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 Duncalf Blitzes Brown To Become WISPA Master
England's Jenny Duncalf justified her top seeding in the Women's Punj
Lloyd WISPA Masters in India by beating second-seeded Australian Kasey
Brown in today's final of the inaugural $36,500 WISPA World Tour
squash championship at the Sirifort CWG Block in New Delhi.
Both
players had survived hard-fought five-game semi-finals - Duncalf coming through
against rising French star Camille Serme and the New South Wales-born
Australian stemming a fightback by up-and-coming Hong Kong player Annie Au.
But
world No2 Duncalf was in sparkling form in the final against an opponent who
beat her in October's World Open in Egypt, romping through to beat Brown
11-5, 11-5, 11-4.
 "I'm
extremely happy to have finished 2010 on such a high note by winning the Punj
Lloyd Wispa Masters," Duncalf told Indian media after netting the ninth Tour
title of her career.
"It's been a great tournament and one that I hope to be returning to in 2011.
It's been a tough year so I, and no doubt Kasey, will be looking forward to a
relaxing festive period before knuckling down for more challenges ahead in
2011," added the 28-year-old from Harrogate.
Duncalf &
Brown Make Masters Final
England's
Jenny Duncalf and Australian Kasey Brown will contest the final of
the Women's Punj Lloyd WISPA Masters in India - but the two top seeds
were both taken the full distance in their semi-finals in the inaugural $36,500
WISPA World Tour squash championship at the Sirifort CWG Block in
New Delhi.
Event
favourite Duncalf faced third seed Camille Serme for the first time since
the rising French star claimed her first win over the world No2 from Harrogate
in the quarter-finals of the World Open in September.
Twice Duncalf
led, and twice Serme reduced the deficit to force the match into a fifth game
decider. But the 28-year-old from Harrogate ultimately prevailed, winning 11-9,
8-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 in 49 minutes.
"I'm happy to
have come through to reach the final tomorrow," said Duncalf, now in the sixth
Tour final of the year, and the 18th of her career. "I felt a bit flat today,
which you can't afford to be against a player of Camille's standard.
"Still, I'm
pleased to be in the final - and looking forward to my last match of a long
year, come on!!"
Second seed
Brown lined up against fifth seed Annie Au, the world No14 from Hong Kong
to whom she had lost in both their previous Tour clashes.
And the world
No7 from New South Wales showed her determination to reverse that record by
winning the opening two games.
But wily
left-hander Au struck back to take the next two to level the match.
Brown regained
control in the fifth, however, and closed out the match 11-6, 11-9, 4-11, 2-11,
11-8 after 64 minutes to earn her second place in a WISPA final this year.
"I felt like I
came out quite strong and played well in the first two games, but Annie had a
really good game plan in the second and the fourth - and in the fifth I decided
that I wanted to keep the ball really warm and keep up the momentum and
fortunately I got through today," explained Brown, now in the 19th Tour final of
her career.
"It's going to
very tough. Jenny is very talented and a very good player and I am going to need
to play my best tomorrow to beat her."
Au Ousts
Hawkes In Masters Upset
Hong Kong's
Annie Au claimed an unexpected place in the semi-finals of the Women's
Punj Lloyd WISPA Masters after upsetting New Zealand's fourth seed Jaclyn
Hawkes in the inaugural $36,500 WISPA World Tour squash championship
at the Sirifort CWG Block in New Delhi.
Reproducing
the form which saw her win the Seoul Open last week in South Korea, fifth
seed Au recovered from a game down to beat Hawkes, the world No12, 9-11, 11-7,
15-13, 11-9 in 59 minutes.
The
21-year-old Asian Games silver medallist will now face second seed
Kasey Brown, the world No7 from Australia to whom she has never lost.
Brown brought
to an end Indian interest in the event by beating eighth seed Dipika Pallikal.
But the 19-year-old from Chennai, ranked 29 in the world, delivered a
sensational performance to fight back from two games down to force the match
into a fifth game decider.
But Brown,
winner of three Commonwealth Games medals on the same court in October,
battled back to clinch the match 11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-5 after 61 minutes.
"Brown won,
but whether the Indian crowd or press recognise it, Pallikal's performance was
remarkable," said noted English coach Malcolm Willstrop "She is a star of
the future."
An
all-European clash will take place in the other semi-final when England's top
seed Jenny Duncalf lines up against the top-ranked French player
Camille Serme.
Duncalf, the
world No2 from Harrogate, beat Hong Kong's No7 seed Joey Chan 4-11, 11-9,
11-8, 11-2 while third seed Serme, the world No10, despatched Malaysia's sixth
seed Low Wee Wern 11-7, 11-8, 11-3.
Dipika
Delivers In Delhi
Indian
teenager Dipika Pallikal single-handedly carried local interest through
to the quarter-finals of the Women's Punj Lloyd WISPA Masters
after prevailing in the first round of the inaugural $36,500 WISPA World Tour
squash championship at the Sirifort CWG Block in New Delhi.
The
19-year-old eighth seed from Chennai defeated Scottish qualifier Lisa Aitken
11-6, 11-9, 11-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Kasey Brown, the
No2 seed from Australia.
Brown needed
50 minutes to overcome unseeded Malaysian Siti Munirah Jusoh 11-6, 12-10,
11-8.
The world No7
from New South Wales is expected to meet English rival Jenny Duncalf in
Sunday's final. Top seed Duncalf, ranked two in the world, took four games to
overcome Germany's Gaby Schmohl 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3.
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