30/08/2007
FOREXX DUTCH OPEN
Top Seeds Take Dutch Open Titles
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Women's Draw
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Men's Draw |
Top
Seeds Take Dutch Open Titles
Top
seeds Nicol David and David Palmer claimed the titles in the
Forexx Dutch Open Squash Championships after two highly contrasting
finals at the Frans Otten Stadion in the
Netherlands capital city
Amsterdam.
A
devastating display by defending champion Nicol David in the climax
of the eighth WISPA Gold event of the year saw the world number one
from
Malaysia defeat Australian rival Rachael Grinham, the No3 seed, 9-4,
9-1, 9-6 in just 35 minutes.
It was
David's 14th successive win over the former world number one from
Queensland who upset her higher-ranked sister Natalie Grinham in the
semi-finals to reach her 41st Tour final.
David,
the 24-year-old from Penang who is based in
Amsterdam, was competing in her 16th successive WISPA World
Tour final after a similarly decisive straight games win over Natalie
Grainger, the world No5 from the USA, in the semi-finals.
The
triumph extends David's WISPA title haul to six this year, and to 22 over
her career since February 2000.
In the
men's final, world champion David Palmer needed 97 minutes to overcome
surprise opponent Laurens Jan Anjema, the in-form local hero from
The
Hague who has been training with Palmer for the past six months.
It was
only the pair's second ever meeting on the PSA Tour, but 24-year-old
Dutch National champion Anjema - the third seed and winner of the Open title
in 2004 - delighted the packed and partisan crowd when he established a 2/1
lead over the experienced world number three after two dramatic tie-break
games.
But
31-year-old Palmer fought back to level the match - then maintained the
upper hand in the fifth to grind out an 11-10 (5-3), 1-11, 10-11 (3-5),
11-1, 11-6 victory.
The
success marks the 21st PSA Tour title of Palmer's career - and
extends his lead ahead of Frenchman Thierry Lincou, with 18 titles,
as the current player with the most Tour trophies to his name.
LJ
Makes Forexx Final
Laurens Jan Anjema
delighted the partisan crowd at the Frans Otten Stadion in the
Netherlands capital city
Amsterdam
when he secured an unexpected place in the men's final of the Forexx
Dutch Open Squash Championships after beating Egypt's Omar
Elborolossy in straight games.
The
Dutchman will face
Australia's top seed David Palmer, while the final of the women's
WISPA Gold event will also see the top seed take on the No3 seed when
Malaysia's Nicol David meets Australia's Rachael Grinham.
Anjema, winner of the Dutch National title for the first time this year,
faced an opponent who 24 hours earlier had battled to a 74-minute shock win
over No2 seed Olli Tuominen. The fresher 24-year-old from The Hague
romped to a 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 win over the seventh-seeded Elborolossy in 42
minutes, to secure his 15th appearance in a PSA Tour final - and
his third this year.
The
other men's semi-final followed a remarkably similar path, with Palmer
taking just a minute longer to despatch
England's Alister Walker, the fourth seed, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5. The
Antwerp-based world champion is now celebrating his 45th time in
a Tour final.
After
being stretched to four games by Irish opponent Madeline Perry in the
quarter-finals, Nicol David was in devastating form in the semi-finals -
crushing fourth seed Natalie Grainger, the in-form
USA
champion who won the Pan American Games gold medal in July, 9-2, 9-4,
9-2 in 32 minutes.
The
24-year-old Malaysian superstar from Penang is now in the 35th
WISPA World Tour final of her brief career - but it is also her 16th
in a row since winning the World Open in
Hong
Kong in December 2005!
By
contrast, it took David's opponent 72 minutes to reach the climax. It was
the Grinham sisters' 15th international meeting since February
2001, but this time it was the older sibling Rachael who prevailed - for the
first time for more than a year - when she upset Amsterdam-based second seed
Natalie Grinham 9-4, 6-9, 9-6, 9-2 after a hard-fought 72-minute
encounter.
Rachael, the Cairo-based former world number one from
Queensland, will be making her 41st Tour final appearance - and
looking to end a 13-match losing sequence to Nicol David since the pair met
in the Qatar Airways Challenge in April 2005.
Omar Ousts Olli In Dutch Open Upset
Egypt's Omar Elborolossy claimed his first top twenty scalp since
making his PSA Tour comeback after a an 18-month injury lay-off when
he upset No2 seed Olli Tuominen in a 74-minute marathon men's
quarter-final in the Forexx Dutch Open Squash Championships at
Frans Otten Stadion in the Netherlands capital city Amsterdam.
In the
women's WISPA Gold event,
Malaysia's defending champion Nicol David secured her anticipated
place in the semi-finals - but the top seed was fully stretched by Ireland's
Madeline Perry before winning in 64 minutes.
Elborolossy, a former world No14, started at 306 in the world rankings when
he stepped back on court in July last year - but has since leapt to 39 as he
re-establishes himself amongst the Tour's elite. The 31-year-old from
Cairo
took a two game lead against Tuominen before the world No18 from Finland
fought back to draw level.
But
seventh seed Elborolossy regained the upper hand to record an impressive
11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8 victory after 74 minutes - and an unexpected
berth in the semi-finals.
His
opponent will be local hero Laurens Jan Anjema, the No3 seed from
The
Hague who beat England's defending champion Bradley Ball, the fifth
seed, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 in 52 minutes.
Top
seed David Palmer will face fourth seed Alister Walker in the
other semi-final. Palmer, the reigning world champion from
Australia, beat Italy's sixth seed Davide Bianchetti 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
while Englishman Walker dispatched Dutchman Dylan Bennett, the No8
seed, 10-11 (0-2), 11-8, 11-6, 11-7.
Women's title-holder Nicol David is one match away from her 16th
successive WISPA World Tour final since winning the World Open
in
Hong
Kong in December 2005. But her Irish opponent Madeline Perry, the
No7 seed, was in inspired form as she took the opening game and led in the
fourth - heading for a fifth game decider.
But
top-seeded Malaysian was in no mood to end her incredible Tour run in her
adopted home town of
Amsterdam. David upped the pressure to regain the fourth game lead and
close out an 8-10, 9-6, 9-3, 9-7 win after 64 minutes.
Nicol
will now meet US and Pan American Games champion Natalie Grainger,
the No4 seed who also had to recover from a game down to beat Egypt's sixth
seed Omneya Abdel Kawy 6-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-0.
The
other semi-final will be an all-Grinham affair between Australian sisters
Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grinham. Third seed Rachael, the
older of the pair, disappointed the local crowd by defeating 10-times Dutch
champion Vanessa Atkinson 2-9, 9-5, 9-1, 9-3.
Second
seed Natalie Grinham scored the only straight games win in the women's
event, beating French qualifier Isabelle Stoehr 9-7, 9-6, 9-0.
Stoehr
Stuns Botwright In Dutch Open
Marathon
In a
match which was both players' longest ever, French qualifier Isabelle
Stoehr clinched a magnificent five-game upset over fifth seed
Vicky
Botwright
in the
women's first round of the Forexx Dutch Open Squash Championships at
Frans Otten Stadion in the Netherlands capital city Amsterdam.
All
eight seeds progressed through to the quarter-finals of the men's event -
but two were stretched in matches lasting more than 80 minutes before
overcoming qualifiers in the 2-star
PSA
Tour
event.
Stoehr
fought back from 2/1 down - losing the second game in a whitewash - before
finally claiming her 10-8, 0-9, 6-9, 9-7, 9-3 victory over England's
Botwright after 98 minutes.
The
28-year-old French national champion from
Chambery now faces second seed Natalie Grinham, the Amsterdam-based
two-times Dutch Open champion from Australia who was taken to four games
before defeating England's Alison Waters 9-1, 9-3, 3-9, 9-5.
Dutch
star Vanessa Atkinson, winner of the title in 2002, claimed the
quickest win of the day, overcoming compatriot Annelize Naude 9-0,
9-4, 9-5 in just 29 minutes. The number eight seed from
The Hague now faces Australia's Rachael
Grinham, the No3 seed who beat England's
Jenny Duncalf
9-4, 9-2, 9-7.
Rising
French star Mathieu Castagnet took a two-game lead over sixth seed
Davide Bianchetti in the first round of the men's event. But the
Italian had to call upon all his experience to grind out a 10-11 (0-2),
10-11 (0-2), 11-9, 11-5, 11-1 victory over the 20-year-old qualifier in 87
minutes.
Dylan Bennett
doubled the Dutch interest in the last eight - but it took 22-year-old from
Eindhoven 80 minutes to quash Australian qualifier Bradley Hindle
10-11 (2-4), 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 to earn a quarter-final clash with England's
No4 seed Alister Walker.
Naude
Boosts Local Interest In Golden Dutch Open
Annelize Naude
clinched a straight games victory over
New Zealand's Louise Crome in the
women's qualifying finals of the Forexx Dutch Open Squash Championships
to boost local interest in the WISPA
Gold squash event at Frans Otten
Stadion in the Netherlands capital city
Amsterdam.
But it
was a good day for
France in the men's qualifying finals, with
Mathieu Castagnet and Julien Balbo - both semi-finalists in last
week's BAA Bishop's Stortford Squash Festival in England - claiming
first round berths in the 2-star PSA
Tour event.
Naude,
the world No17 from Amsterdam, recovered from 5-7 down in the first game,
then saved two game balls, before beating Crome, her Amsterdam-based
training partner, 10-9, 9-6, 9-0 in 45 minutes. The 30-year-old's reward is
a first round clash with another local training partner Vanessa Atkinson,
the former world champion from
The
Hague who is the event's No8 seed.
The
qualifiers' draw delivered another domestic clash when Aisling Blake
- the Irish number two who upset
England's higher-ranked
Dominique Lloyd-Walter
9-5, 9-0, 9-2 - was lined up against Irish
number one Madeline Perry, the seventh seed, in the first round. The
pair famously last met on the Tour in the first round of the 2006 Women's
World Open in Perry's home city of Belfast.
Mathieu Castagnet earned the fastest men's qualifying win - beating Dutchman
Piedro Schweertman 11-6, 11-9, 11-2 in 34 minutes. The 20-year-old
from
Le
Mans will take on Italian Davide Bianchetti in the first round -
while fellow Frenchman Balbo will face Finland's second seed Olli
Tuominen after defeating South African Jesse Engelbrecht 11-7,
11-5, 11-8.
Swede
Badr Abdel Aziz battled for 47 minutes to overcome
Italy's Luca Mastrostefano 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 - then discovered
that he had been drawn to face David Palmer, the reigning world
champion from Australia who is the event's top seed.
World Champions at Forexx Dutch Open
The reigning world
champions head the fields in the Forexx Dutch Open Squash Championships
- boasting a total prize fund of US$63,500 - which will take place at the
Frans Otten Stadion in
Amsterdam
from August 28 to September 2.
The women’s draw
is represented by the sport's finest - led by Amsterdam-based world number
one and two-times World Champion Nicol David. The 23-year old
Malaysian, who recently won both the Malaysian Open and the
Singapore Masters after appearing in her 15th successive
WISPA World Tour event final, is expected to face her long time rival
Natalie Grinham, the world number two from Australia, in Sunday’s
final.
The third and
fourth seeding positions are held by two previous world number ones,
Rachael Grinham and Natalie Grainger - and the host country
will be represented by record ten-times Dutch national champion and
another former world number one and World Champion Vanessa Atkinson.
The strong main draw of sixteen players includes eight out of the top ten
world-ranked players.
Leading the men’s
draw is another double World Champion and former world number one David
Palmer. The 31-year old Australian, currently ranked three on the PSA
world rankings, was a last-minute replacement for the popular big-hitter
John White, who withdrew on the eve of closing date due to a
hamstring injury.
Finnish star
Olli Tuominen is seeded second in the new Dutch PSA Tour squash event,
ahead of the home crowd favourite and two-times Dutch national champion
Laurens Jan Anjema and England’s Alister Walker. The men’s main
draw also features six more players out of the top 50.
Tournament
promoter Tommy Berden is excited by the support of the world's best
players: "Obviously we are disappointed that John White had to withdraw
at the last moment due to injury, but we are extremely happy that David
Palmer is able to replace him. Together with Nicol David, we now have the
two current World Champions playing our event.
"And on top of
that, we also have a very strong field all the way through to the last
qualifier, so we can look forward to a great week of squash at the highest
level."
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Forexx Dutch Open 2007
vWomen's Draw
28 Aug - 02 Sep,
Amsterdam |
Round One
30 Aug |
Quarters
31 Aug |
Semis
01 Sep |
Final
02 Sep |
[1] Nicol David (Mas)
9/2, 9/3, 9/3 (40m)
Margriet Huisman (Ned) |
Nicol David
8-10, 9-6, 9-3, 9-7
(64m) Madeline Perry |
Nicol David
9-2, 9-4, 9-2 (32m)
Natalie Grainger |
Nicol David
9-4, 9-1, 9-6 (35m)
Rachael Grinham |
[7] Madeline Perry (Irl)
9/7, 9/2, 9/7 (45m)
[Q] Aisling Blake (Irl) |
[4] Natalie Grainger (Usa)
9/3, 9/1, 9/4 (28m)
Engy Kheirallah (Egy) |
Natalie Grainger
6-9, 9-4, 9-4, 9-0
(41m)
Omneya Abdel Kawy |
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
9/4, 9/7, 9/5 (30m)
[Q] Latasha Khan (Usa) |
[Q] Annelize Naude (Ned)
9/0 9/4, 9/5
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) |
Vanessa Atkinson
2-9, 9-5, 9-1, 9-3
(50m)
Rachael Grinham |
Rachael Grinham
9-4, 6-9, 9-6, 9-2 (72m)
Natalie Grinham |
Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
9/4, 9/2, 9/7 (44m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) |
[Q] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
10/8, 0/9, 6/9, 9/7, 9/3 (98m)
[5] Vicky Botwright (Eng) |
Isabelle Stoehr
9-7, 9-6, 9-0 (47m)
Natalie Grinham |
Alison Waters (Eng)
9/1, 9/3, 3/9, 9/5 (43m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) |
Qualifying, 28/29 Aug
Finals:
Annelize Naude (Ned) bt Louise Crome (Nzl) 10/8, 9/6, 9/0 (45m)
Aisling Blake (Irl) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) 9/5, 9/0, 9/2 (34m)
Latasha Khan (Usa) bt Lauren Briggs (Eng) 9/1, 9/5, 9/5 (40m)
Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt Tricia Chuah (Mas) 9/7, 9/0, 9/0 (31m)
Round One:
Annelize Naude (Ned) bt Milja Dorenbos (Ned) 9/1, 9/2, 9/2 (24m)
Louise Crome (Nzl) bt Georgina Stoker (Eng) 9/1, 2/9, 9/3, 9/5 (38m)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt Lauren Siddall (Eng) 9/5, 9/5, 9/0 (21m)
Aisling Blake (Irl) bt Sarah Kippax (Eng) 9/7, 10/8, 9/5 (46m)
Latasha Khan (Usa) bt Orla Noom (Ned) 10/8, 9/3, 9/4 (38m)
Lauren Briggs (Eng) bt Elise Ng (Hkg) 9/3, 9/6, 9/4 (40m)
Tricia Chuah (Mas) bt Milou Van Der Heijden (Ned) 9/0, 9/4, 9/1 (20m)
Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt Emma Beddoes (Eng) 9/1, 9/3, 9/5 (27m)
Qualifiers:
Annelize Naude (Ned), Isabelle Stoehr (Fra), Dominique
Lloyd-Walter (Eng), Lauren Briggs (Eng), Tricia Chuah (Mas), Latasha
Khan (Usa), Becky Botwright (Eng), Louise Crome (Nzl), Sarah Kippax
(Eng), Line Hansen (Den), Aisling Blake (Irl), Elise Ng (Hkg), Orla
Noom (Ned), Laura Mylotte (Irl), Milou Van Der Heijden (Ned) + pre-qual
winner.
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Forexx Dutch Open 2007
Men's Draw
28 Aug - 02 Sep,
Amsterdam |
Round One
30
Aug |
Quarters
31 Aug |
Semis
01 Sep |
Final
02 Sep |
[1] David Palmer (Aus)
11/7, 11/7, 11/7 (32m)
[Q] Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe) |
David Palmer
11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (49m)
Davide Bianchetti |
David Palmer
11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (43m)
Alister Walker |
David Palmer
11-10 (5-3), 1-11, 10-11 (3-5), 11-1, 11-6 (97m)
Laurens Jan Anjema |
[6] Davide Bianchetti
(Ita)
10/12, 10/12, 11/9, 11/5, 11/1 (87m)
[Q] Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) |
[4] Alister Walker
(Eng)
1/6, 11/7, 11/8 (68m)
Amr Mansi (Egy) |
Alister Walker
10-11 (0-2), 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (71m)
Dylan Bennett |
[6] Dylan Bennett
(Ned)
12/14, 11/8, 11/5, 11/7 (80m)
[Q] Bradley Hindle (Aus) |
Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/8, 11/9, 1/11, 11/9 (47m)
[5] Bradley Ball (Eng) |
Bradley Ball
11-6, 11-3, 11-8 (52m)
Laurens Jan Anjema |
Laurens Jan Anjema
11-4, 11-2, 11-8 (42m)
Omar Elborolossy |
Tom Hoevenaars (Ned)
11/6, 11/6, 11/5
[3] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) |
Jan Koukal (Cze)
6/11, 11/3, 11/4, 11/2 (45m)
[7] Omar Elborolossy (Egy) |
Omar Elborolossy
11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8
Olli Tuominen |
[Q] Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/5, 11/7, 11/6 (35m)
[2] Olli Tuominen (Fin) |
Qualifying, 28/29 Aug:
Finals:
Badr
Abdel Aziz (Swe)
bt
Luca Mastrostefano (Ita) 11/8, 11/5, 9/11, 11/6 (47m)
Bradley Hindle (Aus) bt Lucas Buit (Ned) 12/10,11/4, 9/11, 11/7 (49m)
Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) bt Piedro Schweertman (Ned) 11/6, 11/9, 11/2 (34m)
Julien Balbo (Fra) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) 11/7, 11/5, 11/8 (37m)
Round One:
Badr
Abdel Aziz (Swe) bt Sander Kock (Ned) 11/9, 11/8, 7/11, 11/6 (45m)
Luca Mastrostefano (Ita) bt Romain Tenant (Fra) 9/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/5 (49m)
Bradley Hindle (Aus) bt Ben Ford (Eng) 5/11, 11/8, 11/2, 11/6 (47m)
Lucas Buit (Ned) bt Darren Lewis (Eng) 11/6, 11/3, 11/8 (37m)
Piedro Schweertman (Ned) bt Neils Hoevenaars (Ned) 11/5, 11/7, 11/6 (30m)
Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) bt Stuart Crawford (Sco) 12/10, 9/11, 11/9, 11/2 (60m)
Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) bt Morten Sorenson (Den) 11/5, 11/2, 11/3 (22m)
Julien Balbo (Fra) bt Sebastiaan Weenink (Ned) 12/10, 11/9, 11/7 (34m)
Qualifiers:
Jon Harford (Eng), Sherif Kamel (Egy), Jan Koukal (Cze), Badr
Abdel Aziz (Swe), Julien Balbo (Fra), Bradley Hindle (Aus), Mathieu
Castagnet (Fra), Luca Mastrostefano (Ita), Jesse Engelbrecht (Zim),
Darren Lewis (Eng), Neils Hoevenaars (Ned), Romain Tenant (Fra) +
locals |
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