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Seeds Triumph In Pioneer Junior Open
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seeds Thomas Ford and Maria Elena Ubina triumphed in
contrasting styles in the U19 finals of the Pioneer Junior Open
Squash Championships, the long-established European Squash
Federation Junior Circuit event in the German city of Cologne.
A
surprise all-English final kept the men's title in English hands.
Favourite Ford, from Cheltenham, dropped just a single game en-route to
the climax - where he faced compatriot Richie Fallows.
The
London-born third seed made his breakthrough in the semi-finals where he
upset Jan van den Herrewegen, the No2 seed from Belgium, in four
games.
But
18-year-old Ford was on-song in the final - despatching his 17-year-old
opponent 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 to win the title.
Ubina,
the 17-year-old US Junior Open champion from the USA, made up for the
disappointment of losing last year's women's final by beating second
seed Nele Gilis.
But
the plucky Belgian underdog recovered from losing the first two games to
force the final into a fifth game decider.
Ubina
strengthened her focus, however, and clinched the match 11-8, 11-9,
9-11, 8-11, 11-8 to become the first US winner of the title this
millennium.
Men's
U19 quarter-finals:
[1] Thomas Ford (ENG) bt [5/8] Rui Soares (POR) 11-8,
11-3, 11-5
[5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [4] Daniel Hockborn
(ENG) 11-5, 12-14, 13-11, 11-9
[3] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt [5/8] Matthew Sidaway (ENG)
6-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-8
[2] Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL) bt [9/16] Manuel Wanner
(SUI) 4-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 12-10
Semi-finals:
[1] Thomas Ford (ENG) bt [5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
11-8, 11-2, 11-4
[3] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt [2] Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL)
15-13, 11-5, 11-9
Final:
[1] Thomas Ford (ENG) bt [3] Richie Fallows (ENG) 11-7,
11-5, 11-6
Third place play-off:
[5/8] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [2] Jan van den
Herrewegen (BEL) 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7
Women's U19 quarter-finals:
[1] Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [5/8] Enora Villard (FRA)
11-7, 11-7, 11-4
[4] Caroline Sayegh (GER) bt [5/8] Camille Lanier (POR)
13-11, 11-9, 11-8
[5/8] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bt Anna Kimberley (ENG) 8-11,
11-8, 12-10, 11-4
[2] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt [5/8] Denisa Peleskova (CZE) 11-9,
11-6, 5-11, 11-5
Semi-finals:
[1] Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [4] Caroline Sayegh (GER)
11-5, 11-1, 11-4
[2] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt [5/8] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) 11-5,
11-5, 11-9
Final:
[1] Maria Elena Ubina (USA) bt [2] Nele Gilis (BEL) 11-8,
11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8
Third place play-off:
[4] Caroline Sayegh (GER) bt [5/8] Tessa ter Sluis (NED)
9-11, 6-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-9
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