$50K Heights Casino Weymuller Qualifying Finals Report by Linda Elriani
October 19, 2016
photos Jean Ervasti
HI Everyone,
Tonight was the last evening of the qualification at the 2016 Carol
Weymuller Open. It's always an exciting round as it really is all or
nothing, the main draw or out! The matches were very exciting and a
fantastic display of how athletic and amazingly skilled the top women
squash players are.
The link to the live streaming is….. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-heights-casino-live
Weymuller@Lunch was also held today in the Governors Room at the
Heights Casino was packed with members and Corcoran sponsors and
everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch. It was a great chance to thank
Corcoran for their amazing support of the Carol Weymuller for over 14
years now. I did an interview with Maria Toorpakai Wazir and it was so
interesting and inspiring to hear her speak so earnestly and honestly
about her challenges in Pakistan and wanting to compete in the sport
that she loves. It was a real treat for the group at the luncheon
and the crowd of patrons was also given the opportunity to ask some of
their own questions at the end.
The luncheon was followed by the first of the qualifying finals matches
played at 1.30pm.So with a full stand of keen and excited members the
first match began. The conditions were unbelievably hot due to the
weather outside being 26c so not only the players were sweating!
The match was between Mexico’s Samantha Teran, who is ranked world 34
against the young 19 nineteen year old Egyptian player Mariam Metwally
who is already has a world ranking of #31. It was going to be
interesting to see if age and experience could overcome youth and
enthusiasm.
It was a tough first game with Mariam squeezing her lead to 10-8 for
her first chance to win the game, but as always Samantha battled hard
and managed to equalize. Mariam gave an extra push and came through to
take the first game 12/10.
Even though Mariam came out on fire and took a 6-0 lead in the second,
it was Samantha that managed to reach game ball first with the 10/8
lead, and this time it was Mariam that fought back to equalize. Mariam
was hitting some perfect cross court drives that died in the back which
is incredibly difficult to do in such hot conditions. There were a
couple of no lets that Mariam clearly didn’t agree with but it didn’t
seem to take away her determination or focus to win the second game.
Samantha had 5 game balls in the end, but never managed to capitalize
on any of them and Mariam finally took the mammoth second game 16/14.
There is obviously a huge difference in being 1-1 or 2-0 up or down so
the second game was crucial for Samantha. We all knew it would be a
gigantic hill for Samantha to climb to come back into the match,
especially in the hot conditions. In true Samantha style, she still
fought hard and never gave up on a single shot, but Mariam seemed a
little more settled after claiming the second and she managed to
dominate the middle of the court more. Mariam managed to come through
the victor with an impressive 12/10, 16/14, 11/8 win over her opponent.
Mariam said after her match “I’m feeling good, you know, in the first
game it was one on one and I managed to win the game. I was trying to
calm down and change the pace and make it into a soft game. I played
Sam in the British Open this year and I won 3-1. She is fit and fast
and I was expecting the rallies to be long. I had to be as patient as
possible and then in the 2nd when I was 6-0 up I was playing so good, I
was playing drops and softer. I didn’t play my best at the US Open so I
was a little stressed today. Now I’m going to give it my all! It’s my
first time here so I’m that I made it to the main draw. I’m waiting for
the draw to be done later after the matches are finished and I’m
looking forward to it.”
The first evening match on court at 4.00pm was between Nicolette
Fernandes who is the world #26 from Guyana playing Kanzy Emad El
Defrawy the world #37 from Egypt. Last time they played Kanzy managed
to win but Nicolette is never an easy opponent for anyone and she came
out fighting for her place in the main draw.
Nicolette started the match strong with great controlled squash, being
very patient and accurate. Kanzy has great hands and shoots from
anywhere, but it’s hard to get the benefit of this when it’s hot and
bouncy and your opponent is dominating the T. Nicolette went through to
win the first 11/5.
The second started with closely contested rallies, but then Kanzy
started to vary the pace more and have better weight in her lengths and
this gave her more chances to use her precise short game. Kanzy took
the second game 11/5.
Kanzy got a great start in the third game with a 6-3 and then 10-7
lead. Kanzy was looking much more comfortable and but then a few errors
started to creep in and with Nicolette being such a fighter she managed
to climb her way back to 10-10. But with a perfect forehand drive and a
backhand drop winner, Kanzy managed to sneek that vital third game
12/10 to take a 2-1 lead.
Kanzy got the early control to take a 5-1 lead in the fourth with an
array of perfect short shots. Her boast was incredibly low and moved
Nicolette out of position so well. Then in her usual fighting style
Nicolette gave a huge push and to nearly even the game at 7-8, but
Kanzy edged away to get her first match ball at 10-7. With a couple of
great shots from Nicolette, including a wonderfully deceptive hold at
the front forehand, we thought Nicolette might manage to even up the
games score but Kanzy finished the match with a forehand cross court
straight into the nick, taking the fourth and final game 11-9 and
winning the match 5/11, 11/5, 12/10, 11/9.
A very happy Kanzy said straight after her match “I was relieved I was
able to get through this round. Nicolette is a great player and she is
very strong mentally and consistent with her game. Today was extremely
challenging for me fitness wise as I am not used to playing tournament
back to back. I was very, very challenged mentally too. I don’t think
that I played great but I managed to win because I was mentally strong
and I kept pushing myself and telling myself I wasn’t tired. My game is
very powerful and I like to play at a high pace, but today I have to do
the complete opposite. I played slow to be more in control and I
managed to win in 4, which I was relieved about as the score was really
close. The match could have gone either way, but I’m very happy to be
able to beat her twice in a row. When we played in the US Open last
week there was no pressure on me, but after beating her, I felt I was
no longer the underdog and I was expected to win, so I was a bit more
pressured and expected a lot of myself. This is a great tournament and
I’m so happy to qualify”.
The next match was between USA’s home grown Olivia Blatchford, who is
world #32, against England’s Millie Tomlinson who is world #39. This is
the only match in the qualifying finals that doesn’t feature an
Egyptian player. Just shows again how strong and popular squash in
Egypt. This is Millie’s first appearance at the Carol Weymuller Open
along with Mariam too, so it was really nice to see some new players
travelling to play our event.
Millie looked like she came into the match with a real game plan and
was relentlessly hitting her targets with her hard, straight drives and
she was very patient and seemed to find her groove very quickly. Olivia
was being forced off the T and being made to play less attackingly into
the front than she usually does. When Olivia did squeeze some openings
she was making some uncharacteristic unforced errors. Millie
managed to get a nice 6-3 lead. Olivia did eventually start to find her
groove and mix up her game and move Millie around more. She pulled back
the points and went ahead 9-7. It looked like Olivia was going to win
the first, but with some tight squash from Millie and a lob out of
court and a forehand boast into the tin from Olivia, gave Millie the
first 12-10.
The second was amazing squash from Millie hitting the corners
relentlessly and forcing Olivia to play reactive squash. Olivia was
starting to get frustrated and edgy and this wasn’t helping her to
change the course of the match. Millie went through to win the second
in a decisive 11/3.
We were all left wondering if Millie could get her first win ever from
Olivia or if Olivia could turn this around and make the comeback of the
year!
Millie yet again started the game well and had great weight on her
length and was giving Olivia nothing to hit. Millie managed to get an
8-5 lead with a win in sight, but it’s almost as if she started
thinking only about the potential win and not about sticking to the
game plan that had served her so well so far.
Olivia suddenly put her foot on the gas and took the ball earlier and
started to vary the pace and use the whole court better. Millie was
looking shaky for the first time in the match with some unforced errors
and impatient shots and before we knew it Olivia was 10/8 up in one
hand. With only one more point won by Millie, Olivia went through to
will the third 11/9. Olivia certainly displayed an impressive fighting
spirit and held her nerve exactly when it mattered most.
In the fourth game Olivia managed to keep the control in her game and
Millie continued to be a little shaky and couldn’t regain her steady
hard lengths that had set her up so nicely in the first two and half
games. Olivia went through to win the fourth 11/6.
The fifth game was ALL Olivia and Millie just couldn’t get into the
rallies. Olivia made no errors and was finally playing the great squash
she is capable of. Olivia went through to win the fifth and final game
11/1 to give her a much deserved spot in the Carol Weymuller Open main
draw (which she has only done once before) in the club where she first
learned how to play squash! Olivia won 10/12, 3/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/1.
A delighted Olivia said after her momentous comeback in the 65 minute
match “I was thinking She is going to have to pry this from my fingers
tips if she wants to win! I love five gamers! Who knew! On these types
of courts when it’s hot, it’s really a free for all. After the first
two games I thought I would try to make it more about the squash and
less about the conditions. I guess it worked! Thanks to Haley and also
a little girl that randomly came up and spoke to me after the 3rd game
and kept me sane! Thanks to her too!”
Our last match of the evening was a wonderfully tense and colorful one
between Tesni Evans from Wales and ranked #27 in the world and Salma
Hany Ibrahim from Egypt who has a world ranking of 35. Salma always
seems to get some of her best results here at the Weymuller, taking out
the world #2 Laura Massaro last year in this event. It seems that her
luck on the Heights Casino court continued as she managed to take out
Tesni in a very hard fought 48 minute 3-0 match.
Salma got off to a great start in the first taking a 7-1 lead and
Tesni’s length just wasn’t deep enough to put Salma under pressure.
Salma made a few errors and let Tesni get into the game a little, but
she still won the first 11/7.
Tesni came out strong in the second and found her length and took a
nice 7-3 lead. Salma made a big push and regained her composure and
started to move Tesni around the court again, soon she has equalized at
8-8. The last 7 points of the second game literally went back and forth
between both players. It was so important for Tesni to win the second
and even up the match. At 11-11 there was a shot at the front backhand
and the ref awarded a stroke against Tesni. Tesni shouted “WHAT!! As
she obviously felt it was a let and this decision took Salma to win the
game 12/10.
Salma came out playing well in the 3rd with the nice buffer of being
2-0 up now. She was soon 6-4 up, but Tesni plugged away and the points
started going evenly back and forth again until it was 9-9. It was
Salma that got to match ball on a stoke against her opponent and then
won the final point on a magnificent forehand cross court nick! Salma
won the match 11/7, 13/11, 11/9.
A red faced Salma said “I’m so HAPPY! It was a huge difference from
yesterday, right!? Tesni is such an amazing player and so tough to
play. I am so glad that I pushed in the second when I was 7-3 down and
in the third when I was 4-2 down. I really wanted my revenge but I
didn’t expect it to be in three. I kept telling myself to push in every
rally. I just didn’t want to lose in my favorite tournament.”
Congratulations to all the players that qualified. All the matches were
such great quality squash and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them. The
first round matches start tomorrow night at 5.30pm and we are all very
much looking forward to watching some more of the amazing squash. None
of the qualifiers get to have a much deserved rest day tomorrow because
they were all randomly drawn into the top half of the draw, but at
least they are more than used to playing in these very hot conditions
so we will see.
Wednesday's results of the finals of the qualifying are as follows….
