French qualifier Vincent Droesbeke and home player Tamika Saxby
captured the South Australian Open, PSA M5 & W5 titles, respectively
after triumphing in their final fixtures at the Campbelltown Leisure
Centre in Adelaide.
Droesbeke, 24, followed up his victories in the qualification stage
with a fine run of form that saw him secure three consecutive 3-0
wins to reach the final, while his opponent there, South Korea’s Ko
Youngjo, was appearing in his third straight Tour final after
beating Australian veteran Mike Corren in the last four.
It was Youngjo who took the early initiative after a consistent
display from the World No.186 enabled him to go a game to the good
by a narrow two-point margin.
Droesbeke responded well and soon restored parity to proceedings
thanks to a comfortable second-game victory, only to find himself on
the back-foot again shortly afterwards when Youngjo restored his
lead, coming out on top of a fiercely-fought tie-break.
But Droesbeke refused to go down and the World No.232 steadied the
ship with a magnificent 11-2 win in the fourth, before dominating
the deciding game to seal his maiden PSA World Tour title.
Saxby, meanwhile, was unseeded coming into the event, but boasted
three successive title wins over the past two months as she locked
horns with Hong Kong’s Tong Tsz-Wing in the Women’s final.
Tsz-Wing had won her last two tournaments, with the most recent of
those triumphs coming in Australia at the Tasmanian Open, and the
imperious form of both players saw them clash in a dramatic
four-game fixture, with both players claiming a game each on the
tie-break in the early stages.
Saxby then came out on top of a crucial third game to take the lead
and she held off the attentions of Tsz-Wing in a tight fourth game
to wrap up a 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10 victory.
World No.63 Lisa Camilleri had to draw on all 15 years of her
experience to prevail in a nail-biting five-game battle with New
Zealand qualifier Emma Millar in the opening round of the Women’s
South Australian Open, PSA W5 tournament.
The 33-year-old twice went a game to the good, only to be pegged
back by a dogged Millar on both occasions. But Camilleri’s
experience eventually shone through as she stormed to victory in the
deciding fifth game for the loss of just two points, closing out a
hard-fought 11-5, 15-17, 11-8, 8-11, 11-2 triumph to secure her
place in the next round.
A meeting with fellow Australian Selena Shaikh awaits Camilleri
after Shaikh swept to victory against compatriot Taylor Flavell.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Vanessa Chu got her tournament off to a
winning start by easing to a straight games win over Tanya Marlor.
The number one seed advances to do battle with Jasmine Chan in the
quarter-final, with Chan overcoming Alex Haydon in four games.
Chu’s compatriot, Tong Tsz-Wing, will go up against Lakeesha Rarere
in another of the last eight fixtures after they rose to respective
wins over Elspeth Young and Samantha Calvert.
Tamika Saxby and Yura Choi, meanwhile, will contest the other
quarter-final fixture. Saxby, who has won her last three PSA World
Tour events, beat number four seed Jessica Turnbull 3-2, while Choi
overcame Stephanie Wighton by the same scoreline.
Top seed Rhys Dowling recovered from a game down to defeat fellow
Australian Solayman Nowrozi and move into the quarter-final of the
South Australian Open, PSA M5 tournament held in the Campbelltown
Leisure Centre in Adelaide.
Dowling, the World No.140, reached the same stage at last year’s
event, but went a game behind after a strong start from Nowrozi
threatened to upset the pre-tournament title favourite. However,
Dowling recovered and took the next three games without reply to
seal the win with an 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 scoreline.
Darwin-born Dowling will take on Swiss qualifier Luca Wilhelmi for a
place in the semi-final, with Wilhelmi seeing off the challenge of
Joel Luca to seal a second career last eight berth.
Third seed Thomas Calvert was the highest-ranked home player to bow
out on the opening day of action after he slumped to a surprise
defeat against India’s Sandeep Ramachandran. Ramachandran, who
battled through qualification to reach the main draw, looked to be
heading out after going one game down, but he fought back to claim
the victory in four, setting up a meeting with Australian veteran
Mike Corren, who dispatched Vivian Rhamanan, in the process.
South Korea’s Ko Youngjo will also compete in the quarter-final
after overcoming compatriot Chang Wook Woo in straight games to
ensure that he will take on Elliot Selby in the next round after the
Englishman beat Courtney West.
World No.232 Vincent Droesbeke became the third qualifier to advance
to the last eight after he 24-year-old claimed a 3-0 victory over
number four seed David Clegg and he will pit his wits against Jong
Myoung Park next thanks to Park’s win against Alex Eustace.
Three Australians sealed their places in the main draw of the
Women’s South Australian Open, PSA W5 tournament after qualification
came to a close at the Campbelltown Leisure Centre in Adelaide.
Taylor Flavell enjoyed the most one-sided match of the day as she
eased to an 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 victory at the expense of compatriot
Lauren Aspinall.
Flavell moves on to the main draw where she will line up against
fellow Australian Selena Shaikh, the World No.119 who reached the
quarter-final stage at last year’s tournament.
Alex Haydon and Tanya Marlor will also compete amongst the main draw
action after they rose to respective victories over Alison Skinner
and Rebecca Bergamin.
Jasmine Chan stands in between Haydon and a place in the last eight,
while Marlor has the distinction of facing the title favourite
Vanessa Chu in round one.
Emma Millar was the only non-Australian to progress from the
qualifying stages after she received a bye, and she will do battle
with number three seed Lisa Camilleri.
Top qualifying seed Luca Wilhelmi played to his seeding to advance
past the final round of qualifying at the South Australian Open, PSA
M5 tournament after a commanding win against South Korea’s Daehoon
Jeong.
Wilhelmi, the World No.268, dominated the court at the Campbelltown
Leisure Centre and strode to an 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 triumph to reach
the main draw.
Up next for Wilhelmi is a first round encounter with number eight
seed Joel Luca, who will be looking to improve on his first round
exit during the 2014 iteration of this tournament.
Jeong may have bowed out in the final qualifying round stage, but
his compatriot, Chang Wook Woo, secured his main draw spot after a
dramatic five-game battle with New Zealand’s Eric Millar.
With the scores delicately poised at one-game apiece after a tight
opening to the match, Chang stormed to an 11-0 win in the third,
only to let Millar back into the encounter in game four to set up a
decider. From there, Chang finally managed to get back on top of his
opponent and held out to claim the victory and set up a main draw
clash with fellow South Korean Ko Youngjo.
Meanwhile, Sandeep Ramachandran and Vincent Droesbeke also moved
through to the main draw after wins over Mohamed Saeed and Alex
Oswald, respectively. Ramachandran will go head-to-head with Thomas
Calvert in the next stage, while Droesbeke will take on David Clegg.
