Amanda Sobhy Advances In $50K Weymuller Qualifying -
Blatchford, Khan Ousted
from DailySquashReport.com
Dipika Pallikal

September 21, 2011 - Harvard freshman Amanda Sobhy beat world #32 Victoria Lust of England in five last night to advance to the qualifying finals of the $50,000 Carol Weymuller Open at the Heights Casino in Brooklyn, New York,  but Americans Olivia Blatchford and Latasha Khan were beaten.

Sobhy, the world #20, steadied out an 11-4 final game to overtake the 22-year old Lust by 11/1 9/11 11/5 9/11 11/4.

She will face 19-year-old world #24 Dipika Pallikal of India tonight in an intriguing qualifying final. Pallikal, winner of the recent WISPA Orange County Open, handled Seattle’s Latasha Khan in her first-round qualifier 11-6 11-7 11-8.

Brooklyn native and world #34 Blatchford, who has joined the WISPA tour full-time, was stopped by the experienced world #26 Emma Beddoes out of Nottingham, England, 11-6 11-8 11-5.

Linda Elriani Files This Report On The First Round Of Qualifying:

The 5.30pm match was Samantha Teran from Mexico, who is 20 in the WISPA world rankings. Samantha played Niki Clement from the USA. Samantha’s experience and faultless play got the better of the American though Niki put up a great fight in the first game. Samantha said after her match “I find the court very different from the ones in Mexico so this was a good match to get used the court. Niki played well in the first and I had to find my rhythm. Now I wait to see who I play tomorrow!”. Samantha won 11/6, 11/2, 11/2.

The second 5.30pm match was Delia Arnold from Malaysia and Orla Noom from Holland. This was a closely contested match with both players really battling for the T. Delia came out on top in a close 4 setter. Delia commented after her win “It’s the first tournament in a while as I have had a 6 week training period and this is the first tournament after. I felt I was moving well and my shots were going in. I hope that I can play even better tomorrow!” Delia won 11/3, 10/12, 11/8, 11/3.

Next match on the championship court was Sarah Kippax, the English women who is #2 seed in the qualification, against Manuela Manetta from Italy. They have had many tough matches throughout the past months with many of them going to 5 games but tonight Sarah was the sharper more focused player and Sarah came out with a convincing 3-0 win (11/2, 11/9, 11/4). Sarah said after “I’m really happy to win in 3 as we’ve had lots of battles in the past. Manuela didn’t find her length today and I managed to find good depth and put her under pressure. I don’t mind who I play tomorrow, both players are skillful so I’ll have to play well whoever I play!!”

Joey Chan from Hong Kong beat English woman Tania Bailey 3-0 (11/4, 11/3, 13/11) in their qualification match. Joey played a great match, though Tania was suffering from a sinus infection and was definitely not firing on all cylinders. Tania is also returning from several month off the court with a knee injury so we wish her all the best with getting back into fighting form again. Joey said after her match “ I played well tonight and I just worked her. I didn’t let her get on the T and give her a chance as she has good hands. It was a great warm up match for tomorrow. I looking forward to playing Sarah and fighting back as I have never beaten her before!”

Dipika Pallikal from India and world #24 beat USA Latasha Khan and world # 30. Even though Dipika beat Latasha in 3 (11/6, 11/7, 11/8) the score did not depict this match. Latasha has endless experience and Dipika really had to our maneuver Latasha to get her openings. Dipika commented “I felt that we were always equal throughout the match and that I got lucky as Latasha played a couple of tins. I’ve been in the USA for 2 weeks now preparing for this tournament and I’ve also been working with Sarah Fitzgerald over the last year and now live in Melbourne to train with her and it’s all starting to come together. I’m excited about playing my match tomorrow.”

Emma Beddoes, world #26 from England, took on home grown Olivia Blatchford. Olivia is just embarking on her professional squash career and came along to try and qualify for this Gold event. Emma proved too tight and experienced for the young player but I feel there are good things to come from Olivia in the not too distant future. Emma said “I played Olivia a year ago so I knew what to expect as she is good at the front. I felt that I moved well, though my length could improve. It’s good to be playing tournaments again after 5 weeks training break”. Emma won 11/6, 11/8, 11/5.

Amanda Sobhy the world #21 from USA and recent addition to the Harvard squash team played Victoria Lust world #34 from England and it was a battle to the end! Amanda took a 2-1 lead but Victoria fought back to win the 4th game 11-9. Amanda took control of the 5th game in the end and Victoria started to show signs of tiredness and Amanda got the 5th 11/4. A red faced Amanda said about her match “It was a little long and longer than I wanted it to be, but a win's a win! I’ve never played Dipika before so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes”.

Last but certainly not least was our very own Haley Mendez, who was playing qualification #1 seed and world #17 Low Wee Wern from Malaysia. Haley who has just started at Harvard alongside her team mate Amanda Sobhy, travelled down to play in the Weymuller. She put up an amazing fight in the first game playing very patient tight squash and Low only managed to win in 11/9. The last 2 games were still great squash but Low managed to control the T more and work Haley hard around the court. Low won in the end 11/9, 11/4, 11/4. Low said after her match “It’s the first time I have been here and I like it and the weather is good….surprisingly! I never played Haley before and she came out very steady so I had to be patient. In the 2nd and 3rd she got more tired and I also became more settled. I played Emma Beddoes in Malaysia in July in the qualification finals (same as tomorrow) and I won 3-2 so it’s going to be another hard match!”

Haley commented “I was really happy with the first game and then I played well in patches in the 2nd and 3rd. I didn’t feel that I got to prepare the way I would have liked to with just starting College one month ago. I am happy that some of my momentum carried over from the World Junior Open this summer. It’s ALWAYS great to be back home in Brooklyn and also to be at the Casino again!”

It was a great evening of squash to start off the 2011 Weymuller and we look forward to the final round of the qualifying tomorrow night.

First Round Qualifying Results, $50K WISPA Weymuller Open:

Samantha Teran beat Niki Clement 11/6, 11/2, 11/2.

Joey Chan beat Tania Bailey  11/4, 11/3, 13/11.

Sarah Kippax beat Manuela Manetta 11/2, 11/9, 11/4..

Amanda Sobhy beat Victoria Lust 11/1, 9/11, 11/5, 9/11, 11/4.

Dipika Pallikal beat Latasha Khan 11/6, 11/7, 11/8.

Emma Beddoes beat Olivia Blatchford 11/6, 11/8, 11/5.

Delia Arnold beat Orla Noom  11/5, 10/12, 11/8, 11/3.

Low Wee Wern beat Haley Mendez  11/9, 11/4, 11/4.


Tonight's Final Round Qualifying Match-Ups:

5.30pm Delia Arnold V Samantha Teran

6.15pm Joey Chan V Sarah Kippax

7.00pm Amanda Sobhy V Dipika Pallikal

7.45pm Low Wee Wern V Emma Beddoes
Low Wee Wern
Emma Beddoes
Haley Mendez
Joey Chan
Samantha Teran
Sarah Kippax
Delia Arnold

Amanda Sobhy - Haley Mendez

 



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