Perry Prevails Over Pallikal In Weymuller Main Draw First Round
By Rob Dinerman
Madeline Perry Dateline September 22, 2011 -- Chastened by a second-game loss in which she let both a mid-game lead and a game-ball opportunity slip away, second-seeded Madeline Perry, the Irish star currently ranked third in the WISPA tour, convincingly controlled the third and close-out fourth game to defeat qualifier Dipika Pallikal 11-6 11-13 11-6 11-7 this evening at Heights Casino in Brooklyn, NY, in the opening main-draw match of the Carol Weymuller Open. Now in its 38th holding, this tournament, which began as a hardball invitational before converting to softball in the early-1990's, has long been one of the most popular events on the schedule, especially this year in the wake of the massive expansion of the purse to $50,000, the all-time record for the Weymuller by a sizable margin.
Pallikal, the fast-rising Indian star who just yesterday celebrated her 20th birthday with an exciting 12-10 in the fourth victory over American stand-out Amanda Sobhy in the final-round of the qualifying, demonstrated noteworthy firepower with her array of aggressive front-court forays and her ability to conjure up shallow backhand drives that frequently semi-nick even from a narrow angle. These skills were on full display in the latter stages of the second game, during which she hammered a trio of winners, each at the end of a long exchange, in moving from 10-11 to 13-11.
The match was clearly at a crossroads entering the third game, but the more experienced Perry resolutely regained the control she had exerted in the second half of the first game (which she had finished off with a 6-1 run from 5-all), gaining mid-game cushions in both the third and fourth that were too imposing to be overcome. Perry's game boasts a combination of consistent severity (in both her movement and her ball-striking) and error-avoidance that provided the margin of a well-earned victory. Her relentless retrieving of would-be Pallikal winners eventually elicited some costly tins, a mirror image of the night before, when it had been Pallikal who had frustrated Sobhy by often making her hit one more ball. But despite this evening's outcome, Pallikal, still very early in her career, has a lot of game, is already a dangerous early-round assignment for even the top tier of WISPA players, and definitely bears watching as this season moves along.
Linda Elriani Filed This Report On The Rest Of The First Round:
Tonight was the 1st round of the 2011 Carol Weymuller Main draw. The quality of the matches tonight was amazing and the matches were so exciting and closely contested. It’s so inspirational for our Heights Casino juniors to watch. There’s a cute group of our youngest players who come watch nearly all the matches and have got as many signatures from the WISPA players as is humanly possible!
The weather in Brooklyn has been damp and very humid over the last 2 or 3 days and this has made for very hot court conditions and long hard matches, proving to us even more how fit and athletic the women players are.
As Rob Dinerman recounted above, first on the Championship court was # 2 seed and world # 3 from Ireland, Madeline Perry, against the young Indian qualifier Dipika Pallikal. Madeline said after her match, “I had to get a really good length because she is so dangerous around the middle. I was definitely happy with the 3rd and 4th after losing the 2nd game. It was a really good match before my quarters tomorrow. This match is also good practice to play Annie Au tomorrow as she’s also dangerous in the front.”
Also on court at 5.30pm was Hong’s Kong’s Annie Au and world # 11 against English qualifier Emma Beddoes. Annie Au came out on top in this tough match but Emma put up an amazing fight and had some chances in the 3rd and 4th games, especially after her incredibly long match yesterday. Annie made it through winning 6/11, 11/8, 11/8, 13/11. Annie commented “ Emma played very well even though she had a hard match yesterday and she still ran so much! The first game was a bit of a shock and the 2nd and 3rd I was more patient and played more rallies to make her tired. I’ve played Madeline but never won, but I’m going to try and rally with her and learn from her as she has so much experience”.
Second match on the championship court was World # 5 from England, Laura Massaro, playing Egyptian and world # 12 Raneem El Weleily. This match had a real contrast in playing styles with Laura being steady and accurate and Raneem being flary, skillful and random! Raneem took a 2-1 lead but Laura came back well in the 4th with a very controlled game and then started the 5th in the same vain taking a 5-1 lead. Raneem dug in and before we knew it they were playing right down to the wire with Laura getting 2 match balls but not managing to capitalize on them. Raneem eventually came away the victor winning 13-11 in the 5th. Raneem said after the match “It’s really hot in there and that’s even coming from someone who lives in Egypt!!! It was the humidity! It was a really really close match and I thought for a moment in the 5th that I’d lost it! Then I really don’t know what happened I just kept hitting and running! We played 6 times in the last year so we know each other’s games so well. Camille beat me last time so I’m hoping tomorrow that it’ll be me that wins!”
French # 1 and World # 8, Camille Serme played the Mexican qualifier, Samantha Teran. This was another hard fought match with most games ending with only a 2 point difference. Camille lost the 1st 11/9 and then managed to get the next three 11/9, 11/8, 12/10. Camille said after “I think that Samantha played well. It was my first match in a competition for 2 months and I couldn’t find my length and Samantha was in control most of the time. But I felt like when I was calm I could play pretty well and played the ball tighter. I felt I got a little lucky with a couple of shots at the end! I’m glad I won. It’s going to be tough tomorrow against Raneem as I won 12-10 in the fifth last time!”
Rachael Grinham from Australia and world # 4 played against her compatriot and training partner Donna Urquhart world # 14. Rachael came out well and won the first 11/7. Donna managed to find her length more in the second and got Rachael behind her and won the second 11/4. Rachael recovered well and snatched back the control to win the 3rd and 4th 11/5, 11/7. Rachael said after her game “It was hard in there! Donna’s tough to play when she’s playing well. She hits it hard and puts it away if you give her opportunities. I had to hit length and stay focused and not go for the easy winners. Patience worked. I’ve been training and playing with Donna for the last 5 weeks every day as we are both based in Brisbane so it was a shame that we were drawn to play each other. It’s a shame I have to play another Aussie again tomorrow, but looking forward to playing Kasey”.
American based Australian Kasey Brown and world # 6 played against Hong Kong’s Joey Chan. Joey started out well and chopped the ball in short and managed to move Kasey around and out of position enough to win the first 11/9. Kasey battled to get in front of Joey and did enough of the time to just clinch the 2nd game 12/10. The 3rd and 4th games Kasey took much more control of the pace and match and won them 11/2 and 11/6. Kasey said “I’ve been working on a few things and it’s nice to get through a match like that. I saw Joey play yesterday and she played amazingly and I knew I had to be sharp today. She came out with some really good drops and I felt I had to attack a bit more and it got better as the match went on. Rachael can put the ball in well too so I’ll have to play smart and give her nothing to work with”.
Jenny Duncalf the world # 2 and current champion of the Weymuller played the last match on the championship court tonight against New Zealander and world # 16. Jaclyn had a great start really playing it deep and being patient and won the 1st 11/8. Jenny dug in and took more control of the match as it went on, with long rallies and patience. Jenny won the last 3 games 11/6, 11/8, 11/5. When I asked Jenny how she felt after the match she said “Pretty hot! It’s SO humid and really hot and bouncy. Jackie played well and kept it in play and I’d imagine to make me force it, which I did sometimes! I basically ground it out and the late start didn’t help too much either. Whether I play Joelle or Omneya it’ll be a touch game, especially in the conditions. I’m looking forward to the quarter finals”.
The last match of the evening to finish but certainly not lacking fantastic squash and drama was the match between World #7 from Egypt, Omneya Abdel Kawy and World # 13 from New Zealand, Joelle King. Joelle took a relatively comfy 2-0 lead winning the 1st and 2nd 11/3, 11/7, but then Omneya pushed on through and managed to win the 3rd 11/9 and 4th in a nail biting 17/15, where Joelle missed out on 2 match balls. Joelle started the 5th game perfectly and got up 10/6, but Omneya gave one last huge effort and managed to edge her way back to 10 all. Joelle finally closed out the match with a lovely backhand drop shot that Omneya couldn’t reach to win 12/10. A red faced Joelle said after the long match “I’ve only played Omneya once a couple of years ago when I first started out on the pro tour. It’s nice to get an opportunity to play someone different. I have a lot of respect for her and I’ve seen her play for a long time, so every time I got the chance to finish it off I got a bit nervous! Jenny is the top seed for a reason! Last time I played her I lost in 5 so I suppose I can gain some confidence for that. So I’m going to rest, recover and tomorrow is a new day!”.
So here ends another exciting night of squash here at The Heights Casino and we all look forward to the quarter finals tomorrow night. See you again soon!
1st Round Results, $50,000 WISPA Carol Weymuller Open, Brooklyn NY
Annie Au beat Emma Beddoes 6/11, 11/8, 11/9, 13/11.
Madeline Perry beat Dipika Pallikal 11/6, 11/13, 11/6, 11/7.
Raneem El Weleily beat Laura Massaro 6/11, 11/5, 11/6, 7/11, 13/11.
Camille Serme beat Samantha Teran 9/11, 11/9, 11/8, 12/10.
Kasey Brown beat Joey Chan 9/11, 12/10, 11/2, 11/6.
Rachael Grinham beat Donna Urquhart 11/7, 4/11, 11/5, 11/7.
Joelle King beat Omneya Abdel Kawy 11/3, 11/7, 9/11, 15/17, 12/10.
Jenny Duncalf beat Jaclyn Hawkes 8/11, 11/6, 11/8, 11/5.
Today's Quarterfinal Matchups:
5.30pm Madeline Perry V Annie Au.
6.15pm Camille Serme V Raneem El Weleily
7.00pm Rachael Grinham V Kasey Brown
7.45pm Jenny Duncalf V Joelle King
Raneem El Weleily
Annie Au
Camille Serme
Rodney Martin and Kasey Brown
Rachel Grinham
Joelle KingBack To Main
