Sobhy, Seeds Suffer In Texas Openers by Howard Harding April 11, 2014
- There were upsets aplenty in the opening round of the Women's
Champion Fiberglass Texas Open, the Women's Squash Association Gold 50
event at The Downtown Club at the Met in Houston, USA.
The championship,
which has alternated between Dallas and Houston since its launch in
Houston in 2002, has attracted 13 of the world's top 20 women squash
players - led by Malaysia's world No7 Low Wee Wern.
The 23-year-old top
seed from Penang survived a tricky opener, avenging her shock defeat by
Sarah-Jane Perry in last year's British Open by beating the world No18
from England 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 in 64 minutes.
"The first three games
could have gone either way for both players with some stroke calls
hurting both," reported a spokesman for the event. "In the third they
collided and both went down with Perry getting the worst of it.
"After consultation
with the on-site physio, and the referee checking on her, Perry was
able to win the third. But Wern came out in the fourth with a
determined look and went up 7-6 and never looked back."
Wee Wern summed up the
match for her Twitter followers later: "Tough 1st round against Sarah
Jane Perry. Glad to come through with a close 3-1 win in 64 mins.
Quarters against Nour el Sherbini tomorrow."
Egyptian teenager Nour
El Sherbini produced one of the day's three upsets: The 18-year-old
from Alexandria was a qualifier - but endorsed the quality of the form
which earned her a place in last month's WSA World Championship final
by despatching higher-ranked compatriot Omneya Abdel Kawy, the No7 seed
from Cairo, 11-4, 11-4, 12-10 in just 29 minutes.
The opening match of
the day saw the demise of fifth seed Annie Au. Guyana's unseeded
Nicolette Fernandes led after the first and third games - but the
left-hander from Hong Kong, ranked nine in the world, drew level on
both occasions.
But the feisty
Fernandes, ranked 10 places below, stuck to her guns and closed out the
match 12-10, 10-12, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8 after 65 minutes to earn a place
in the quarter-finals for the first time.
England's Emma Beddoes
became the second qualifier to make the last eight after upsetting
sixth seed Kasey Brown, the WSA President from Australia (pictured
above, extreme right, with fellow WSA members at the event's Welcome
Reception), 11-4, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8 in 42 minutes.
Beddoes, the world
No23 from Leeds, will now face No2 seed Madeline Perry, the defending
champion from Ireland. Perry recovered from a game down to beat Hong
Kong qualifier Joey Chan 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10.
France's world No6
Camille Serme, the highest-ranked player in the draw, ended domestic
interest in the event when she beat New York's Amanda Sobhy 10-12,
11-6, 11-4, 11-8. The No3 seed, winner of the title in 2012 when last
in Houston, progresses to face eighth seed Rachael Grinham.
The 37-year-old twice
champion from Australia, who made her Texas Open debut in the inaugural
championship in 2002, defeated India's Joshana Chinappa 11-7, 11-5,
11-5.
But there was Indian
success earlier when fourth seed Dipika Pallikal saved five game-balls
in the opening game en-route to a 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 victory over
Australian qualifier Donna Urquhart. The world No12 from Chennai,
making her Texas Open debut, now faces Fernandes for a place in the
semi-finals.
RESULTS: Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open, Houston, USA
