12-Jun-04:
Desira stumbles in Taranaki semis
Gary Denvir reports
Second seeded Australian Dianne Desira suffered a surprise loss
in the semifinals of the WISPA Tour's Taranaki Open at Kawaroa Park
Squash Club in New Plymouth.
The world number 39 was been comprehensively outplayed by fellow Aussie
Kasey Brown, with the third seed cruising to a 9/6 9/3 9/1
victory.
No such problem for top seed Tamsyn Leevey, who moved
safely through to the final after beating fellow kiwi Jaclyn Hawkes in
four. The world number 31 looked to be on course for a straight forward
win after taking the first two games 9/1 9/0, but dropped the third 9/5.
Leevey recovered to close out the match 9/6 in the fourth.
The final will be played at 2pm NZT, Sunday 13 June.
Meanwhile, the rich vein of form continues for rising kiwi star
Joelle King.
After losing to Desira in the opening round, the 15 year old has won
through to the final of the plate, with victories over Germany's Daniela
Schumann and Delia Arnold from Malaysia. Just a week ago, King won the
under 17 age group title at the Milo All Stars Junior Championships in
Malaysia...Delia Arnold won the under 19 title.
12-Jun-04:
Top seeds into the semis
The top four seeds are safely
through to the semifinals at the WISPA Tour's Taranaki Open at Kawaroa
Squash Club in New Plymouth.
Top seed Tamsyn Leevey stormed into the last four with an effortless 9/2
9/0 9/1 victory over fellow kiwi Jenny Bell. The world number 38 will
now meet fourth seed Jaclyn Hawkes, in an all kiwi semifinal at 5:40 NZT
tonight. The match has been moved forward to enable the players to watch
tonight's rugby test between the All Blacks and world champions England
at Carisbrook in Dunedin.
And the second semifinal is an all Australian affair, with second seeded
Dianne Desira and third seed Kasey Brown both winning in straight games.
The two Aussies will do battle at 7pm NZT.
11-Jun-04:
Leevey cruises into
Taranaki Quarters
Gary Denvir reports
Top seed Tamsyn Leevey cruised into the second round of the WISPA
Tour's Taranaki Open at Kawaroa Park Squash Club in New Plymouth.
The world number 31 made short work of fellow kiwi Rebecca Hawkes in her
opening match, waltzing to a 9/1 9/1 9/0 victory.
Australian third seed Kasey Brown was similarly untroubled in
beating Malaysia's Delia Arnold in straight games, while fourth seeded
kiwi Jaclyn Hawkes also won in three against Isabelle Tweedle
from England.
However, second seeded Australian Dianne Desira was made to work
a lot harder to earn her spot in the quarterfinals.
The world number 38 was been pushed to four games by Waikato teenager
Joelle King, eventually prevailing 9/3 9/4 1/9 9/7. Just a week ago,
15-year-old Joelle King won the under 17 title at the Milo All Stars
Junior Squash Championships in Malaysia.
Strong field for Taranaki Open
Gary Denvir reports
Six of the top 100 women's squash players will be on show at the
Taranaki Open, at the Kawaroa Squash Club this weekend.
A trans-Tasman duel is looming in the WISPA world tour event, with New
Zealand's Tamsyn Leevey seeded to meet Australia's Dianne Desira in the
final.
Leevey gets top billing courtesy of her world ranking of 31, with 38th
ranked Desira seeded second.
Kasey Brown will also fly the Australian flag as third seed, while New
Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes, Kylie Lindsay and Judith Casbolt will all be
aiming to further boost their world rankings with some valuable points
at the event.
Play gets underway in the first round proper at 6pm on Friday.
Taranaki
Open
2004