Sobhy, Pallikal, Perry Advance in $25K Toronto; Rachael Grinham Back from the Brink Over Cornett February 17, 2015
Jessica DiMauro Reports:
Wow!
Another unbelievable night. For all the short, crazy injury-filled
matches last year, we are definitely 'getting our money's worth' this
year at the Granite Open! Thanks to the ladies for all their hard
work. Everyone left it all on the court and treated the crowd to
great squash and great athleticism.
Sarah-Jane Perry, fresh off her British Open Title, faced qualifier
Deon Saffrey in the first round. Deon did not let that intimidate her
one bit. She fought hard and lost a very close four game match.
SJ Perry over Deon Saffrey 11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 (55 minutes)
"That was tough. Deon was really up for it and played some great squash
and made it very difficult for me. I love it here at Granite, so I am
glad to be back but also looking forward to some rest before tomorrow's
match." SJ
In the battle of the Amandas, Amanda Landers-Murphy kept it very close
in the first game, losing a tight 12-10, but Sobhy showed us why she is
the #1 seed and won the 2nd and 3rd 11-1, 11-2. Very strong!
Sobhy over Landers-Murphy 12-10, 11-1, 11-2 (22 minutes)
"Happy to be back at the Granite Open. When I saw it on the calendar, I
knew I was going to miss that week of school because there was no way I
was going to miss this event." Sobhy
Jenny Duncalf and Misaki Kobayashi were next up. Two great movers
wowed the crowd! Misaki took the first but Jenny stuck in there and
pulled away as the match went along. Misaki started to look like the
two qualifying matches may have caught up to her!
"Please to have played my first match at a Granite Open! Feel like I'm
the only girl who hasn't been here before (!) so it's great to get
through to the quarters after a good match with Misaki. I struggled to
read her flat hits and get used to the fast pace of the ball in the
first game but once I began to read her and settle into the match, I
felt more comfortable and managed to impose my own game. Looking
forward to the next one!" (Jenny)
In the 6:45 time slot, we had two matches on. People could not decide
which to watch. Joey Chan and Line Hansen battled it out on one court,
while Dipika Pallikal and Tesni Evans gave it everything on the other
court!
It seemed like Dipika got stronger as the match went along. In her
Granite Open debut, she treated the crowd to some hard hitting length
and soft drops.
"Playing Tesni is always hard. She's got such good hands that you have
to be on your feet all the time. It's my first time out here and in the
first game the ball was really bouncy and I couldn't do much with it.
She played well to come back in the first to win it. In the second, I
went on court wanting to play in different paces and it worked. Very
happy to win." (Dipika)
Line had the first upset of the night, beating Joey Chan in a great
match. We knew this was going to be a tough one and these ladies did
not disappoint.
Line Hansen over Joey Chan 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8
"Joey has really good hands so I tried to give her as little time as
possible, think it worked in big parts of the match. Really happy with
the win and looking forward to playing the British Champion tomorrow,
aka SJ!! By the way LOVE this event!!" (Line)
The 7:30 time slot was the only other time when two matches were scheduled at the same time.
Joshana Chinappa over Nikki Todd 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (29 minutes)
Delia Arnold over Nicolette Fernandes 10-12, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 12-10
Granite squash pro, Nikki had the home crowd cheering her on against
Joshana but Nicolette and Delia were not going to let them steal all of
the fans. All four girls worked really hard, played great squash and
earned lots of admiration and respect from the crowd.
"Nikki is a talented young player and I saw her playing at the World
Teams 2 months back and I knew what to expect. It was a tough, close,
three games and am glad to have won in three." (Joshana).
Last but certainly not least were Sam Cornett and Rachael Grinham. Rach
got off the plane from Australia around 5:30pm and made it over to her
match to entertain us all (even Sam), for almost and hour. Sam played
unbelievably to win the first two games. She really had Rach on the
ropes at the end of the third, but hit two untimely tins to lose that
game. Suddenly the momentum switched and Rach took the next two quite
convincingly.
Rachael Grinham over Sam Cornett 9-11, 11-13, 13-11, 11-6, 11-6 (55 minutes)
"Yeah, I mean obviously I'm happy to get through. Sam really played
well in the first two . I just hung in there and got the third and then
mentally the match swung my way." (Rach)
Thanks to all of the ladies for the kind words about the
tournament! It must be that you know how much we all appreciate
the work you put in and the kindness you show when offering to help
with just about anything we ask!
Looking forward to our Sponsor Pro Am Doubles event Wednesday, 4-6pm and then quarter finals from 5:45pm to 9pm.
Come out and support these ladies!!!!!! They work soooo hard!!!!!!
