Sobhy Soars To Hong Kong Success by Howard Harding May 25, 2014
- Young US squash star Amanda Sobhy picked up one of the biggest Tour
titles of her brief career to date when she defeated Australia's former
world number one and world champion Rachael Grinham in straight games
in today's final of the HKFC WSA 25 in Hong Kong.
The 20-year-old US
number one reached the climax of the WSA Silver 25 event at the Hong
Kong Football Club in Happy Valley without dropping a game - then
crushed 37-year-old Grinham 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 in just 23 minutes to
extend her remarkable record in WSA World Tour finals to 12 wins from
13 appearances.
"The first game
started steadily with both players trading points," explained event
spokesman Dallas Reid. "At five-all, however, Amanda seemed to start to
dominate and ran out 11-6. She then took that momentum and dominated
the second with the help of some unforced errors from Rachael. She
reinforced this with her ability to pick up some of Rachael's tightest
drops, and re-drop with extreme accuracy and claimed the second 11-2.
"Despite the gulf in
the second game, Rachael came out full of fight in the third and in her
trade-mark style fought for every point. At 8-9 Amanda appealed for a
let when impeded trying to reach a very tight drop shot. When awarded a
no-let, she pointed out 'I've got long legs'. Sadly the referee
remained unmoved. Notwithstanding, she kept her focus and closed out
the match 11-9 to win 3/0."
Grinham commented that
she simply could not hit the ball tight enough and that allowed Amanda
to dominate the game with her own powerful and accurate shots.
"Amanda is a strong player, and is just getting stronger," said the Queenslander.
RESULTS: Women's HKFC WSA 25, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
