03/08/2008
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Palmer Prevails While Annie Just Ausome In Australian Open Climax
Men's Draw
Australian
Open 2008
Clare, South Australia, 29-Jul-03 Aug, $26k |
Round One
31-Jul |
Quarters
01-Aug |
Semis
02-Aug |
Final
03-Aug |
[1]
David Palmer (Aus)
11-9, 11-5, 11-7
(32m)
[Q] Martin Knight (Nzl) |
David Palmer
11-9, 11-4, 11-8
(29m)
Khawaja Adil
Maqbool
|
David Palmer
11-4, 11-6, 11-4
(29m)
Robbie Temple
|
David Palmer
11-7, 14-12, 11-8
(40m)
Kashif Shuja
|
[8]
Khawaja Adil Maqbool (Pak)
v11-9, 11-6,
12-10 (28m)
[Q] Zac Alexander (Aus) |
[4]
Aaron Frankcomb (Aus)
11-6, 11-5, 11-8
(35m)
[Q] Justin Beard (Aus) |
Aaron Frankcomb
11-8, 11-6, 11-8
(52m)
Robbie Temple
|
[7] Bradley Hindle
(Aus)
7-11, 11-6, 11-6,
11-5 (43m)
Robbie Temple (Eng) |
Steve Finitsis
(Aus)
11-9, 11-9, 11-9
(44m)
[5] Scott Arnold (Aus) |
Scott Arnold
5-11, 11-5, 11-7,
11-7 (45m)
Kashif Shuja
|
Kashif Shuja
11-9, 9-11, 7-11,
11-5, 11-6 (61m)
Campbell Grayson
|
Mike Corren
(Aus)
11-7, 3-11, 11-8,
14-12 (38m)
[3] Kashif Shuja (Nzl) |
[Q] Campbell Grayson (Nzl)
11-6, 11-9, 13-11
(56m)
[6] Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) |
Campbell Grayson
14-12, 11-6, 5-11,
8-11, 11-9 (79m)
Chris Ryder
|
Matthew Karwalski
(Aus)
11-9, 11-7, 11-7
(43m)
[2] Chris Ryder (Eng) |
|
Men's qualifying finals:
Zac Alexander (AUS) bt Dick Lau (HKG)
8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 (36m)
Martin Knight (NZL) bt Steven Robinson (AUS)
11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 11-4 (39m)
Justin Beard (AUS) bt Max Lee (HKG)
4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7 (41m)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Joshua Greenfield (NZL)
11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10 (42m) |
Women's Draw
Australian
Open 2008
Clare, South Australia, 29 Jul-03 Aug, $16k |
Round One
31 Jul |
Quarters
01 Aug |
Semis
02 Aug |
Final
03 Aug |
[1]
Kasey Brown (Aus)
11-6, 11-6, 11-7
(29m)
Joey Chan (Hkg) |
Kasey Brown
11-7, 11-8, 11-6
(41m)
Amelia Pittock
|
Kasey Brown
11-6, 11-9, 11-1 (28m)
Joelle King |
Kasey Brown
6-11, 7-11, 11-6,
11-6, 12-10 (80m)
Annie Au
|
[5]
Amelia Pittock (Aus)
11-8, 11-6, 11-5
(21m)
[Q] Melody Francis (Aus) |
[4]
Christina Mak (Hkg)
11-6, 11-3, 11-9
(29m)
[Q] Sarah Cardwell (Aus) |
Christina Mak
5-11, 11-6, 11-5,
11-7 (34m)
Joelle King
|
[8]
Joelle King (Nzl)
11-3, 11-7, 11-2
(21m)
Jenna Gates (Eng) |
Kylie Lindsay (Nzl)
11-3, 11-3, 11-2
(16m)
[7] Annie Au (Hkg) |
Annie Au
11-5, 6-11, 11-6,
11-3 (30m)
Donna Urquhart
|
Annie Au
11-9, 12-10, 11-5 (28m)
Jaclyn Hawkes
|
Adel Weir (Rsa)
11-9, 11-4, 11-4
(27m)
[3] Donna Urquhart (Aus) |
[Q] Shin Nga Leung (Hkg)
11-9, 11-9, 11-5
(22m)
[6] Lisa Camilleri (Aus) |
Lisa Camilleri
11-5, 11-6, 11-2
(18m)
Jaclyn Hawkes
|
[Q] Zoe Petranovsky
(Aus)
11-5, 11-0, 11-4
(17m)
[2] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) |
|
Women's qualifying finals:
Sarah Cardwell (AUS) bt Jackie Laurenson (NZL)
11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 (38m)
Zoe Petrovansky (AUS) bt Maggy Marshall (AUS)
11-4, 11-5, 12-10 (23m)
Melody Francis (AUS) bt Bonny Wu (AUS)
11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (19m)
Shin Nga Leung (HKG) bt Kimberley Bessell (AUS) 11-3, 11-9,
9-11, 11-7 (29m) |
Palmer Prevails While Annie Just Ausome In
Australian Open Climax
While Australian favourite David Palmer delighted the local
crowds by winning the men's title in the Clare Valley Australian Open
Championship for the first time, Hong Kong's Annie Au pulled
off a sensational performance - saving two match balls - to upset
favourite Kasey Brown in the women's final of Australia’s most
prestigious squash tournament in its second year at the Valleys
Lifestyle Centre in Clare in South Australia.
Palmer had won four British Open and two World Open titles
heading into the tournament - but had never managed to win his home
championship in what has been a glittering career.
But in a highly entertaining final he beat
New Zealand's Kashif Shuja 11-7, 14-12, 11-8 to put his name on
the trophy alongside players such as Geoff Hunt, Chris Dittmar
and Rodney and Brett Martin.
"I was pretty confident coming in, but rankings aside you obviously
still have to win," the world number five said. "I was much
higher-ranked than the other guys here and I wasn’t at my best because
I’m in my off-season. But at the end of the day I’m happy to win and
finally get my name on the trophy with those other great Australian
players."
The triumph brings Palmer's PSA Tour title haul to 23 - extending his
lead ahead of
Egypt's world number one Amr Shabana as the current player with
the most titles.
Seventh seed Annie Au came from two games down, then saved two match
balls to beat Australian favourite Kasey Brown in a thrilling women’s
final.
The Hong Kong teenager looked headed for defeat when Brown took the
opening two games, but fought back magnificently to overcome the world
number 13 in 80 minutes, winning 6-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 to become
the first Hong Kong player to win the Australian Open.
Brown, who won the title in 2006, had match balls at 10-8 in the fifth,
but Au refused to concede and won the next four points to close out the
match.
Au said she had trouble adapting to the pace of Brown in the opening
games. "In the first two games, I couldn’t match her speed in the back
court and I kept thinking I could not play my favourite shots," said the
19-year-old left-hander who now boasts three
WISPA World Tour titles.
"In the third game, I think she slowed down and I was able to go on the
attack, and it was the same in the fourth."
A disappointed Brown said Au had just played too well over the closing
stages: "She hit some amazing shots – I just couldn’t do anything with
them," she said.
Seeded seventh heading into the tournament, Au claimed the scalps of the
top three seeds on three consecutive days to become a worthy champion.
"This summer I didn’t have any school so I was able to do more training
and today I didn’t feel tired," she said.
She said getting her name on a trophy that also featured some of the
greatest names in the history of women’s squash would give her enormous
confidence going forward. "I think I will get a lot of momentum for my
career," Au added. "I also think it will get our sport a lot of
publicity in
Hong Kong and encourage more people to start playing."
Favourites Palmer & Brown Into Australian Open Finals
Top seeds David Palmer and Kasey Brown kept home hopes of
success in the Clare Valley Australian Open Championships alive
after comfortable straight games victories in the semi-finals of
Australia’s most prestigious squash
tournament in its second year at the Valleys Lifestyle Centre in
Clare in South Australia.
Palmer, the four-time British Open champion from New South Wales
seeking his first domestic Open title, brushed aside unseeded Englishman
Robbie Temple 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 in 29 minutes to reach the climax
of the $26,000 PSA Tour event - his 48th final appearance.
His opponent will be Kashif Shuja, the third seed from Auckland
who outlasted fellow New Zealander Campbell Grayson, a qualifier,
11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6 in 61 minutes to reach the 15th Tour final
of his career.
Kasey Brown, keen to win the $16,000
WISPA World Tour
title for the second time in three years - and bring it back into
Australian hands - despatched New Zealander Joelle King 11-6,
11-9, 11-1 in 28 minutes to reach her 17th Tour final.
The other women's semi-final took exactly the same time - but produced a
major upset when Annie Au, the No7 seed from
Hong Kong, defeated second-seeded New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes
11-9, 12-10, 11-5.
Au, 19, is celebrating her fourth Tour final and looking to pick up her
second successive title after winning the Chennai Open in
India just four weeks ago.
Temple & Grayson Forge On In Australian Open
Top seed David Palmer now leads domestic interest in the Clare Valley
Australian Open Championships exclusively after
England's Robbie Temple and New Zealander
Campbell Grayson continued their giant-killing ways in the men's $26,000
PSA Tour
squash event in its second year at the Valleys
Lifestyle Centre in Clare in
South Australia.
Top seed Kasey Brown is also the only home player who survived the
quarter-finals of the women's $16,000
WISPA World Tour
event after the demise of three Australians.
Kiwi qualifier Campbell Grayson caused the biggest shock when he beat second
seed Chris Ryder in a marathon quarter-final. Grayson, who had to win
two rounds of qualifying just to make the main draw, beat the Englishman 14-12,
11-6, 5-11, 8-11, 11-9 to record a win he rated as the most important of his
career.
He now plays fellow Kiwi Kashif Shuja in the semi-finals. Third seed
Shuja beat Australian Scott Arnold 5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 - guaranteeing
a
New Zealand presence in the final of Australia’s most prestigious squash
tournament.
The second men's semi-final will be between former world champion Palmer and
English surprise packet Robbie Temple. Palmer beat
Pakistan’s Khawaja Adil Maqbool 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 while Temple ousted
fourth-seeded Australian Aaron Frankcomb 11-8, 11-6, 11-8.
Annie Au
of
Hong Kong and New Zealand’s Joelle King shocked their higher-ranked
opponents in the women's quarter-finals. Au upset third-seeded Australian
Donna Urquhart 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3, while King surprised fourth-seeded
Christina Mak of Hong Kong 5-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7.
King, a 19-year-old from the town of
Cambridge in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island, will play
top-seeded Australian Kasey Brown. Brown celebrated her 23rd birthday in style
with a tough 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 win over fifth-seeded compatriot Amelia Pittock.
The two Australians know each other’s games well and it showed as they fought
tenaciously for every point.
Annie Au will take on second seed Jaclyn Hawkes of
New Zealand - an impressive 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 winner over Australia's Lisa
Camilleri, the sixth seed.
Grayson &
Temple Upset Australians In Open
England's Robbie Temple and New Zealander Campbell Grayson took
out a pair of Australians in the first round of the Clare Valley Australian
Open Championships to claim places in the quarter-finals of the men's
$26,000 PSA Tour
squash event in its second year at the Valleys
Lifestyle Centre in Clare in
South Australia.
Top seed Kasey Brown led a trio of home players through to the last eight
of the women's $16,000
WISPA World Tour
event in a bid to win the title for the second time in three years.
Temple, 21, from London, caused the first upset of the tournament when he ousted
seventh-seeded Queenslander Bradley Hindle 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.
"Brad started well, his length was a lot better than mine in the first game but
after that it was much better," said the Englishman. "There were patches where
I lost it but I gradually got on top of him by attacking short, which is what I
like to do."
Campbell Grayson, a qualifier from
Auckland, caused the second upset when he beat sixth seed Ryan Cuskelly
in three hotly contested games 11-6, 11-9, 13-11.
The Kiwi was more consistent than his higher-ranked opponent and kept his
composure in the second and third games as Cuskelly began to argue with the
officials.
"I think it helped me because I was able to concentrate on what I was doing, and
I realised he was getting rattled," Grayson said.
World number five David Palmer showed he meant business when he
despatched New Zealander Martin Knight in the opening round. The
Boston-based Australian was tested by qualifier Knight before winning 11-9,
11-5, 11-7.
The four-time British Open and twice World Open champion has never
won the Australian Open and said he was determined to get his name on the famous
trophy this year.
"I wouldn’t have come this far if I didn’t intend to win it," said the
32-year-old Australian number one. "I’ve gone close a few times and had match
points, but never seemed to finish it off.
"It wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t win, but it would be good to
get my name on the trophy this year."
Kasey Brown’s bid for a second Australian Open title got off to a good start
when she beat
Hong Kong’s Joey Chan 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.
Brown, from Taree in
New South Wales, won the Australian Open in 2006 and finished runner-up to New
Zealander Shelley Kitchen in 2007.
The 22-year-old now goes on to a tougher assignment against fellow Australian
Amelia Pittock, who beat Victorian qualifier Melody Francis 11-8,
11-6, 11-5.
"It was a bit scrappy so it was good to just get on there and get through the
first round," Brown said. "Being left-handed, she’s got a good forehand so I
was a bit wary about it. I kept going to her backhand but I probably need to
play a bit straighter."
Brown said she would have to lift her game against Pittock, who won her past
tournament at the South Australian Open.
Beard & Cardwell In Australian Open Upsets
Australians Justin Beard and Sarah Cardwell produced
notable shocks in the qualifying finals of the Clare Valley
Australian Open Squash Championships to earn places in the men's and
women's main draws, respectively, of the long-established event in its
second year at the Valleys Lifestyle Centre in Clare in
South Australia.
Beard, from
Adelaide, beat Max Lee of Hong Kong to move into the main draw of the
$26,000 PSA Tour event for the first time. Ranked 224 in the world -
more than 100 places below Lee - the 21-year-old outplayed his opponent in the
closing stages of a tight match to win 4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7.
"It was completely unexpected," said Beard. "The first game he just dominated
me and I was running all over the place, but I slowly got into it. I wasn’t
getting any length on the ball and he took full advantage."
Beard, who rated his qualifying win as the best of his career, has drawn
fourth-seeded compatriot Aaron Frankcomb in the first round.
Rising
Queensland star Zac Alexander caused the day’s other upset when he beat
another Hong Kong player, Dick Lau. The 19-year-old from Brisbane,
ranked 126 in the world, lost the first game but came back to win 8-11, 11-8,
11-4, 11-9.
Martin Knight
was one of two New Zealanders to qualify - and now meets Australian favourite
David Palmer, the world No5, in the opening round.
"I'll just go out and give it my best and we’ll see what happens," said Knight,
who has played Palmer once before, in
Germany four months ago, where he lost in straight games.
Sarah Cardwell made the main draw of the women's $16,000
WISPA World Tour
event when she surprised top qualifying seed Jackie Laurenson of
New Zealand.
The 16-year-old daughter of former Australian great Vicki Cardwell, Sarah
slugged it out with Laurenson before winning 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9.
Her reward for qualifying is a first round clash with fourth seed Christina
Mak of
Hong Kong on the all-glass court.
"It’s my most important win," Cardwell said. "To qualify for the main draw was
pretty much my main goal for the tournament, so I’m pretty happy with it. I’ve
had a hit on the glass court before, but this will be my first match ever on an
all glass court."
Cardwell was joined in the main draw by Hong Kong’s Shin Nga Leung,
Queenslander Zoe Petrovansky and
Melbourne’s Melody Francis.
|
