Perry Powers To Career-Biggest Title At Granite Open
Just
five days after winning the British National crown for the first time,
England's Sarah-Jane Perry powered to the biggest international
squash title of her career after upsetting India's Dipika Pallikal
in the final of the Women's Granite Open in Canada.
Success in the WSA International 25 event in its fourth year at
the Granite Club in Toronto marks the 24-year-old from
Kenilworth's eighth WSA World Tour title - and her first ever win over
Pallikal, the world No.13 from Chennai, in three meetings since October
2011.
Fourth
seed Perry, the world No.16, made it to her 11th Tour final after
overcoming top seed and defending champion Amanda Sobhy - ranked
six places higher - in the semi-finals.
But it
was Pallikal who had the upper hand in the opening game, with Perry
making too many unforced errors. The English underdog corrected this in
the second, pulling away from six-all to level the match.
Perry
maintained the momentum in the third, racing to a 6-2 lead. But
23-year-old Pallikal fought back to level at 10-10, before Perry
clinched the game 12-10.
Pallikal twice led in the fourth at 6-5 and 7-6 - but the Indian number
one was unable to fend off Perry, who took five points in a row on the
way to her 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-7 triumph, and her second Granite Open
title since 2013.
"I'm
thrilled to win my second Granite title,"
exclaimed the jubilant champion. "I love it
here and it seems to make me play well. A fantastic tournament as always
and I'm already looking forward to coming back next year.
"It's
been a tough couple of weeks - I'm looking forward to a few days off now
before Chicago!"
Last
week in England, Perry overcame fellow countrywomen Alison Waters
and Laura Massaro, ranked three and five in the world,
respectively, en-route to winning the British National Championship
title against expectations.
Perry
succinctly summed up her February success to her followers on Twitter:
"9 days. 8 matches. 35 games. 474 minutes. 2
titles .... AND RELAX"
Perry
Downs Champion Sobhy To Make Granite Final
England's Sarah-Jane Perry continued the giant-killing run she
began last week on the other side of the Atlantic when she defeated
defending champion and top seed Amanda Sobhy in the semi-finals
of the Women's Granite Open at the Granite Club in
Toronto.
Perry,
the world No.16 from Kenilworth, arrived in Canada later than
anticipated after overcoming fellow countrywomen Alison Waters
and Laura Massaro, ranked three and five in the world,
respectively, en-route to winning the British National Championship
title for the first time against expectations.
Seed
four in Toronto, Perry romped to a 2/0 lead over Sobhy before the world
No10 fought back to draw level.
But
the 24-year-old English underdog - in her maiden meeting with US number
one Sobhy - dug deep to regain the initiative before closing out the
match 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6.
"Unfortunately lost out 3-2 to a solid @SJPerry15," tweeted Sobhy later.
"Fought well to come back from 2-0 down, but lost juice in the end. Fun
match to play tho"
Perry
progresses to meet Dipika Pallikal, the third seed who survived a
four-game battle with fellow Indian Joshana Chinappa, winning
11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.
Perry,
the 2013 Granite Open champion, was delighted with her continuing
success in Toronto: "Really happy to be through to the final after a few
tough matches. Looking forward to the final.
"It's
been a while since I last played Dipika so it should be interesting. I
will definitely be having a couple of days of well-deserved rest
afterwards."
Perry
was given a stern test in her opening match in the event - needing
almost an hour to see off fellow Briton Deon Saffery, the world
No.45 from Wales.
"That
was a tough first match," Perry recalled. "It was always going to be
after only arriving late on Monday but Deon came out firing, making it
very difficult for me. She didn't let up the whole match and I was
chuffed to be able to push through against such a tough opponent who was
playing well.
"Everyone keeps reminding me I'm British Champion, which feels great but
I've got a job to do here and a really tough match ahead of me in the
next round so I'm just keeping my focus on that for now."
Indian Duo Set Up Surprise Granite Semi
Indian
squash hierarchy will be put to the test in the semi-finals of the
Women's Granite Open in Canada when the country's top two players
Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa meet for a place in the
final of the WSA International 25 event marking its fourth year
at the Granite Club in Toronto.
Seventh seed Chinappa produced the unexpected clash after upsetting
second-seeded Australian Rachael Grinham 11-1, 11-8, 11-6 in 23
minutes.
The
former world number one and world champion from Queensland was taken to
five games in the opening round - just hours after landing in Toronto
after a flight from Australia - and was clearly now feeling the effects.
"Playing Rachael is always hard,"
said Chinappa, the world No.21 from Chennai. "I
felt that she didn't play her usual game today. I am quite glad to have
won in three."
Chinappa (pictured above being advised between games by South African
number one Siyoli Waters) will now do battle with compatriot
Pallikal - with whom she made history last year by winning India's first
squash gold medal in the Commonwealth Games with a sensational
and unexpected triumph in the Women's Doubles in Scotland.
The
third seed, also from Chennai, was fully extended by England's
experienced Jenny Duncalf before beating the No.5 seed 11-8,
9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 13-11 in 75 minutes.
"Really happy to win,"
said a delighted 23-year-old Pallikal later.
"Jen played really well today. I knew I had to stick in there and play
the rallies out.
"When
I was match ball down, I told myself to play the rallies out and stay in
there for as long as it takes. And that really helped. Happy to win!"
There
will be English interest in the other semi-final where newly-crowned
British National champion Sarah-Jane Perry takes on top seed
Amanda Sobhy.
Perry,
the fourth seed from Kenilworth, was taken to four games by Line
Hansen before overcoming the unseeded Dane 11-5, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5.
"I
started well but as the match went on Line found more and more shots,"
explained 24-year-old Perry.
"She was slotting anything I left loose!
"After
she took the third, I knew I had to get back in front and try and
control the pace. Thankfully it worked and I'm really pleased to be
through to the semis."
Sobhy,
the 21-year-old world No.10 from the USA who has taken time off from her
final year studies at Harvard University to defend her Granite title,
beat Malaysia's Delia Arnold 11-6, 11-3, 11-8.
"Happy
to win in three today against Delia,"
said Sobhy. "She's a strong player and put the
ball away if I gave her anything loose in the middle.
"Now I
play SJ tomorrow. We have never played before so it should be a good
match."
Seeds Suffer In Toronto Tests
While
defending champion and favourite Amanda Sobhy quickly progressed
to the quarter-finals of the Women's Granite Open in Canada,
seeds Nicolette Fernandes and Joey Chan both crashed out
of the first round of the WSA International 25 squash event
marking its fourth year at the Granite Club in Toronto.
Sixth
seed Fernandes, the world No.20 from Guyana, took the opening two games
against Malaysian Delia Arnold. But the Kuala Lumpur-born world
No.28 soon recovered the advantage, closing out the next three games to
score an impressive 10-12, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 upset.
Arnold's reward is a clash with world No.10 Sobhy, the 21-year-old from
the USA who took time out from her studies at Harvard University to
defend her Toronto title. Sobhy despatched New Zealand qualifier
Amanda Landers-Murphy 12-10, 11-1, 11-2 in just 22 minutes.
"Happy
to be back at the Granite Open,"
said the young New Yorker. "When I saw it on
the calendar, I knew I was going to miss that week of school because
there was no way I was going to miss this event!"
It was
Danish number one Line Hansen who caused the other upset, seeing
off Joey Chan, the No.8 seed from Hong Kong, 11-9, 11-6, 4-11,
11-8.
Hansen, the world No.27 from Odense, will now face fourth seed
Sarah-Jane Perry, the world No.16 from England competing in her
first Tour event since winning the British National title last week
against expectations.
"Joey
has really good hands so I tried to give her as little time as
possible,"
said Hansen after her shock win. "I think it
worked in big parts of the match. Really happy with the win and looking
forward to playing the British Champion tomorrow, aka SJ!! By the way
LOVE this event!!"
Perry
was made to work hard to earn her place in the last eight, needing 55
minutes to beat Welsh qualifier Deon Saffery 11-13, 11-7, 11-6,
12-10.
"That
was tough," said 24-year-old Perry. "Deon was really up for it and
played some great squash and made it very difficult for me.
"I
love it here at Granite, so I am glad to be back but also looking
forward to some rest before tomorrow's match."
Hopes
of home success on day one looked strong when Canadian qualifier
Samantha Cornett opened up a two-game lead over second seed
Rachael Grinham.
But
the experienced Australian, a former world number one and world
champion, dug deep to claim a 9-11, 11-13, 13-11, 11-6, 11-6 victory in
55 minutes.
"I'm
obviously happy to get through,"
said Grinham, the world No.12 from Queensland who stepped off the plane
from Australia only hours before the match!
"Sam really played well in the first two. I just hung in there and got
the third and then mentally the match swung my way."
Grinham will now line up against seventh seed Joshana Chinappa,
the Indian number two who joins Indian number one Dipika Pallikal
in the quarter-finals.
