Day one – Qualifying, January 30, 2009        [MAIN DRAW]

The Cleveland Racquet Club and the Cleveland Skating Club were both used for the first round of qualifiers tonight here in Cleveland for the third annual running of the Burning River Classic. Each year the event has grown in stature with the total purse being just shy of $40,000 this time around.

Annelize Naude served the first ball of the tournament against England’s Laura Hill at the Cleveland Racquet Club but didn’t put a performance in to merit her second seed in the qualifying draw. The squash from both players was a little sloppy in the first game with Laura saving a game ball before winning it 12-10. This may have proved to have been the turning point of the match as in the second and third Annelize never seemed to have the legs or bounce to give Laura much of a test.

In the second match of the evening 16 year old American prodigy Olivia Blatchford took on seven time US National champion Latasha Khan. This was the first time the two players had faced each other in competition and Latasha may have been a little surprised to be trailing at the start of each of the games. Olivia played very attacking squash, using the front corners whenever she had the opportunity, but on too frequent an occasion the ball would catch the tin allowing Latasha to take the first two games 11-8, 11-9. Latasha started to become more effective with her backhand straight kills in the third game and despite some resilience from the youngster Latasha was able to close out the match in three.  

Match three at the Racquet club was a fairly one sided affair between Suzie Pierrepont and Elise Ng. Suzie controlled the pace of play from the start and was very effective with her volley drop shots. Elise seemed to have trouble getting around her taller opponent and never really looked as though she had the game on the day to establish much of a threat.

 The last match at the Racquet Club was a highly entertaining affair between Sarah Kippax and 2007 semi-finalist Manuela Manetta. Sarah started the match much the stronger of the two players racing to a 6-0 lead before Manuela mounted a comeback, but it was all a little too late. The second game was much closer and at 9-9 the players produced the rally of the night ending in an inch perfect backhand drop shot from Manuela which she followed up with a forehand kill to level the match. Sarah continued to apply the pressure in the third game and a combination of some lucky bounces and a few untimely errors from Manuela’s racquet gave her a 2-1 game lead. Manuela looked as though she was going to level the match once again but Sarah clawed her way back from a 9-5 deficit winning six straight points winning the match on another unforced error.
The first match at the skating Club was the longest of the first days play. Amelia Pittock worked a two game lead against higher ranked Aisling Blake but at 4-4 in the third she seemed to have a concentration lapse and Aisling took full advantage leveling the match at two apiece. The fifth game was close throughout and at a crucial point at 9-9 Amelia served out giving Aisling match ball. Aisling was unable to convert this opportunity though as Amelia won the next three rallies and the match.

The second match at the Skating Club featured another teenage American sensation Amanda Sobhy. She put up a good fight in the first game against the Danish National Champion Line Hansen narrowly losing out 11-9, but in the second and third games Line’s experience showed as her 15 year old opponent’s movement slowed.
The third game of the evening between Alana Miller and Joey Chan produce another upset to the seeding. Alana won the first game before the speed of the 20 year old from Hong Kong started to have a huge impact on the match. Joey turned the deficit into a 3-1 victory with a fairly convincing score line.

Top seed in the qualifiers, England’s Dominique Lloyd Walter proved too strong for Canadian Carolyn Russell in the last match of the evening. Carolyn, a previous National Champion proved to have no answer to how early Dominique was taking the ball.

Burning River Classic Day One Qualifying RESULTS

Dominique Lloyd-Walter  (ENG)  beat  Carolyn Russell  (CAN)      11-5, 11-3, 11-7
Joey Chan (HKG )                            beat   Alana Miller (CAN)            9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7
Line Hansen (DEN)                         beat   Amanda Sobhy (USA)       11-9, 11-4, 11-5
Amelia Pittock  (AUS)                    beat   Aisling Blake (IRL)              11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 12-10
Laura Hill (ENG)                              beat   Annelize Naude  (NED)     12-10, 11-5, 11-6
Latasha Khan  (USA)                      beat   Olivia Blatchford  (USA)    11-8, 11-9, 11-6
Suzie Pierrepont (ENG)                 beat   Elize Ng (HKG)                    11-6, 11-4, 11-8
Sarah Kippax   (ENG)                      beat   Manuela Manetta             11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9

 

 

 

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