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Virginia
Pro Champs
2004
21-24 Jan,
Richmond, Virginia, USA, $10k |
24-Jan Final:
Durbach too strong
Rodney Durbach overpowered Jan Koukal in three
straight games to win the Virginia Professional Squash Championship at
the Country Club of Virginia. Third-seeded Durbach swept
seventh-seeded Koukal 15/8, 15/10, 15/11.
23-Jan, Semis:
Youth v Experience in Virginia Final
The final of the inaugural Virginia Pro
tournament will be youth v experience. Jan Koukal continued his
impressive run, leading top seed Paul Price 2/1 before Price was
forced to retire injured and will face Rodney Durbach, who outlasted
second seed Shahier Razik, in Saturday's final.
22-Jan, Quarters:
Koukal ousts Evans
Czech youngster Jan Koukal provided the
first upset of the inaugural Virginia Pro Championships, beating
fourth seed David Evans in five in the quarter-finals ...
full story |
Players assemble in Richmond
photos by Bruce de Wit |
Virginia Pro Champs 2004 |
1st Round
Wed 21st |
Quarters
Thu 22nd |
Semis
Fri 23rd |
Final
Sat 24th |
[1] Paul Price (Aus)
15-12, 15-12, 15-10
Rafael Alarcon (Bra) |
Paul Price
15-10, 3-15, 15-9, 15-12
Joey Barrington |
Paul Price
15/8, 12/15, 15/9, 8/9 rtdJan Koukal |
Jan Koukal
15/8, 15/10, 15/11
Rodney Durbach |
[8] Joey Barrington
(Eng)
15-6, 15-11, 15-12
[Q] Sam Miller (Eng) |
[4] David Evans (Wal)
15-10, 9-15, 15-10, 15-8
[Q] Karim Yehia (Egy) |
David Evans
15-7, 6-15, 15-6, 11-15, 15-12
Jan Koukal |
[7] Jan Koukal (Cze)
15-7, 15-4, 15-1
Ben Howell (Eng) |
Matthew Guiffre (Can)
15-11, 15-11, 15-2
[5] Cameron Pilley (Aus) |
Cameron
Pilley
15-12, 15-9, 15-9
Rodney Durbach |
Rodney Durbach
15/11, 10/15, 8/15, 15/9, 15/9
Shahier Razik |
[Q] Eric Galvez (Mex)
15-13, 15-7, 15-13
[3] Rodney Durbach (Rsa) |
Patrick Chifunda (Zam)
15-7, 8-15, 15-7, 15-14
[6] Gavin Jones (Wal) |
Gavin Jones
15-13, 15-10, 15-10
Shahier Razik |
[Q] Kumail Mehmood (Pak)
15-7, 15-6, 15-9
[2] Shahier Razik (Can) |
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Qualifying Finals:
Karim Yehia (Egy) beat Philip Barker (Eng) (3-1) 12-15, 15-11,
15-13, 15-9
Sam Miller (Eng) beat Tony James (Aus) (3-0) 15-12, 15-5, 15-10
Kumail Mehmood (Pak) beat Nicholas Kyme (Ber) (3-0) 15-8, 15-6, 15-11
Eric Galvez (Mex) beat Imran Khan (Pak) (3-0) 17-14, 15-3, 15-9
Qualifying Round One:
Karim Yehia (Egt) bye
Philip Barker (Eng) bt Ryan Donegan (3-0) 15-7, 15-5, 15-10
Sam Miller (Eng) bt Scott Fitzgerald (Wal) (3-1) 15-2, 15-12,
10-15, 15-5
Tony James (Aus) bt Paul Brogna (Usa) (3-0) 15-10, 15-3, 15-7
Nicholas Kyme (Ber) bt Dylan Patterson (3-0) 15-9, 15-12, 15-10
Kumail Mehmood (Egy) bt David Phillips (Can) (3-2) 11-15, 15-5,
15-6, 11-15, 15-5
Imran Khan (Pak) bt Andre Holderegger (Sui) (3-2) 9-15, 15-5,
15-9, 14-15, 15-12
Eric Galvez (Mex) (bye)
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Reports |
Final:
Durbach too strong
Bruce de Wet reports from Richmond
Rodney Durbach became the first Virginia Professional Squash
Champion on
Saturday night. He beat a plucky Jan Koukal in three games but the
match was not one
sided.
In front of a packed gallery of approximately 250 spectators the
finalists produced some spectacular squash.
Koukal seemed to be particularly effective at the start of each
game, hitting some devastating short cross court winners.
The quickness eventually seeped away in all three stanzas, with
Durbach playing thoughtful strokes that inevitably gave him the
edge.
Quarters:
Koukal ousts Evans
Bruce de Wet reports from Richmond
Finally an upset! The first quarterfinal match
delivered a fine contest that went the distance. David Evans and
Jan Koukal traded games and then worked to stay in the fifth.
When the dust settled Koukal had managed to eke out a 15-7, 6-15,
15-6, 11-15, 15-12 victory.
The 5:30 match between Paul Price and Joey Barrington
delivered lengthy rallies and focused concentration from both
players. Barrington blitzed through the second game after he had
lost the first. The momentum swung in the third game when Price
bettered Barrington's string of 6 consecutive points by putting
together his own 8 point run to close out the game. In the fourth
Price was willing to trade points and at 12-all he eased away to end
the game and match, 15-10, 3-15, 15-9, 15-12.
At 6:30 pm Rodney Durbach faced off against Cameron Pilley.
Durbach is fresh off a good showing at the recent Dayton event and
Pilley won in Calgary last week. As the action unfolded it became
evident that the match was going Durbach's way. Working the ball
around, Durbach kept Pilley off his rhythm winning three convincing
games 15-12, 15-9, 15-9.
The final match of the evening had Shahier Razik playing
Gavin Jones. The contest was close and there were a number of
extended rallies in the early going. Those in the know were
whispering that Razik would outlast Jones and as the legs tired
Jones was forced into more adventurous shotmaking. Razik wore down
less than his opponent and won 15-13, 15-10, 15-10.
First Round:
Smooth Sailing for the Seeds
Bruce de Wet reports from Richmond
No
surprise results were in store for the assembled squash fanatics as
the main round action of Virginia's first professional tournament
got under way, but there was consensus that the intensity and skill
level picked up.
David Evans, seeded fourth, and Karim Yehia got things
started at 4:30 PM. They split the first two games but Evans closed
the match out comfortably, winning 3-1. On the adjoining court,
Jan Koukal breezed through his encounter with Ben Howell,
running off the final fifteen points in succession as he won 3-0.
The 5:30 PM matches pitted the first seed, Paul Price,
against Rafael Alarcon and Joey Barrington against Sam
Miller. Price and Barrington both won 3-0.
At 6:30 PM Rodney Durbach, seeded third, took on Eric
Galvez. Points were shared to keep the game scores close but
Durbach managed to force the vital errors in each of the three
games. In the other 6:30 PM encounter, Cameron Pilley put
away the third game in convincing fashion to end his match against
Matthew Guiffre in three.
The two 7:30 PM matches were contrasting in
style. On court 2 the second seeded Shahier Razik played with
calm precision and measured strokes to end the run of Kumail Mehmood
in three games. On court 3 Gavin Jones and Patrick Chifunda
were putting on a display of athleticism.
After dropping the first game, Chifunda played himself back into the
match with some great retrieving and shotmaking as he won the second
game. Jones kept to his task, regaining the momentum when he won
the third game. This set the stage for game four; fortune swung
from one to the other until Jones called 'No set' at 14-all.
Chifunda made a number of spectacular digs to stay in the point,
diving to reach a ball with his body stretched out it seemed that
Jones had the advantage. Amazingly Chifunda was up and managed to
recover to the 'T', but his simple short forehand found the tin to
end the match.
Qualifying Finals:
Big Guns arrive in Virginia
Bruce de Wet reports from Richmond
Bigger guns started arriving in Richmond today as the main draw is
set to get underway on Wednesday.
Paul Price was joined by Shahier Razik, Rodney Durbach, and David
Evans to round out the top seeds.
Most
of the players were relaxed and smiling, despite actively sizing up
the competition. Perhaps it was due to the suggestion that a local
television crew would be around to capture some footage. ( Besides,
the photographer is rumored to have bribed these four guys to appear
in the same picture! )
The second day's activities at the Virginia Professional Squash
Championships culminated with the final qualifier matches.
Only one of the matches went beyond three games but the competition
seemed stiff all the same. In the first match Karim Yehia lost the
first game to Philip Barker but then came back to win the next
three.
In the second match Sam Miller proved too much for a game Tony
James.
The third match saw Kumail Mehmood through to the main event as
Nicholas Kyme was making too many errors.
Finally, Eric Galvez had too much energy and zip for Monday's five
set survivor, Imran Khan.
Qualifying
round one:
Virginia welcome for PSA
Bruce de Wet reports from Richmond
The Country Club of Virginia and the local squash community has
welcomed their inaugural influx of PSA players to Richmond,
Virginia, with open arms.
Today's first round qualification matches set this sparkling new
facility abuzz with excitement. This is the first Professional
Squash Tournament to take place at the Country Club of Virginia and
there were smiles and sighs all round as the galleries took in the
competition.
Many of the practice sessions were also keenly observed and some of
the players dragged their hosts out onto the courts for a quick
warm-up as well. Organizers and sponsors were well pleased with
their efforts as this historic event got underway.
The main draw was amended to make allowance for Lars Harms being
unable to play, Ben Howell being placed into the main draw.
Since there were only fourteen qualifiers, Karim Yehia and Eric
Galvez were given the byes in the first qualification round.
There were only two matches that went the full distance. The second
of these offered the riskiest call to date when Andre Holderegger
opted for 'No Set', giving Imran Khan his first match ball, in their
fourth game. Holderegger held to take that fourth game at 15-14, but
Khan came back in the fifth to win the match.
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