 9/1 in the other
semifinal.
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 South
Island Championships
2008
Christchurch, New Zealand, 12-15 Jun, $3.5k |
Round One
13-Jun |
Quarters
14-Jun |
Semis
14-Jun |
Final
15-Jun |
[1] Martin Knight
(Nzl)
11/5, 11/2, 11/7
Tim Williams (Nzl) |
[1] Martin Knight
11/6, 11/9, 11/7
Dane Sharp |
[1] Martin Knight
11/3, 11/3, 11/9
[6] Evan Williams |
[1] Martin Knight
9/0, 9/6, 9/6
[2] Graeme Wilson |
[8] Dane Sharp
(Can)
12/10, 11/5, 11/9
Steven Wren (Nzl) |
Greg Johnston (Nzl)
11/1, 11/3, 11/4
[6] Evan Williams (Nzl) |
[6] Evan Williams
11/7, 5/11, 10/12, 12/10, 11/9
Scott Gardiner |
[3] Nathan Turnbull
(Aus)
11/6, 12/10, 7/11, 11/7
Scott Gardiner (Nzl) |
[4] Jacob Lohrisch
(Aus)
11/9, 9/11, 12/10, 11/8
Lui Snyder (Nzl) |
Lui Snyder
11/5, 11/7, 12/10
Cameron Jamieson |
Cameron Jamieson
11/4, 12/10, 11/7
[2] Graeme Wilson |
Cameron Jamieson
(Nzl)
11/7, 11/7, 10/12, 11/7
Keegan Burkhart (Nzl) |
[5] Josh Cardwell
(Aus)
11/9, 10/12, 11/6, 11/8
Alex Grayson (Nzl) |
Alex Grayson
11/3, 11/4, 11/4
[2] Graeme Wilson |
Qualifier
11/6, 11/3, 11/4
[2] Graeme Wilson (Nzl) |
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Women's Challenger Draw:
Final:
[1] Shayle Higginson (NZL) bt Megan Craig (NZL)
9/5, 9/6, 6/9, 8/10, 9/7
Semis:
[1] Shayle Higginson (NZL) bt Ann Harliwich (NZL)
9/3, 9/3, 9/6
Megan Craig (NZL) bt Erin Dippie (NZL)
9/5, 9/1, 9/1
Quarters:
[1] Shayle Higginson (NZL) bt Katie Douglas (NZL)
3/0
Ann Harliwich (NZL) bt [4] Katrina Palmer (NZL)
3/0
Erin Dippie (NZL) bt Mickayla Kerr (NZL)
3/0
Megan Craig (NZL) bt [2] Karen Walton (NZL)
3/0
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Seeds back on song in Christchurch
Gary Denvir reports
Normal service has resumed on day two of the Christchurch Casino
Canterbury and South Island Open. After a raft of upsets on day one,
the second round has delivered a more predictable winning line-up,
with the remaining seeded players all safely through to the
semifinals.
Top seed Martin Knight has led the charge into the last four,
although his quarterfinal victory over Canadian Dane Sharp was
anything but straightforward. In fact, Knight's straight games win
took the same amount of time as sixth seed Evan Williams needed to
dispatch of Canterbury's Scott Gardiner in five.
Second seed Graeme Wilson was more convincing in a 11/3 11/4 11/4
win over fellow kiwi Alex Grayson while seventh seeded Cameron
Jamieson was also a straight games winner in his all-kiwi encounter
against Lui Syder, although he was pushed to 12/10 in the third.
In the women's local draw, top seed Shayle Higginson has cruised
into the semifinals with a 3/0 win over Katie Douglas, but the other
three matches all ended in upsets. Second seed Karen Walton slumped
to a 3/0 defeat to rising junior star Megan Craig, third seed
Mickayla Kerr also lost 3/0 to Erin Dippie and fourth seed Katrina
Palmer continued the trend with a 3/0 loss to Ann Harliwich.
Bad day for the Aussies ...
A day to forget for the Australian players at the Christchurch
Casino Canterbury and South Island Open in New Zealand -
Nathan Turnbull, Jacob Lohrisch and Josh Cardwell, seeded three, four
and five respectively, all suffered shock first round losses,
going down in thrilling trans-Tasman clashes.
Turnbull dropped the first two games against Canterbury's Scott
Gardiner, but fought back to grab the third 11/7. However, Gardiner
refused to lie down, mounting his own fight back to close out the
match 11/7 in the fourth.
Lohrisch also lost in four, going down 11/9 9/11 12/10 11/8 to
Auckland junior Lui Syder. The win will be a major boost for Syder,
who is currently preparing for the upcoming Junior Men's World
Championships in Switzerland.
Cardwell then completed the unwanted trifecta for Australia, bundled
out 11/9 10/12 11/6 11/8 to another Auckland junior, Alex Grayson.
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