Heather Surges in Chicago

March 1, 2002 by Howard Harding © 2002 SquashTalk may not be reproduced without express permission. [Main Draw]

Heather Maintains Windy City Momentum

Heather Maintains Windy City Momentum England's unseeded Mark Heather dismissed his second seed in twenty four hours in the Charter Consulting Windy City Open Squash Championship to claim a place in the semi-finals of the PSA Tour event in Chicago, USA.

In a hard-fought four-game match, Heather overcame Irish champion Liam Kenny, the sixth seed, 15-13 15-8 13-15 15-13 to earn a clash with top-seeded compatriot Nick Taylor. Taylor also ousted an Irishman, and was rarely troubled by qualifier John Rooney as he cruised to a 15-7 15-5 15-3 quarter-final win.

The other semi-final will be a repeat of last week's Dayton Open final in Ohio between England's Tim Garner and Frenchman Gregory Gaultier. After two tight games against compatriot Scott Handley, second-seeded Garner comfortably ran out a 15-9 15-12 15-4 winner. "Going two down seemed to knock the wind out of Scott's sails, and I eased through in the third," said Garner afterwards. The Englishman will be hoping to avenge his straight games defeat by Gaultier in the Ohio final. The 19-year-old European junior champion, the fourth seed in Chicago, took some 70 minutes to overcome strong resistance from English qualifier Stacey Ross before winning 15-12 15-12 15-12.

RESULTS: Charter Consulting Windy City Open Squash Championship, Chicago, USA

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nick Taylor (ENG) bt [Q] John Rooney (IRL) 15-7, 15-5, 15-3
Mark Heather (ENG) bt [6] Liam Kenny (IRL) 15-13, 15-8, 13-15, 15-13
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Stacey Ross (ENG) 15-12, 15-12, 15-12
[2] Tim Garner (ENG) bt [5] Scott Handley (ENG) 15-9, 15-12, 15-4