Day Three – Main Draw - First Round, February 1st, 2009              

RECORD LONGEST MATCH AT THE BURNING RIVER CLASSIC

Jaclyn Hawkes and Samantha Teran battled for 1 hour and 41 minutes in the first round of the National City Burning River Classic in Cleveland tonight. The match is certainly longer than anything we have seen in the previous two years and amazingly this is with the new scoring system that was questioned for making matches too short! There was nothing between the players throughout the whole match with the referee a constant part of the games proceedings. Samantha certainly had her chances to win the match, holding a 9-7 lead in the deciding game but Jaclyn put four consecutive points on the board to end a marathon encounter.

Hawkes and Teran battled for an hour and 41 minutes. Photo: ©2009 Ham Biggar

The match followed another tremendous contest between Alison Waters of England and Egyptian Engy Kheirallah. The first two games where shared 13-11 in 45 minutes with Engy having a game ball that she failed to convert in the second to give her a 2-0 advantage. Game three followed a similar pattern with numerous lets and neither playing willing to budge. Engy again had game balls at 10-8 but was unable to convert as Alison finished the stronger winning 12-10. This seemed to take the wind out of Engy’s sails as Alison dominated the fourth in a match that lasted for 1hour and 9 minutes.

Seven times American National Champion Latasha Khan fell just short of making it three straight appearances in the quarter finals in Cleveland when losing to seventh seed Rebecca Chiu from Hong Kong. The first two games were very tight with Rebecca’s consistency making the difference in the first and Latasha’s attacking play being the factor in the second. The same pattern occurred in the third and fourth games albeit with more convincing score lines. Latasha gained a 4-2 lead in the fifth but she was only able to muster one more point as Rebecca found a few perfect drop shots and Latasha made some costly mistakes.

Natalie Grainger started her title defense in a rematch of the 2007 and 2008 semi-finals against Dominique Lloyd-Walter. The result was business as usual for Natalie in Cleveland who has now only dropped one game in nine matches in front of the Cleveland crowd. It took something special from Dominique to win a point as Natalie steamrolled into the quarter finals.

Laura Lengthorn-Massaro’s debut in Cleveland was equally as impressive as she saw of the challenge of qualifier Sarah Kippax without too many problems. The display of accurate shot making and deceptive hold makes Laura a real threat to lift the 2009 title.

Another title contender will surely be Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy who defeated last year’s losing semi finalist Lauren Briggs in three games. Lauren had an opening in the third but at 10-9 game ball she broke a string which sent the ball into the tin. With the change of racquet and momentum Omneya was able to secure a quarter final spot.

Top seed, world number three Rachael Grinham had a small scare in her opener, losing the second game 13-11 to Danish Champion Line Hansen. Rachael stepped up the intensity and the pace in the third and fourth though ending up a comfortable winner. When asked what was going through her mind when she reached game ball in the second game Line responded “I thought she was being lazy!”

The last match of the evening featured an upset of the seeding but as world number nine Madeline Perry had never recorded a win over her opponent Tania Bailey before tonight’s match, the upset may have not been a complete surprise. Tania took control of the match from the start, working Madeline up and down the backhand side of the court. This seemed to be working with great effect and with the exception of a lapse in the second game where Madeline was able to take advantage of seven errors from Tania’s racquet, the game always looked to be going Tania’s way. Tania’s win has set up an intriguing quarter final match up with Rachael Grinham tomorrow.

RESULTS:               Women's Burning River Open, Cleveland, OH, USA    [view Draw/results]

FIRST ROUND

Rachael Grinham (AUS)                beat    Line Hanson  (DEN)      11-5, 11-13, 11-4, 11-2
Tania Bailey (ENG )                        beat   Madeline Perry (IRL)     11-3, 7-11, 11-4, 11-3
Alison Waters (ENG)                      beat   Engy Kheirallah (EGY)       11-13, 13-11, 12-10, 11-4
Jaclyn Hawkes  (NZL)                     beat   Samantha Teran (MEX)    14-12, 13-15, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9
Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)          beat   Lauren Briggs  (ENG)     11-3, 11-9, 13-11
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG)beat   Sarah Kippax   (ENG)     11-4, 11-3, 11-6
Rebecca Chiu (HKG)                       beat   Latasha Khan  (USA)     11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5
Natalie Grainger  (USA)                 beat   Dominique Lloyd-Walter  (ENG)  11-7, 11-3, 11-6

 

 

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.squashtalk.com