Geaves Pushed to the Brink in Hyder Quarter
May 8 2004 By Rob Dinerman, SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004 
[Qualifying Results Complete]     [Hyder Trophy Main Draw]

The reprive from Lauren Briggs' (front) unrelenting pressure allowed Fiona Geaves to pull ahead and finish the game and match with 4 straight points.(Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Comfortably ahead two games to love and 8-5 in the third against her lower-ranked British compatriot Lauren Briggs in last night's quarter-final round of the $ 10,000 Hyder women's pro tournament in Manhattan, top seed and WISPA No. 7 Fiona Geaves lost both her lead and her momentum and almost wound up losing the match before finally re-gaining control midway though the fifth game and prevailing by a 9-2 9-7 8-9 5-9 9-5 score.

Geaves will now face fourth seed Latasha Khan, the U. S. women's national champion and the only American among the eight quarter-finalists, at 1 o'clock this afternoon in the first of the day's two semi-finals. Khan's fierce and penetrating ground strokes were much too much for Katie Patrick, the only qualifier to win her round of 16 match, who was however overwhelmed and held to four official points (9-2, 1 and 1) by Khan's power and depth.

Latasha Khan (right) breezed by Katie Patrick. (Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

The bottom half similarly saw the higher-seeded players fulfill the pre-tournament expectation, both times in straight games. In a clash of New Zealanders, second seed Shelley Kitchen was able to generate enough pace to eventually force loose balls and a host of tins from Tamsyn Leevey, who fell 9-3, 5 and 2, while third seed Jenny Tranfield asserted herself to the tune of 9-2, 2 and 4 over Carla Khan, a physical encounter marked by lax clearing and lots of lets but nevertheless one whose outcome was from early on in little doubt.

Not so the match between Geaves and Briggs once the latter caught fire late in the third game. She has played some of her best squash in the U. S. lately, having won a WISPA tour stop in Pittsburgh this past winter in her most recent appearance in this country. For sheer athleticism, the 24-year-old Briggs, currently ranked No. 43 on the pro circuit, is among the best players in this tournament, and this factor may have told in the late stages of the third game and throughout the fourth game on Geaves, 12 years her senior, whose mounting fatigue was demonstrated when she made her unusual "no-set" call for the third-set tiebreaker after she lost her 2-0, 8-5 match-ball and was caught at 8-all.

Carla Khan v. Jenny Tranfield(front): The matchup of the 3rd and 5th seeds (17th and 21st ranked players on the WISPA tour) looked to be the closest, but other than in physical proximity, it did not turn out to be so. . (Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Geaves then fell behind 5-2 in the fourth and never seriously challenged for the remainder of that game. It was clear that whoever managed to get a few points' separation in the fifth would almost certainly carry the day, and the two fellow countrywomen fought intensely to 5-all. It was at this crucial juncture of the match that Geaves's greater experience came (not a moment too soon) to the fore when, for the first time since the opening few games, Briggs lapsed into a series of tins that enabled Geaves to capture the four consecutive points she needed to secure her hard-earned victory.

Summary of Quarterfinals [complete draw]

Fiona Geaves def.
Lauren Briggs 9-2, 9-7, 8-9, 5-9, 9-5
Latasha Khan def.
Katie Patrick 9-2, 9-1, 9-1
Jenny Tranfield def. Carla Khan 9-2, 9-2, 9-4
Shelley Kitchen def. Tamsyn Leevey 9-3, 9-5, 9-2

Lauren Briggs and Fiona Geaves. (Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Carla Khan and Jenny Tranfield. (Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Katie Patrick and Latasha Khan. (Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Shelley Kitchen (right) v. Tamsyn Leevey: The first 10 rallies appeared to bode well for along and interesting match, but Leevey appeared to become uncomfortable with the incessant high-tempo that Kitchen demanded of her.. (Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Shelley Kitchen v. Tamsyn Leevey (Photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

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