Sobhy Pallikal, Cornett Advance $50K Weymuller Qualifying
September 25, 2012 - Top-ranked American Amanda Sobhy cruised past Misaki Kobayashi of Japan, India's Dipika Pallikal made short work of Maria Toor Pakay of Pakistan, and number one Canadian Sam Cornett upset England's Sarah Kippax, as qualifying got underway tonight in Brooklyn Heights at the 2012 WSA Carol Weymuller Open.
Linda Elriani files this report:
The 5.30pm match was between Alison Waters from England, who has just surged back up to # 9 in the WSA world rankings and Brigit Coufal world #60 from Austria. Alison’s experience and solid placement of the ball put Brigit under more and more pressure as the match went on. Alison won 3-0 (11/6, 11/4, 11/0) Alison commented “It’s nice to get started with a 3-0 win. I’m enjoying myself in Brooklyn and looking forward to my match tomorrow.”
The second 5.30pm match was Dipika Pallikal, the #1 seeded player in the qualification and the world #15 from India and Maria Toor Pakay world #52 from Pakistan. Dipika managed to win in 3 and after the match she said “I played Maria all my junior career and we always had intense matches. Maria is coming off a tournament win so is confident too. I really tried twisting her and putting in cross courts and keeping her off her feet. She made a few errors at crucial points too, which helped a lot. In the first match of the tournament it is nice to be off in 3!”
It was packed audience at 6.15pm on the championship court when Jaclyn Hawkes world #19 from New Zealand played Nicolette Fernandes #1 from Guyana. This was one of the three long and truly exciting matches of the evening. The rallies were long and hard and every point was closely contested. Nicolette fought for a 2-1 lead with a few entertaining dives here and there! Jaclyn managed to pull through the fourth game 11-7 managing to contain Nicolette in the back and stop her chances for the great short shots and the 5th game went right down to the wire. The fifth was full of fantastic retrieving, intense decisions for the ref and each player battling to control the T. Jaclyn finally came out on top winning 12/10 in the 5th. The red faced and smiling Jaclyn said after the match “I’m really lucky and happy to get through that! Nicolette really played well. She kept the ball really tight and hit some really good short shots. For tomorrow, they are all tough matches but Nour plays slightly differently and plays a lot of short shots, so I’ll have to be moving forward a lot. I’m looking forward to it.”
The second 6.15pm match was between Nour El Tayeb the world #21 from Egypt and Kristen Lange world #67 from USA. Kristen put up a fantastic fight and pushed Nour hard in each game, but Nour’s fluid movement and wonderful shot selection took it’s toll in the end. Nour won 11/9, 11/8, 11/6. After the match Nour said “I’m just happy to be here, I missed the Casino! It is good to win and hopefully I’ll play well again tomorrow.”
Nour now plays Jaclyn in the qualification finals tomorrow at 5.45pm.
The other 6.15pm match on the west court was an exciting five setter with Sarah Kippax from England and world #22 against Samantha Cornett world #36 from Canada. The games went back and forth and each player seemed to really find their rhythm and control in each game that they won. It was going to be interesting to see who could control the fifth after the pattern of the previous games and it was Sam managed to get in front and play her game winning the final game 11/5. Sam was beaming saying “So we played a month ago and she basically chopped me up 3-0! So I am so very very happy to have won that match!!! It was a bit of a see saw with the scores going back and forth and all the games that I won I stepped up on the T. I felt I went for a lot of short shots in the games that Sarah won because of her pressure. I haven’t played either Donna or Coline in ages so I ‘m looking forward to playing whoever wins.”
Donna Urquhart from Australia and world #17 played Coline Aumard the world #41 from France. Donna managed to control the match and her play her game, even though Coline put up a good fight. Donna won 11/5, 11/4, 11/8. Donna said after she finished her match “I’m always happy to get through. It’s the first time I’ve played Coline and you don’t always know what to expect! I’ve seen her play and see her results so I knew she was tough. She let me off the hook with some errors. I’ve never played Sam before either so I look forward to playing someone different again!”
Donna plays Sam at 7.00pm tomorrow.
Amanda Sobhy the world #20 from USA and member of the Harvard squash team played Misaki Yobayashi the world #33 from Japan. Amanda mostly dominated the games and powered her opponent into the back and controlled the T. Misaki tried her hardest to remove Amanda from the T but couldn’t do it for enough of the time. Amanda said after her match “It was tough, I haven’t really had a pro match in a while. I get to play with the guys on the men’s team at Harvard but there’s no pressure then. This is a professional match and it matters! Even if I’m playing a girl that is not as tough as the Harvard Guys if is somehow harder! I’ve never played Alison Waters and I hope to do well. I was unfortunate to draw her (what with her ranking being lower due to injury). I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain!”
Now Amanda will go on to play Alison in the final round of the qualification tomorrow evening at 7.45pm.
Lastly but certainly not least was USA’s tour veteran and world # 28 Latasha Khan against young and upcoming Trinity freshman from Egypt, Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy. This match was a fantastic finale to a wonderful evening of squash. Latasha is looking more in shape than ever and she turns 40 in January! Her great accuracy and immense experience pulled her through to overcome the 18 year old Kanzy, who gave every last effort to try and win the match, with several dives around the court. The final game was closely contested right through till the last few points and Latasha finished the victor with a final score of 11/8. Latasha said “I’m happy I played well. Kanzy moves well and dives and gets a lot back. Basically my length was key!!! I lost to Dipika 12/10 in the fifth last time we played so I’m looking forward to a better result this time!”
Latasha now plays Dipika in the final round tomorrow at 5.00pm.
It was a truly fantastic evening of squash to start off the 2012 Weymuller. Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to the final round of the qualifying tomorrow night which starts at 5.00pm.
Tonight’s results:
Alison Waters beat Brigit Coufal 11/6, 11/4, 11/0.
Dipika Pallikal beat Maria Toor Pakay 11/8, 11/5, 11/3.
Nour El Tayeb beat Kristen Lange 11/9, 11/8, 11/6.
Jaclyn Hawkes beat Nicolette Fernandes 11/6, 7/11, 8/11, 11/7, 12/10.
Sam Cornett beat Sarah Kippax 11/6, 2/11, 11/4, 5/11, 11/5.
Donna Urquhart beat Coline Aumard 11/5, 11/4, 11/8.
Amanda Sobhy beat Misaki Kobayashi 11/7, 11/6, 11/6.
Latasha Khan beat Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy 8/11, 11/8. 14/12, 7/11, 11/8.
Wednesday's matches are:
5.00pm Dipika Pallikal V Latasha Khan
5.45pm Nour El Tayeb V Jaclyn Hawkes
(6.30pm ‘Meet and Greet’ with the players)
7.00pm Sam Cornett V Donna Urquhart
7.45pm Alison Waters V Amanda Sobhy
Back To Main
