Carol Weymuller Quarters Report by Linda Elriani
Joelle King photo Jean Ervasti
October 3, 2015 -
Tonight is quarter finals night of the 2015 Carol Weymuller Open. The
quarter finals night is always my favorite night at tournaments because
it’s four extremely high quality matches all on one court. The weather
for most of today was so rainy and grey, but the atmosphere here in the
Heights Casino squash courts was vibrant, exciting and fun!
Today we had the junior ‘Play a Pro’ which ran from 2.00pm-3.00pm
before the quarterfinals. It’s our juniors chance to get on court with
some of the best women’s squash players in the world. That doesn’t
happen every day! A huge thank you goes to Emma Beddoes, Alison Waters,
Jenny Duncalf, Yathreb Adel, Laura Massaro, Donna Urquhart, Samantha
Teran and Heba El Torky for taking the time to play with them. They all
gave up part of their afternoon to play with our juniors and the kids
all had such an amazing time. The PSA women are so great at giving back
and spreading the joy and love of squash to others.
This weekend we are also running our first Weymuller Pro-Am hard ball
doubles event. Four pros, Line Hansen, Nicolette Fernandes, Emma
Beddoes and Latasha Khan teamed up with our keen doubles members and
hit the doubles court! The final is tomorrow so we’ll see which pro can
turn their hand to a different racket sport the best!
First up on the championship court was the world #24m Joshana Chinappa
from India and against fellow Egyptian qualifier Salma Hany Ibrahim,
who is world # 20. Both players have fought their way from the
qualifying rounds and well and truly earned their place in the quarter
finals here tonight. In the head to heads Joshana is 3-0 up even though
her ranking is slightly lower than Salma’s.
This was definitely the match of the night! Both players really put it
all out there on the court and give it their absolute best to earn
their place in the Weymuller semi-final.
Salma can out in the first game in control and managed to push to a 6-2
and 7-4 lead but it wasn’t long until Joshana started to find her
length and then consequently started to get Salma off the T where she
likes to be to slot in her wonderful short shots. There were a few lets
asked for at the front backhand and many were no lets and before we
knew it Joshana finished off the first game 11/9 with some precise
drops and tight drives.
The second game was even through to 4-4 and then Salma started to pull
away with the help of a few errors from Joshana and a couple of loose
services where Salma hit two cross court volleys on the forehand
straight into the nick! Salma took the second 11/8 to even the match up
at 1-1.
In the third game Salma kept the pressure on and used her short game at
every opportunity. Both players were enjoying using the front backhand
corner but Salma’s shorts were particularly accurate in the third.
Salma took the third game 11/5 winning the last point with a forehand
cross court winner from the back and to take a 2-1 lead.
The fourth started out evenly but both players were a little tense and
some unforced errors crept in. It was Joshana that took the momentum to
the next level near the end of the game and Salma was left having to
cover the court and suck up the pressure as much as she could to keep
in the game. Salma did a huge dive at the front forehand which resulted
in a cut on her elbow and a time out to stop the bleeding. Joshana
pushed ahead with an array of great short shots and a loose forehand
drop from the back from Salma gave Joshana the chance to step onto it
and hit a wonderful dying cross court to take the match to the fifth.
With both players taking out higher ranked players you could see that
today they were playing more cautiously than their last matches where
they had nothing to lose and were playing free and relaxed.
The fifth game was very even all the way through with many creative
winners, wonderful movement and both players hunting for the ball to
volley and take control of the T. There were lots of lets (some
resulting in ‘no let’) with both players not wanted to go through off
balanced and risk playing a loose shot especially with both players
having such great short games. At 10-9 match ball Joshana put Salma in
one last pressure situation resulting in her forehand drive going out
of court to give Joshana her very much deserved place in the semi final.
After the epic fiver setter was over I asked Joshana how she felt, “I
feel great, I really do. It was such a hard match and at one point I
really didn’t think I was going to make it! I really hung in there as I
much as I could. I’m really looking forward to playing in the semi’s
tomorrow.
Second on court was the Sarah-Jane Perry from England who is world #15
against Joelle King from New Zealand who came off a great win yesterday
against the 3 seed Alison Waters. They had only played once and that
match went down to the wire with Joelle winning 11-9 in the fifth!
This match was very difference than the first, with the ball mostly
being played to the back of the court deep with long rallies. Joelle
started the match in fine form and surged ahead with some perfect
purposeful drives and wonderful short shots to take a 10-5 lead.
Sarah-Jane gave a big push and managed to regain some control of the T
but it all happened a little too late and Joelle won the first 11/9.
The points stayed more even in the second until Joelle climbed away
from 5-5 to 10-5 again. The same push came from Sarah-Jane as in the
first and this time she managed to even things up to 10-10. With both
players being more than 6 foot tall they play their best squash when
right up on the T and taking everything on the volley. They both were
vying for the control of the middle but it was Joelle that came through
with the help of a tin from Sarah-Jane to take the second 13-11.
Joelle followed the same pattern and started the third in fine fettle.
Joelle was playing the ball so tight and controlling the middle so well
that it was really exposing Sarah-Jane’s movement, where she sometimes
struggles to twist and turn. Before we knew it Joelle was 5-1 then 9-6
up. Sarah-Jane was not going out without a fight and she battled
to stay in the match which included some banter with the referee!
Joelle eventually came through the very tight 3 game match 11/9.
A happy Joelle said afterwards “I guess I’m happy to finish that off in
3! I felt I played well in patches and SJ kept coming back at me,
especially at the end of each game. I’m really happy to win the 3rd and
come back from 9-6 down. I’m looking forward to being back in the semi
finals tomorrow and hopefully I can play well.”
The third match of the evening was an all Egyptian quarter final with
team mates Omneya Abdel Kawy and Nour El Sherbini playing one another.
They are world 6 and 7 respectively. In the head to head in PSA event
it’s 1-1 so it would going to be interesting to see if age and
experience over ruled and the vibrant youngster.
The first game was very closely contested with both players going for
their winners as soon as possible during the rallies. Omneya got to
game ball first at 10-8 but Nour made her team mate work hard to
finally win the game 12-10.
In the second game Nour was very simply on fire! Nour could NOT miss!
Omneya didn’t have an answer to any of Nour’s play. Nour made no errors
and played a very smart game with many amazing winners thrown in which
made Omneya look a little flat and sluggish. Nour won the second in an
impressive 11/1.
The third followed a very similar tone and Nour went 8-2 up before
Omneya could even think about what she needed to do. Omneya started to
go for some desperate shots to try and get some points back but it
didn’t pay off. Nour won the third 11/4.
Nour took a 3-1 lead in the fourth and we thought she would go straight
through like the last two games, but Omneya started to find a better
length and control the T and started to look more relaxed and fluid so
she could start to use her deadly front court winners. Nour also lost
her previous great straight length and started cross courting which
Omneya took full advantage of. Omneya pushed to get a 9-7 lead.
Some wonderful retrieving and great tactical play got Nour to her first
match ball at 10-9. Omneya gave one last push before Nour went through
to win the fourth 12-10 taking her into the semi finals tomorrow.
A smiling Nour said “I’m really, really glad I won that! I really
wanted to win so badly! Omneya is so talented and she’d not just my
team mate, she’d like my big sister. She’s definitely more experienced
than me as she’s 10 years older! Her shots weren’t working for her
today she hit a lot of tins. I’m really happy to be through, I just
needed this match to give me more confidence. Even though Omneya wasn’t
at her best, in the end I was praying that she would put it in the
tin!!”
Last up on the championship court, but certainly not least was the
world #1 Raneem El Welily against Hong Kong’s on form Joey Chan who is
world #29.
The match started well with both players looking to find their rhythm.
Raneem was trying to take the ball in short whenever possible whilst
Joey was trying to make the rallies longer, slow down the pace and keep
the ball on the walls. With the playing styles of these two players
being very different the rallies they were won in very varied
ways. The points went to and fro evenly all the way through and
at 14-13 Raneem won the game with a back wall nick off a great lob.
In the second game the pattern stayed the same with both players trying
to get their own style and rhythm over the other. Raneem looked as if
she was struggling to get herself up a gear when needed and Joey played
so steadily and error free that Raneem really had to win all her points
as Joey wasn’t giving any away to her. Raneem showed us quick flashes
of her brilliance and there was enough to pull herself through 11/7.
The third game was a continued battle for Raneem to find her usual
graceful rhythm and Joey was doing a fantastic job of putting up some
lobs and using her great fading drops in the front to out position
Raneem. The score was even at 7-7 and suddenly Raneem found a few
points where she could put the ball away. Raneem when through to win
the match 11-8 in the third.
Raneem clearly wasn’t playing her best squash but the true sign of a
champion is still managing to find a way to win even on your not so
good days!
After the match Raneem said “I’m feeling OK, a bit too calm and slow
and I’m trying to be more energetic. The court is so hot and obviously
the ball is too bouncy so I’m trying to find myself between all of
that! I’m happy that we have an Egyptian finalist either way and hope
that tomorrow will be a better day!”
Here ends yet another amazing evening of squash. We really have been
treated to some wonderful matches and the players are such incredible
athletes. We can’t wait for the semi finals tomorrow at 2.30pm and
3.15pm to see who will make it through to the Weymuller Open final.
After the completion of the quarterfinals we had drinks, food and great
music, as always, from our fab DJ Nudie on the squash level.
There is a Sunday Weymuller Brunch from 12pm-2pm before the matches. Please call the front desk if you would like to come.
Summary of Saturday's results…
3.30pm Joshana Chinappa beat Salma Hany Ibrahim 11/9. 8/11, 5/11, 11/8, 11/9.
4.15pm Joelle King beat Sarah-Jane Perry 11/9, 13/11, 11/9.
