Sobhy, Perry, Pallikal, Chinappa Advance to Granite Open Semis by Jessica DiMauro February 18, 2015 - We kicked off quarter finals night with our Sponsor Pro-Am Doubles Event.
We had six great ladies give of their time to run around with some of
our Granite Open sponsors (who are pretty good doubles players!).
Thanks to Nikki, Melina, Amanda, Latasha, Milou and Olivia.
As it turned out, Title Sponsor, Gary Slaight won the Event with Granite Pro Nikki Todd!
All of the matches were very even and everyone had a great time.
Thanks to the players and sponsors for making it a nice two hours
leading into the singles matches.
First up were Sarah-Jane Perry vs Line Hansen. Line had a very tough
match last night but that did not seem to slow her down today.
She was red-faced and determined to push the British National Champion.
Awesome match, long rallies, lots of holds, fiesty retrievals and good
sportsmanship on court. Perfect way to start the night off.
Sarah-Jane over Line Hansen 11-5, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5 (45 mins)
"I started well but as the match went on Line found more and more
shots. She was slotting anything I left loose! After she took the 3rd,
I knew I had to get back in front and try and control the pace.
Thankfully it worked and I'm really pleased to be through to the
semis." (SJ)
In the second quarters, Amanda Sobhy kept her dominant ways and took
the match in 25 minutes. Delia Arnold had a tough battle in the first
round and Amanda did not really let her get into the match.
Amanda Sobhy over Delia Arnold 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 (25 mins)
"Happy to win in 3 today against Delia. She's a strong player and put
the ball away if I gave her anything loose in the middle. Now I play SJ
tomorrow. We have never played before so it should be a good match."
(Amanda)
Definitely the match of the night, the third quarter final was 75
minutes filled with constant excitement. The match was so tight, all
the way through. The athleticism was unreal! The rallies went on
forever and no one in the crowd could believe the gets both players
were making. So sad that someone had to lose that. Congrats to both
girls for an excellent match.
"Really happy to win. Jen played really well today. I knew I had to
stick in there and play the rallies out. When I was match ball down, I
told myself to play the rallies out and stay in there for as long as it
takes. And that really helped. Happy to win!" (Dipika)
In the last match of the night, the fans were waiting for Rachael to
turn things around like she did in the first round against Sam. But it
just wasn't to be tonight. Joshana played unbelievable squash.
She was so focused and determined. Her length was penetrating and her
drops were dead on.
Joshana Chinappa over Rachael Grinham 11-1, 11-8, 11-6 (23 mins)
"Playing Rachel is always hard. I felt that she didn't play her usual
game today. I am quite glad to have won in three" (Joshana)
Semis are all set for Thursday
6:30pm Amanda Sobhy and Sarah-Jane Perry 7:30pm Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa
