October 2, 2014
- Tonight was the 1st round of the 2014 Carol Weymuller Main draw. The
quality of the matches tonight was fantastic and the matches were so
enjoyable to watch.
First on the
Championship court was world #14 Omneya Abdel Kawy from Egypt against
Sam Cornett, who did an unbelievable comeback last night to reach the
main draw. Sam and Omneya have very different styles and had never
played before this match, so it was going to be interesting to see who
get their game plan over the other.
Omneya was basically
on fire and if Sam put the ball on her racket it was gone! Omneya has
amazing hold and stops her opponent’s momentum and rhythm. Sam tried to
be steady and keep the ball on the wall but she couldn’t consistently
enough. Sam gave 100% effort as always, but couldn’t quite get Omneya
off the T where she was clearly very comfortable.
Omneya went in and out
of focus a couple of times but always came back with an amazing flick
or hold. Whenever Sam gave a big push it was as if Omneya has another
gear in her to use whenever necessary.
Both players moved
really well around the court but today Omneya made it look effortless
and almost casual. Overall it was a great match for Omneya and she
never let Sam settle in and find her game. It’s likely Sam’s huge match
yesterday could have left her feeling somewhat flat today.
Omneya came through to win in a convincing 11/5, 11/6, 11/3.
After the match I
commented to Omneya that she made it look so effortless today and she
said “If you look at the scores it doesn’t depict the game. She gave me
a hard time to win each point and I had to think for every shot. At
times she got some openings and I was lucky because she made mistakes
and I took advantage and kept on winning points. For tomorrow, both
players are really good and have had really good results at the last
couple of tournaments. Hopefully on Saturday I’ll play good squash and
enjoy the game and that’s all that matters now! Second match on the
championship court was Irish and world #13 Madeline Perry from Ireland
against a very much on-form Nour El Tayeb, the world #8 from Egypt.
Madeline is 3-1 up on the head to head but Nour won the last time they
played this summer in Malaysia. Madeline is one of the older, more
experienced players on the tour, but she is in amazing shape and looked
ready to take Nour on. One of Madeline’s strengths is to hit a
consistently hard, flat, deep drives but she just couldn’t seem to get
them far enough back on the court to unsettle Nour and control the
middle of the court. Nour was holding the ball really well and when
Madeline hit her length a little short she would take in a tricky boast
that Madeline just wasn’t managing to read and move onto. Nour won the
first game in fine style 11/2.
In the second game the
points were even to 3-3 and then Nour found her amazing momentum again
and had a run of points straight through to game ball, where Madeline
squeezed out one more point before Nour went 2-0 up.
The third game
followed the same pattern with Nour playing a wonderful combination of
disciplined and attacking squash with no errors. Madeline couldn’t
quite find her groove and keep Nour deep enough and Nour went through
to take the third game 11/4, taking her through to the quarterfinals
against her Egyptian team mate Omneya on Saturday at 5.00pm.
When I asked Nour
after the match how she was feeling, she said “I’m feeling really good
actually! In the qualifying I was feeling tense and I almost lost in
the first round! All day today I was telling myself to enjoy the match.
I slept as much as possible to release the tension. Madeline is one of
the best players on tour and has beaten everyone! She can come up with
great performances, but today she was tinning more than she usually
does. I am playing Omneya next, I didn’t want to play her in the first
round but I have to play her now. She’s like my big sister and I hope
that we can play a great match.”
The next match on was
between World #16 and previous Weymuller Open winner in 2009 and 2010
Jenny Duncalf playing qualifier and teenager Salma Hany Ibrahim. They
have only played one other WSA match before this which was in Hong Kong
earlier this year and Salma managed to come through 3-2, it was going
to be interesting to see who would come out as the winner today,
especially after Salma’s incredibility long match yesterday. Would she
have the legs to pull off another win?
Salma started the
match so maturely, way beyond her years. She played a perfect
combination of attacking shots and patience, without any errors. Jenny
was trying to get the ball deeper but too many cross courts and
unforced errors lead the way to Salma winning the first game 11/6.
In the second, Salma
took a 3/0 lead with Jenny lacking patience but then Jenny started to
find her length and push up the court better and go short at the right
time and took the lead for the first time at 5-4. The points went back
and forth with a variety of amazing winners, holds and also tins from
both players. Salma edged away from 8-8 with a perfect forehand drop
and a generous forehand volley drop in the tin from Jenny to get game
ball at 10-8. A long and hard fought rally finishing in a stroke took
Salma to a 2-0 lead.
The third game was
very similar to the second with the points edging slowly up and evenly
with some amazing retrieving and even a big dive across the court from
Salma. Jenny hit a wonderful backhand volley drop to even up the points
to 8-8 and Salma bounced straight back with an equally fantastic
forehand drop to go 9-8! A perfect and well disguised boast from Jenny
evened up the points again to 9-9. Salma got her first match ball after
hitting a perfect cross court kill. Jenny countered this with an inch
perfect backhand volley drop. Salma kept her head and game plan
together and managed to come through to win on her second match ball to
win this closely contested match in three games!
A beaming Salma said
after the match “I’m SOOOOO happy to win that match!!! After the epic
match yesterday I’m so glad to have held myself together, pushed myself
to the limit and keep myself solid until the end. I didn’t want to drop
a game as I knew my energy was not full. Jenny is a tough opponent and
a very experienced player and I knew that if I let her into the game it
would be very hard to win. I was so worried after the 1st game and kept
thinking a lot and there was lots of stuff going on in my mind. Every
time I felt the tiredness I kept telling myself ‘MAN UP and it’s only a
few points away and then you will have the whole day off!!!!”
The last match on the
championship court was between #1 seed, world # 2 and current World
Open champion, Laura Massaro, and English team mate Sarah Kippax, world
19. Laura and Sarah have played 9 times in WSA events and Laura has
come through triumphant in all them but many have been closely
contested. In the first Laura got a nice lead and settled in quickly.
Both players were incredibly nibble in this match and got to some
wonderfully played drop shots that I thought were going to be winners!
Laura didn’t let Sarah control the middle and came through 11/5 to win
the first.
The second game it
really showed how much Sarah’s short game has improved and when Laura
didn’t keep the ball tight enough she cut the ball off on the volley
excellently. Laura was attacking Sarah a lot with her deadly boast and
even though Sarah was moving really well, she either couldn’t quite
reach them or it got her out of position so she would lose the point.
Laura was just that bit too consistent and didn’t give as many unforced
errors away as Sarah and this really made the difference for Laura to
come through 11/9 in the second.
The wonderful
retrieving continued from both players and they both wanted to control
the T and then use a variety of short shots to end the points. Sarah
did some brilliant holds that really stopped Laura in her tracks but
Laura played the big points so steadily and focused. Laura squeezed the
third 12-10 to go through to the quarterfinals on Saturday. Sarah put
in a great effort and certainly deserved to win at least one of the
games, but Laura’s ability to play the big points well is one of the
reasons she is world #2 and current world champion!
Laura said after her
match “I’m really happy to come off 3-0. I really feel Sarah is
consistent in her play and she really gets a lot of balls back, so I
had to stay calm and play the big points well. I’m looking forward to
playing Salma, I’ve never played her before and she’s obviously playing
really well so I’ll have to concentrate on playing the best I can”.
So here ends another
really exciting night of squash at The Heights Casino. It was certainly
a successful night for the Egyptian players with three team mates
already through to the quarter finals on Saturday! We all look
forward to the second half of the first round starting at 5.30pm
tomorrow night. See you again soon!
Summary of tonight’s 1st round (split first round) results….
