Leavey, Barker win in Auckland
March 21, 2004 © 2004 by Howard Harding

New Zealand's No2 seed Tamsyn Leevey cruised to victory in today's (Sunday) women's final of the North Shore Squash International.

The 26-year-old from Wellington demolished fifth-seeded Australian Kasey Brown 9-7 9-1 9-0 in just 34 minutes in Auckland, New Zealand, to claim her second WISPA World Tour title.

England's second seed Phillip Barker was equally dominant in the men's decider. The 22-year-old from Essex crushed Pakistan's Kashif Shuja 15-7 15-11 15-5 to claim his first PSA Tour title.

New Zealand-based Shuja's chances were not helped by two energy-sapping matches ahead of the final.

The sixth seed edged out fourth-seeded Australian Tony James in today's earlier semi-finals, winning the 80-minute battle 15-13 in the fifth.

Shuja also went to five in the quarter-finals the night before, beating top-seeded Dutchman Dylan Bennett in 81 minutes.

The players now head south to Rotorua, for next week's Geyser City Open, with more PSA and WISPA world ranking points up for grabs.

New Zealand number one Glen Wilson is yet to decide whether he will play, after withdrawing from qualifying for North Shore due to an ankle injury. A decision is expected in the next couple of days.

FIRST SEEDS FALL IN SATURDAY ACTION
New Zealand's second seed Tamsyn Leevey has earlier cruised into the final of the North Shore Squash International after a straight games' success in Saturday's semi-finals.

Leevey had made short work of third-seeded Australian Dianne Desira, winning 9-6 9-4 9-6. The 26-year-old from Wellington will meet Australian Kasey Brown in the decider, with the fifth seed having accounted for New Zealand's Judith Casbolt 9-0 9-5 9-4.

Pakistan's Kashif Shuja ended top seed Dylan Bennett's tournament in the men's quarter-finals. The NZ-based sixth seed upset the Dutch world number 75 in five games, fighting back from 1/2 down to win the marathon battle 15-11 13-15 11-15 15-13 17-15 in 81 minutes.

RESULTS: North Shore Squash International, Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand

Men's Final:
[2] Phillip Barker (ENG) bt [6] Kashif Shuja (PAK) 15-7, 15-11, 15-5 (38m)

[2] semi-finals:
[6] Kashif Shuja (PAK) bt [4] Tony James (AUS) 15-8, 15-11, 14-17, 13-15, 15-13 (80m)
[2] Phillip Barker (ENG) bt [3] Timothy Manning (AUS) 15-8, 17-16, 15

Quarter-finals:
[6] Kashif Shuja (PAK) bt [1] Dylan Bennett (NED) 15-11, 13-15, 11-15, 15-13, 17-15 (81m)
[4] Tony James (AUS) bt [9] Wade Johnstone (AUS) 12-15, 14-15, 15-4, 15-4, 15-13 (64m)
[3] Timothy Manning (AUS) bt Roger Ngan (HKG) 15-7, 15-8, 11-15, 15-9 (44m)
[2] Phillip Barker (ENG) bt Campbell Grayson (NZL) 15-10, 15-6, 15-12 (42m)

2nd round:
[1] Dylan Bennett (NED) bt [15] Andrea Capella (ITA) 15-7, 15-7, 15-10 (46m)
[6] Kashif Shuja (PAK) bt [16] James Rogers (AUS) 15-9, 15-6, 15-12 (25m)
[4] Tony James (AUS) bt [11] Wai Hang Wong (HKG) 15-14, 15-13, 15-10 (43m)
[9] Wade Johnstone (AUS) bt [7] Paul Davis (AUS) 15-9, 16-17, 15-11, 10-15, 17-14 (64m)
Roger Ngan (HKG) bt [5] Mark Price (AUS) 11-15, 15-11, 15-12, 15-10 (40m)
[3] Timothy Manning (AUS) bt [Q] El Iraky Omar Abd El Aziz (EGY) 15-14, 15-13, 16-17, 15-11 (44m)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [8] Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 13-15, 15-8, 15-5, 15-2 (78m)
[2] Phillip Barker (ENG) bt [13] Kirby Sinclair (AUS) 15-4, 15-9, 15-4 (28m)

Women's final:
[2] Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt [5] Kasey Brown (AUS) 9-7, 9-1, 9-0 (34m)

Semi-finals:
[5] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [15] Judith Casbolt (NZL) 9-0, 9-5, 9-4 (35m)
[2] Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt [3] Dianne Desira (AUS) 9-6, 9-4, 9-6 (46m)

Women's quarter-finals:
[5] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Becky Clarke (NZL) 4-4 ret.
[15] Judith Casbolt (NZL) bt Louise Crome (NZL) 3-9, 9-5, 1-9, 9-7, 9-3 (60m)
[3] Dianne Desira (AUS) bt Joelle King (NZL) 9-1, 9-1, 9-2 (19m)
[2] Tamsyn Leevey (NZL) bt [14] Manuela Manetta (ITA) 9-0, 0-9, 9-3, 9-7 (18m)

Squashtalk.com All materials © 1999-2005. Communicate with us at info@squashtalk.com.
Published by Squashtalk LLC, 409 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 102, Acton, MA 01720 USA, Editor and Publisher Ron Beck,
Graphics editor Debra Tessier Send comments, ideas, contributions and feedback to the webmaster.
Copyright © 1999-2005 SquashTalk, all rights reserved, may not be reproduced in any form except for one-time personal use.