WSA World Tour (Tour 10), 28
February-3 March 2013
$10,000 Women's CourtCare Open 2013, David Lloyd Chorley, England
Beddoes
Wins First WSA CourtCare Open Title
Click on Images for Larger View Emma Beddoes claimed
the inaugural Courtcare Open title yesterday in Chorley, England.
The WSA Tour10 boasted a strong British
contingent of players, reflected in the top five seeds. Qualifier Salma Hany
Ibrahim Ahmed delivered a number of surprises in the event, first
dispatching sixth seed Gaby Huber in the opening round, before then
dismissing top seed Sarah Kippax after fighting back from two games
down.
After comfortable early-round wins, a narrow
semi-final round saw Emma Beddoes take on No.2 seed Sarah-Jane Perry in a
nail-bitingly close match. Beddoes’ experience gave her the advantage
throughout the early exchanges, and the 27-year-old established a solid two-game
lead against the higher seed. As she is known for doing, a resilient Perry
fought back in the third game, and was able to launch successful comeback to
level the score at two games each. The fifth and final game was decided by the
narrowest of tie-break margins, where an error from the No.2 seed gave Beddoes
the opportunity of match ball. The world No.34 made no mistake, moving past
Perry and into her first final since her Meadowood Pharmacy Open 2012 victory.
In the top half of the draw, Victoria Lust was
also embroiled in a marathon clash against qualifier Salma Hany. Having already
dispatched top seed Kippax, the 16-year-old was high in confidence and took a
frantic first game against Lust. Hany’s positivity continued to show, but a
number of errors in the second game allowed Lust to establish herself in the
contest and she duly took advantage, swinging the momentum in her favour. The
23-year-old extended a lead to 2-1, but Hany was still causing problems, seizing
a lull in pressure from her opponent and forcing a deciding fifth game. The
younger player began to fall off the pace in the fifth, while Lust continued to
rack up the points before claiming an impressive third consecutive WSA final
appearance.
Beddoes was able to continue her unbeaten run
against Lust, playing precise strategy to cause her opponent problems in the
first game. A strong lead established in the first game gave her more
confidence, and her momentum extended into the second game too, where she was
able to counter Lust’s attempts at gaining a foothold in the contest. The
higher seed closed out a narrower second game, but Lust took confidence from the
improvement in her game, and her third game efforts matched the 27-year-old,
benefitting from a more tactical approach. She deservedly won a close third
game, before Beddoes upped the pace once again, regrouping well and controlling
the final rallies to close out the win and her eighth WSA World Tour title.
Beddoes thanked the crowd and sponsors after the
match, adding: “It’s been an amazing event and I’d like to thank Laura [Massaro]
and Chris for putting on a great event. It makes a real difference having a
player run an event as she knows what we want and we have had everything we
needed all week from them. I hope to be back next year!"
CourtCare have pledged a five-year deal to sponsor the WSA World Tour event.
