Former World No.3 Madeline Perry made a winning return to the PSA
World Tour after retiring from professional squash in April of last
year by winning the Squash NT Open, PSA W5 tournament - while home
hero Zac Alexander claimed the Men’s title in Darwin.
Perry, whose final match as a member of the Tour yielded the Irish
Open crown just over a year ago, entered the NT Open as a local and
put in a number of sensational performances to reach the final, with
second seed Sarah Cardwell, Tamika Saxby and Lakeesha Rarere all
being put to the sword by the 39-year-old.
The 15-time Irish Nationals winner came up against Australia’s Lisa
Camilleri in the final after the World No.80 had overturned a 2-1
deficit against Samantha Foyle in the previous round.
Perry was in superb form throughout the encounter and powered to an
11-5, 11-3, 11-2 victory to bring the curtain down on a sparkling
return to action.
Despite her success, Perry, who took up the post of Head
Professional at the East Coast Squash Academy in February, admits
that she has no plans of returning to the PSA World Tour full time.
“It was very strange to be back playing, but it was nice to play
with no pressure and feel relaxed and just enjoying playing
matches,” said Perry.
“My plans are just to continue with coaching. I may play the odd
event in the future as I still enjoy playing, but I have no plans to
train full time again or play a lot competitively.”
Meanwhile, Alexander came through a dramatic fixture with England’s
Adam Murrills to claim his fourth successive PSA World Tour title.
The former World No.36 was appearing at his first tournament of the
year but showed no signs of rustiness as he stormed into a 2-0 lead.
Murrills rallied and eventually levelled, but Alexander took the
deciding fifth game to close out the win and capture the 18th PSA
World Tour of his career.
There will be representation from six Australians in the
quarter-final stage of the Squash NT Open, PSA M5 tournament after
top seed Zac Alexander led his compatriots safely through their
first round encounters.
Alexander, who was a beaten finalist in last year’s tournament, was
in fine fettle throughout a dominant three-game salvo and stormed to
an 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 triumph to secure his place in the
quarter-final.
The World No.107 will meet Rohan Toole for a place in the showpiece
finale after the number seven seed ousted Jordan Till.
Australian qualifier Darcy Evans is one win away from reaching a
maiden PSA World Tour semi-final after he upset Thomas Calvert,
despite the 253 places between the pair in the World Rankings.
Second seed Adam Murrills is one of the few non-Australians to have
made it to the quarter-final and he will take on Evans after
sweeping past Mike Corren.
Meanwhile, Rhys Dowling overcame William Curtis to set up a meeting
with Joseph White in the next round after his opponent, Courtney
West, retired through injury.
David Clegg defeated wildcard Jason van der Walt and he will line up
against Mithran Selvaratnam in the other last eight fixture, with
Selvaratnam seeing off Solayman Nowrozi to progress.
