Moverley Engineers Tour Comeback With Tasmania Title by Howard Harding October 26, 2014
- After being out of the world rankings for two-and-a-half years,
England's Fiona Moverley has marked a sensational return to the WSA
World Tour by winning the Women's Tasmanian Open in Devonport on the
Australian island of Tasmania.
The unseeded
27-year-old from Hull reached today's final of the WSA Tour 5 squash
event at Devonport Squash Club after ousting top seed Lisa Camilleri,
the 2010 champion, and third seed Christine Nunn - both from Australia
- then overcame sixth-seeded compatriot Victoria Temple Murray 11-8,
13-11, 11-5 in 40 minutes to take the title.
The unexpected triumph
marked the third Tour title of world No.190 Moverley's career - but her
first since success in the Indian Challenger No3 in November 2009 led
to her recording a career-high world No.43 ranking.
"I'm over the moon to
have won the Tasmanian Open title," said the new champion (pictured
above with men's champion Mohamed Elgawarhy). "I couldn't have wished
for a better start to my comeback on the tour.
"I knew the match
wasn't going to be easy as I've been watching Victoria in previous
rounds and had to stick to a specific game plan throughout the match.
She was always on my heels and it was really important I got that
second game to go 2/0 up. I played well and stayed focused, managing to
push through to take the win 3/0.
"I have recently
returned to the WSA Tour after four years away and have been training
at The Hull and East Riding Sports Club with my coach Andy Cockerill
and strength & conditioning coach Michael Reid, with the aim of
improving on my previous highest world ranking of 43," Moverley
explained.
"I gave up my
full-time job and have been training full time for three months prior
to coming to Australia with the aim of adding to my previous two WSA
titles and improving my world ranking from 190 into the top 100.
"I am really happy to
be back on the tour," Moverley continued. "It's always been my dream to
be a professional squash player and this time I won't let anything
stand in my way.
"I'd like to thank
Devonport Squash Club for hosting this event and to all the members who
have made all us players feel very welcome. I'd also like to thank all
the sponsors who make the event happen, without them there wouldn't be
a tournament.
"Finally I'd like to
thank Leon and the team of organisers that coordinated the event. It's
been a very successful tournament and I look forward to coming back to
defend my title!"
Coach Andy Cockerill
added: "I admire Fi for making such a brave decision, she's always had
the ability to be a very good player but since she has come back
full-time she has worked extremely hard and been very focused at
becoming a better player. I look forward to helping her achieve her
goals over the coming years."
RESULTS: Women's Tasmanian Open, Devonport, Tasmania, Australia
