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 Australian
Open 2003
24-27 July,
North Adelaide, Australia, W$7.5k
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26-Jul,
Finals:
Dan Jenson bt Paul Price 12/15, 15/12, 15/11, 15/2
Sarah Fitz-Gerald bt Natalie Grinham 9/0, 9/2, 9/2
 FITZ
EQUALS HER
MUM'S RECORD
Five time world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald added yet another trophy to
her overflowing cabinet with a 9/0, 9/2, 9/2 demolition of Natalie
Grinham in the final, but admitted afterwards that equalling her Mum
Judy's
record of four Australian Open titles was the important thing.
"I've equalled mum and that was part
of my motivation for playing," Fitz-Gerald told AAP. "But not only that,
I love the Australian Open title, it's very dear to my heart. I'm really
pleased I did decide to come and play."
Fitz 'retired' from the world tour in February, but has clearly kept in
shape. She said she still trained hard and played to win, but
competition was now more about fun. Amongst other things she'd still
like to defend her Commonwealth Games title in 2006.
"Obviously I'm not as intense and my attitude on court is of a relaxed,
happy player," she said. "My whole attitude to training and everything
is a lot more relaxed which is nice. Now I actually get to enjoy my time
more at tournaments."
Fitz-Gerald dominated the final from the first point, and in the second
game a disputed call seemed to upset Grinham's concentration.
"Natalie is the type of player that if you give her an inch she'll take
a mile," Fitz-Gerald said. "If the call hadn't gone my way it could have
been pretty tight there for a while."
In the men's final Adelaide's second seed Dan Jenson overcame a slow
start to beat top seed Paul Price 12/15, 15/12, 15/11, 15/2.
Price dominated the first game before allowing Jenson some cheap points
but from then on the hometown favourite stormed back into the match.
A series of disputed calls in the third game appeared to upset Price who
was given a conduct warning for throwing his racket, and when some calls
again went Jenson's way in the fourth the Price's challenge faded.
"It's unfortunate a couple of
Australia's best players (David Palmer and Stewart Boswell) were not
here but it is still good to win the title," Jenson said.
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Coverage from SquashSA
Dan Jenson |
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Reports
& Results |
Women's Final:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt [2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) 9/0, 9/2, 9/2
Men's
Final:
[2] Dan Jenson (AUS) bt [1] Paul Price (AUS) 12/15, 15/12, 15/11, 15/2
Women's Semi-Finals:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt
[3] Heidi Mather (AUS) 9/0, 9/1, 9/1
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt
[4] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 9/6, 9/3, 9/4
Men's Semi-Finals:
[1] Paul Price (Aus) bt
[3/4] Cameron White (Aus) 15/10, 15/7, 15/10
[2] Dan Jenson (Aus) bt
Aaron Francomb (Aus) 15/11, 15/9, 15/5
Women's Quarter-Finals:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt
[6] Kasey Brown (AUS) 9/1, 9/0, 9/0
[3] Heidi Mather (AUS) bt
[8] Line Hansen (DEN) 5/9, 9/1, 9/1, 9/1
[4] Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt [5] Dianne Desira (AUS)
9/6, 9/4, 9/2
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt
[7] Karen Kronemeyer (NED) 9/0, 9/1, 9/0
Men's Quarter-Finals:
[1] Paul Price (Aus) bt [5/8] Byron Davis 15/9, 15/11, 15/10
[3/4] Cameron White (Aus) bt
[5/8] Mark Price (Aus)
Aaron Francomb (Aus) bt
Mark Ikin (Aus)
[2] Dan Jenson (Aus) bt
Wade Johnstone (Aus) 15/6, 15/7, 15/7
Men's 2nd round:
Luke Margan (Aus) 15/4, 15/3, 15/8
[5/8] Byron Davis (Aus) bt Kirby Sinclair (Aus) 15/10, 15/7, 15/12
[5/8] Mark Price (Aus) bt Callum O'Brien (Nzl) 15/13, 14/17,
15/13, 15/9
[3/4] Cameron White (Aus) bt James Rogers (Aus) 15/8, 15/7, 15/13
Aaron Francomb (Aus) bt Scott Huffer (Aus) 15/6, 15/4, 15/14
Mark Ikin (Aus) bt [5/8] Craig Rowland (Aus) 15/7, 15/9, 15/3
Wade Johnstone (Aus) bt [5/8] Tony James (Aus) 15/9, 15/14, 15/14
[2] Dan Jenson (Aus) bt Takehide Hota (Jap) 15/10, 15/7, 15/5
Women's
1st round:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt [Q] Kirsty Groves (AUS) 9-1, 9-1,
9-0
[6] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 5-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-5
[3] Heidi Mather (AUS) bt [Q] Cherelle Kelley (AUS) 9-1, 9-4, 9-2
[8] Line Hansen (DEN) bt Danielle Davis (AUS) 5-9, 9-6, 9-1, 9-2
[5] Dianne Desira (AUS) 9-7, 9-1, 9-5 bt Aisling Blake (IRL)
[4] Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt [Q] Margriet Huisman (NED) 9-2, 9-2, 9-4
[7] Karen Kronemeyer (NED) bt Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 3-9, 3-9, 9-5, 9-5,
9-3
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Mami Nishio (JPN) 9-5, 9-3, 9-1
TOP SEEDS SET FOR
ADELAIDE FINALS
It will be the top seeds contesting both men's an women's
finals in the Australian Open in Adelaide, as all four cruised to
victory in the semi-finals.
In the men's final Victoria's world no. 21 Paul Price
will face hometown favourite and world no. 29 Dan Jenson. Top
seed Price is just one match away from his first Australian Open title
after beating 3/4 seed Cameron White 15/10, 15/7, 15/10. Jenson cruised
to victory over Aaron Francomb 15/11, 15/9, 15/5 as the former world
number five continued his comeback from a series of injuries.
Five-time world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald
meanwhile stands on the verge of yet another title. Her 9/0, 9/1, 9/1
demolition of Heidi Mather in the semis maintained her bid for a
fourth Australian Open title, and she will face second seed Natalie
Grinham in the final after Grinham beat Amelia Pittock 9/6, 9/3, 9/4 in
the other semi.
22-Jul
JENSON HITTING
TOP FORM
SOUTH Australia's leading squash player Dan
Jenson is confident he has the game to claim his first Australian Open
crown, reports
The Advertiser from Australia.
Buoyant after successfully defending his Somerton Open title on Sunday,
Jenson will go into the Open at Memorial Drive's Next Generation as the
second seed.
Victorian Paul Price is top seed for the tournament starting tomorrow with
Pakistan's Ilyas Khan third.
Five-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald will defend her national title
as the women's top seed with Queenslander Natalie Grinham as No. 2.
"Being the national championship I'd love to win it," Jenson said. "I'm
happy with the way I'm hitting the ball and I'm looking forward to this
week. I'm confident I can get through to the final although I'm not
looking too far ahead. You have to be careful as there are some good players in the draw."
Jenson, who beat Victorian Cameron White in straight games at Somerton, is
regaining his true form after being plagued by injury in recent years.
After climbing to No. 5 in the world and top in Australia in 1999, Jenson
was robbed of two years of his career by a back injury.
He returned to the court last year, earning a berth in the quarter-finals
of the Australian Open before being ousted by world No. 2 Dave Palmer.
But a few months later he was again on the sidelines, this time for four
months with a knee problem.
"I've been back for four or five months now and spent a few months playing
in England," Jenson said. "My overseas form was okay but I've been hitting
the ball much better in recent weeks."
Jenson was a late inclusion in the Aussie Series in Sydney last week where
he won two of his three matches in the four-man series. After going down
to Palmer, Jenson overcame Price in a tough five-game encounter and then
beat top junior Aaron Frankcomb.
In fact, the last two meetings between Jenson and Price have being decided
in five gruelling games. Price beat Jenson 17-16 in the fifth to win their
NSW Open battle last year.
15-Jul
FITZ RETURNS TO TOUR
FOR AUSTRALIAN OPEN
 Australia's five-times World Squash Champion
Sarah Fitz-Gerald will make a one-off comeback on the WISPA World Tour
when she competes in the Australian Open in Adelaide.
Unbeaten over the previous eighteen months, Fitz-Gerald announced her
retirement from the WISPA tour in February, three months after clinching
her record fifth World title in Qatar. The triumph marked the 61st WISPA
title of her career and the 12th of the year, including the Commonwealth
Games gold medal and her second British Open title.
"My national title is very important to me and as long as I am capable
of playing, I'll always want to compete in the Australian Open," said
the three-times champion from Melbourne. "This year I'll have tough
competition from Natalie Grinham and other Australian youngsters, but
I'm really looking forward to it."
The 34-year-old unranked squash star, still unbeaten since August 2001,
has been nominated as top seed for the event from 24-27 July - ahead of
Queenslander Natalie Grinham, ranked eight in the world.
"Normally non-WISPA players would have to go through the qualifiers,"
said WISPA Director Andrew Shelley. "But the board made a special
ruling, just for her national title this year only, that only players in
the top four in the world would have been seeded ahead of Sarah - as it
helps all the other players in the draw not having Sarah totally out of
position in the qualification."
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2002
Event
Australian Open, 27-30
June, Adelaide, Australia
Stewart Boswell claimed the Australian Open title in
Adelaide, coming from two down to beat Anthony Ricketts, while Sarah Fitz-Gerald
retained the women's title, recording her 51st straight win and her 58th
career tour victory, breaking the 57 mark set by compatriot Michelle Martin.
Men's Final:
[2] Stewart Boswell bt [3] Anthony Ricketts 13-15, 9-15,
15-9, 15-2, 15-11
Women's Final:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald bt [2] Laura Keating 9-0, 9-2, 9-0
Men's Semi-finals:
[3] Anthony Ricketts bt [1] David Palmer 15-17,
15-8, 15-12, 15-14
[2] Stewart Boswell bt [4] Paul Price 15-8, 15-5, 15-5
Women's Semi-finals:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt [6] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 9-1, 9-2, 9-2
[2] Laura Keating (AUS) bt [3] Karen Morrissey (AUS) 6-9, 5-9, 9-2, 9-6,
9-3
Men's Quarter-Finals (all AUS):
[1] David Palmer bt [5] Dan Jenson 15-13, 15-11, 9-15, 15-13
[3] Anthony Ricketts bt [6] Cameron White 15-9, 15-6, 15-10
[4] Paul Price bt [8] Byron Davis 15-4, 15-13, 15-7
[2] Stewart Boswell bt [7] Cameron Pilley 13-15, 15-3, 15-5, 15-6
Women's Quarter-finals:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt Heidi Mather (AUS) 9-1, 9-5, 9-0
[6] Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt [4] Naluge Guy (PNG) 9-7, 9-3, 9-2
[3] Karen Morrissey (AUS) bt [8] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 5-9, 9-2, 9-0, 9-3
[2] Laura Keating (AUS) bt [5] Karen Kronemeyer (NED) 9-3, 9-0, 9-6
Men's First Round:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt Mark Price (AUS) 15-2 15-6 15-5
[5] Dan Jenson (AUS) bt Luke Margan (AUS) 15-7 15-5 15-4
[6] Cameron White (AUS) bt [Q] Ryan Smith (AUS) 14-15 15-7 15-14 15-9
[3] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Paul Davis (AUS) 15-3 15-3 15-4
[4] Paul Price (AUS) bt Jhie Gough (AUS) 15-10 15-7 15-10
[8] Byron Davis (AUS) bt James Rogers (AUS) 15-13 17-14 15-12
[7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Jason Groves (AUS) 15-10 15-5 15-10
[2] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Kirby Sinclair (AUS) 15-10 15-5 15-6
Women's First round:
[1] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (AUS) bt Tanya Bone (AUS) 9-0 9-2 9-0
Heidi Mather (AUS) bt [7] Dianne Desira (AUS) 9-0 9-1 6-9 2-9 9-5
[4] Naluge Guy (PNG) bye
[6] Amelia Pittock (AUS) bt Jemma Saxby (AUS) 9-1 9-1 9-1
[8] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) bt Dani Davis (AUS) 9-2 9-3 9-4
[3] Karen Morrissey (AUS) bye
[5] Karen Kronemeyer (NED) bye
[2] Laura Keating (AUS) bt Kirsty Groves (AUS) 9-1 9-2 9-0
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