David, El Weleily, Massaro & Duncalf Advance in $50K New York Weymuller by Linda Elriani October 3, 2013
- Tonight was the 1st round of the 2013 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 want to jump on any free
court to try and practice what they have been witnessing over the last
few days!
The weather in
Brooklyn has been very warm over the last couple of days and it has
continued to make the court conditions incredibly hot, with long hard
matches, proving to us even more how fit and athletic the women players
are.
First on the
Championship court was world # 3 from Egypt, Raneem El Weleily, against
Danish Line Hansen world #18. Raneem looked very comfortable and
relaxed on the court. Line looked as though her last 2 qualifying
matches were taking their toll on her legs and any holds from Raneem
were just too much this evening. Raneem won this match 11-9, 11-3, 11-4.
Raneem said after her
match “I’m hot!!! I was trying to get into mood of playing and getting
a sense of the court. I don’t think that Line played her best. I
looking forward to tomorrow. I’m sad that Omneya lost. For tomorrow’s
match it’s the same draw as last year!
Line said “I got
spanked! I felt really heavy today and Raneem is not fun to play if you
are not feeling fresh. I have played 7 matches in 8 days!!! So I can’t
wait to have a few days off shopping in Brooklyn before the US Open”.
Also on court at
5.30pm was World #5 Joelle King from New Zealand playing Omneya Abdel
Kawy from Egypt and world #12. In head to heads Joelle and Omneya were
2-2 going into this match so it was going to be very interesting who
came out on top today and go ahead in the not only in the tournament
but also the stats. The match was played at a fast pace and Joelle
seemed to be coping fine with the bouncy conditions while Omneya wasn’t
quite playing to her normal amazing accuracy levels.
Joelle came through
this match in 3 and she said afterwards “I’m basically glad to get off
in 3! Omneya is a tough draw to get 1st round. I’m playing Raneem
tomorrow so I guess it was good practice for that match!”
Omneya said “It’s too
bouncy! I guess it doesn’t suit my game. My game is rushing stuff,
drops. I guess I put tins, out, strokes more than I played the good
stuff!”
Second match on the
championship court was seven time world open champion and world #1
Nicol David against Australian Donna Urquhart who is world #25. Donna
has been out injured for almost a year so her ranking has slipped down
from her highest world ranking of 13.
Nicol was looking in
fine form and controlling the rallies and keeping Donna under constant
pressure. The first game was closely contested with Donna trying to
take the ball early and get in front of Nicol but the 2nd and 3rd were
dominated by Nicol. Nicol won 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.
Nicol said after her
match “It’s nice to have a good win in the first round. The 1st game
with Donna she was volleying and reading the game well and I made a few
errors. I think I just started to tighten up better at the end of the
1st and kept solid in the 2nd and 3rd. In tomorrow’s match Dipika and
Kasey have 2 completely contrasting games and if I keep my game plan
together and feel good that’s the main thing”
Donna commented “I
feel a little bit disappointed with the way I played. I’m just happy to
be back playing again. I was enjoying being on court and I wish I could
have been on court longer. I feel keen and I feel like I’m starting
over and working on getting back to where I was before I was injured”.
The 6.15pm match was
Amercian based and world #11 Kasey Brown against Indian’s #1 player
Dipika Pallikal. This match was a longest and most exciting match of
the evening and the only five setter. Kasey and Dipika were 4-1 in the
head to head in Kasey’s favor. Kasey started the match strong and
managed to contain Dipika’s shot selection and she was won the first
112-6 and the second game 12-10 to go 2-0 up. In the third game Kasey
got a lead 9-7 and then a match ball at 10-9 but couldn’t capitalized
on it and Dipika dug in and won the game 13-11. Both players were
hanging back on the court, maybe due to the incredibly hot court
conditions. There were a lot of lets and vying for the T and Dipika
gradually started to take control of game winning the fourth 11-8 and
then in the fifth it was done to the wire! The points were pretty much
even all the way through the fifth until 9-9 and Kasey got a no let in
the front backhand corner to take Dipika to 10-9 match ball. Dipika
took her chance on the first attempt and went through to take the match
3-2.
A thrilled Dipkia said
afterwards “I’m really really pleased to get through. When my mum told
me I was in the main draw I didn’t believe her as I was thinking that I
was going to have to qualify. So I wanted to take advantage of being in
the main draw. I came all the way to the USA for one tournament as I am
playing in Macau, China in a week’s time. I had 3 months off
tournaments this summer so I trained with Sarah Fitzgerald in
Australia, trained with Ritwik in Bombay and in Chennai with my fitness
trainer Basu and I think it made the difference. I’m really thankful to
Sarah as she has put a lot of effort in for me and she’ll be really
pleased that I won today!”
A disappointed Kasey
said “I was 2-0 and had match ball in the third! I knew it was going to
be tough and I think I went a little defensive in the 3rd and 4th and
in the end she was able to pull it out. She played well.”
The third match on the
championship court was World #6 and a previous Weymuller winner Jenny
Duncalf against English player Victoria Lust and world #35. Jenny
looked very focused and accurate and Vicky never seemed to really take
control of the middle of the court or the match, though she certainly
put up a good fight.
Jenny won 11-5, 11-5, 11-4.
Jenny said “I won 3-0
so that’s always nice. Lusty looked good yesterday in her quali match
so I wasn’t taking her lightly. Canada seems to be agreeing with her. I
was happy I managed to control the ball in the hot conditions. I’m
happy to be back in Brooklyn. It feels like home!”
Vicky said after her
match with Jenny “I think I played well, my game plan just could have
been better. All credit to Jenny for playing so well. It’s been a great
tournament and I look forward to coming back next year!”
The 7.00pm match on
the championship court was between Ali Waters world # 4 from England
and Camille Serme from France and world # 10. Alison and Camille’s head
to head was 1-1 before tonight’s match so we were looking forward to
seeing who would prevail this time. Camille started the match sharp and
really used the court well keeping Alison away from the middle where
she can be so dangerous. Camille won the first 11-7. Alison got a
better length and rhythm in the second and came through a hard fought
second 13-11. Camille came out on fire in the 3rd and really put Alison
under pressure and made her play reactive squash allowing Camille to
mix things up and keep the control. Camille won the 3rd 11-4. Alison
and Camille battled in the fourth but Camille was moving well and
managed to contain Alison and stop her from using her strengths.
Camille came through 11-9 to get her second win from Alison.
A happy Camille said “
I’m very happy obviously! Twice I’ve beaten her in 3 weeks! First in KL
and now here. I think that she played better here than in KL. The
rallies were long and we were both a bit up and down in this match, but
it was a good battle. Now I need to go on the bike and then stretch”.
Alison said after her
match “ It was close in the first and second. Camille played well. She
was hitting her areas well and I wasn’t really in front much. I’m
pretty disappointed”.
The last match on the
championship court was between last year’s Weymuller Champion and
British Open Champion Laura Massaro and Ireland’s world #22 Aisling
Blake. Laura was looking as strong and fit as ever and Aisling tried
very hard to apply some pressure but she looked somewhat tired from her
hard qualifying matches over the last 2 days. Laura won 11-4, 11-6,
11-7.
Laura said “It was
tough going on late, it just felt like a really long day. I’m obviously
glad to come through in 3. I thought Aisling was feeling the effects of
her five setter yesterday. I was catching her out with a few boasts and
I just have to be careful with that tomorrow.”
The other 7.45pm match
went on court very late due to the previous long matches. It was
between Malaysia’s world #7 Low Wee Wern and Guyana’s world #19
Nicolette Fernandes. The first game was very hard fought and the
rallies were long and attritional. Nicolette was the first to have a
game ball at 10-8 but Low managed to come through and win the first
game 13-11. The second was very similar and it really just came down to
some wrong shot selections from Nicolette at crucial times to give Low
the second 11-7. Nicolette came out blazing in the 3rd and managed to
keep Low back and attack her more and she came through 11-4. In the
last game it was Low’s turn to be on fire and Nicolette couldn’t find
the momentum from the game before and Low came through 11-3 to take the
match 3-1.
Low said afterwards at
10pm when she came off court “It’s good to finally have a win here
because in the last 2 years I was ahead in my 1st round matches and
then didn’t make it through. Nicolette had a great win yesterday and
she came in really confident and I tried to slow the ball down and put
the balls in the back corner. Because it was so bouncy I didn’t want to
go short too soon. I think I did really well in the first 2 games and
it was hard with it being so late to keep focused as it felt as if it
wasn’t really a tournament anymore. I had to re-group and came
back in the fourth and keep to my game plan and focus again. I’m
definitely looking forward to playing Laura tomorrow as the last time
we played here we were both not ranked as highly as we are now!”
Nicolette said “In the
first and second games it felt so close! It was a point here or a point
there. I felt I made a bad shot selection on a couple but it was only
one shot or two shots. In the 4th she played so well. Well done to her.
At the end it was a hugely positive match and I learned a lot.”
So here ends another
really exciting night of squash at The Heights Casino and we all look
forward to the quarter finals starting at 5.30pm tomorrow night. See
you again soon!
Summary of Thursday's 1st round results….
Raneem El Weleily beat Line Hansen 11-9, 11-3, 11-4.
Joelle King beat Omneya Abdel Kawy 11-7, 11-4, 11-8.
Nicol David beat Donna Urquhart 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.
Dipika Pallikal beat Kasey Brown 6-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9.
