20/08/2012
SQUASH ON FIRE 2012
Kippax Claims US Title Double
Squash
On Fire 2012
14-19 Aug, Washington DC, USA, $15k |
Round One
16 Aug |
Quarters
17 Aug |
Semis
18 Aug |
Final
19 Aug |
[1] Samantha Teran (Mex)
11/9, 11/4, 11/2 (30m)
[Q[] Célia Allamargot (Fra) |
Samantha Teran
11-7, 10-12, 11-7,
10-12, 11-6 (66mins)
Misaki Kobayashi |
Samantha Teran
11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-8 (60mins)
Farah Abdel Meguid |
Samantha Teran
11/8, 6/11, 11/9, 8/11, 12/10 (80m)
Sarah Kippax |
[6] Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn)
11/4, 11/3, 11/2 (16m)
Kristen Lange (Usa) |
[3] Latasha Khan (Usa)
9/11, 11/4, 11/7, 11/5 (32m)
Camille Lanier (Usa) |
Latasha Khan
4-11, 12-10, 12-10,
11-9 (47mins)
Farah Abdel Meguid |
[5] Yathreb Adel (Egy)
11/9, 11/9, 6/11, 11/8 (36m)
Farah Abdel Meguid (Egy) |
[Q] Sabrina Sobhy (Usa)
9/11, 11/7, 12/10, 11/7 (40m)
[7] Lucie Fialova (Cze) |
Lucie Fialova
11-1, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 (65mins)
Aisling Blake |
Lucie Fialova
11-6, 11-9, 11-1 (35mins)
Sarah Kippax |
[Q] Nicolette Fernandes (Guy)
11/8, 11/8, 11/3 (47m)
[4] Aisling Blake (Irl) |
Maud Duplomb (Fra)
11/1, 11/7, 11/3 (26m)
[8] Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) |
Kanzy El Dafrawy
12-10, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6
Sarah Kippax |
[Q] Salma Hany (Egy)
11/4, 11/7, 11/8 (28m)
[2] Sarah Kippax (Egy) |
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Squash On Fire,
Washinton D.C.
Kippax Claims US Title
Double
Sarah Kippax
has completed a back-to-back title swoop after winning the WSA Tour
15 Squash On Fire event in Washington D.C.
Last week the 29-year-old won the Hampton Squash Week event in New York
as top seed, and yesterday completed the double as she toppled No.1 seed
Samantha Teran in Washington.
Seeded second for the event, the Englishwoman had beaten qualifier
Salma Hany and Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy in the opening two
rounds, before reaching the final with a straight games win over
Lucie Fialova.
There she faced Teran of Mexico who, having dispatched qualifier
Celia Allamargot in round one, then laboured through two five-game
battles against Misaki Kobayashi and unseeded Farah Abdel
Meguid to reach the final.
In a very cat-and-mouse final, Kippax led after the first game, but was
immediately pegged back by the Mexican. The pair were tightly contested
throughout, with the Englishwoman again taking the lead after the third
but Teran forced the fifth and final game as the contest ticked past the
hour mark.
In a final that couldn’t have been any closer, Teran held match-ball but
was unable to convert as Kippax claimed the tie-break win to record her
ninth WSA World Tour title, and second in as many weeks.
There were notable performances from Lucie Fialova and Farah Abdel
Meguid as the Czech player beat No4 seed Aisling Blake in the
quarter-finals, whilst Meguid stunned her opposition by beating not only
No.5 seed Yathreb Adel in round one, but also No.3 seed
Latasha Khan in the quarters.
Semi-finals:
The
giant-killing run of unseeded Egyptian Farah Abdel Meguid was
finally ended by top seed Samantha Teran in the semi-finals. Meguid
didn't go quickly however, pushing Teran to five games in an hour-long
match. Sarah Kippax dispatched No.7 seed Lucie Fialova in
straight games to set up a top seed final, in which she'll be hoping to
record back-to-back titles following her Hampton Squash Week title win
last week
Quarter-finals:
World
No.61 Farah Abdel Meguid claimed the only upset of the round after
beating experienced professional and third seed Latasha Khan in a
four-game match featuring two tie-break rounds. The Egyptian will face
top seed Samantha Teran in the semi-final, whilst last weeks Hampton
Squash Week winner Sarah Kippax will play Lucie Fialova.
1st Round
Only one upset at the WSA World Tour
15 Squash On Fire event in Washington, as Farah Abdel Meguid
defeated fellow Egyptian and No.5 seed Yathreb Adel in a four
game encounter. The rest of the seeds made it through to the quarter
finals and will line-up as follows:
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Reporting by Aisling Blake
Qualifying Final:
In the final day of qualifying for the Squash On Fire event in
Washington D.C, top seeded qualifier Nicolette Fernandes made
sure of her place in round one after beating Ivonne Diaz of
Mexico. The court seemed to suit the Guyanese player who started well
and took an early lead in the first game. Her early dominance set the
tone for the rest of the match as she eased into the main draw with a
3-0 win. Fernandes said after the game: "I like these courts, it's a
good start to the tournament and now I'm looking forwards to seeing who
I have in the main draw."
Lily Lorentzen,
patriotic in her red white and blue outfit put up a spirited fight
against young Sabrina Sohby in the second of today's qualifying
matches. The appreciative audience witnessed a closely fought first game
with Sohby looking more comfortable around the T as the game progressed.
Lorentzen started better in the second game with deep length but it
wasn't enough to combat the clever tactical play of the younger American
and Sohby stretched her lead to 2-0. Courtside, as his daughter had a
lead of 2-0 and 8-1 up in the 3rd game, her father Khaled Sohby
certainly felt the pressure ease off as he conceded, "Ah, she's relaxed
now".
The third match of the day was an
all-Egyptian tie between Salma Hany and Salma Hatem Youssef.
From the outset it was clear that these two teenagers had played each
other many times before, demonstrating the ability to anticipate where
the ball was going before her opponent had struck the ball. It was a
close contest with no clear winner in sight for most of the first game,
however after winning the first, Hany managed to come back from a 6-1
deficit in the second game to lead 2-0. She managed to get in front of
Hatem Youssef more consistently and used the front of the court well.
Hany now plays Sarah Kippax in the main draw tomorrow.
The last qualifier of the event saw
Celia Allamargot of France take on Scot Alex Clark. Moving
efficiently around the court, Allamargot kept Clark digging balls out of
the back left corner with hard crosscourts, waiting for the loose ball
to cut off at the front and stretching her taller opponent many times
along a long diagonal line. The first game came easily for the
Frenchwoman but Clark found her stride in the second game and pushed
back with solid retrievals and precise drives. A few too many errors
from Allamargot kept Clark in the lead 9-7, then 10-8, but Clark did not
convert and Allamargot squeezed by 12-10. The third game was tight
until at 4-6 down, Allamargot ran up five straight points to take the
lead 9-6. Again the score seesawed to 10-9 with Allamargot firing a
low, sliding drive beyond Clark’s exceptional reach to win in three.
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