NORTH AMERICAN OPEN,
Westwood Club, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Wednesday results:
5pm: (6) Peter Barker (England) v (Q) Nafizwan Adnan (Malaysia) 11-2, 11-3, 11-5 (28 mins)
6pm: (3) James Willstrop (England) v (Q) Martin Knight (NZ) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (30 mins)
7pm: (2) Ramy Ashour (Egypt) bt Tom Richards (England) 6-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 (45 mins)
8pm: (5) Gregory Gaultier (France) bt Olli Tuominen (Finland) 11-6, 11-6, 11-1 (36 mins)
James Willstrop meets England team-mate Peter Barker in the quarter-finals of the North American Open after both players crushed their opponents in Richmond.
Barker took just 28 minutes to beat Malaysian Nafizwan Adnan and Willstrop took just two minutes longer to beat New Zealander Martin Knight in straight games.
Willstrop said: "I like the way this court is playing, as do a lot of the players. You feel confident going forward because you know that the court will take a good drop. It sinks nicely into those front corners and so you will see a lot of players trying to do that this week."
Knight said: "It was a very fast match. Anything loose was finished off very quickly. James puts away the loose balls so well he doesn't let you back in."
Barker said: "I'm not known for short matches so it's nice to get two quick ones in a row. I don't think I've done that before!
"I'm feeling good and hope I can continue that form through the week. This is one of our Majors and it is as big as they get."
England’s world champion Nick Matthew had already qualified for the quarters and he faces a tough challenge from Australia’s David Palmer. The Miami-based former world No.1 is still playing outstanding squash at the age of 34.
Tom Richards was unable to make it a quartet of Englishmen in the quarters but he came desperately close to beating Egypt’s No.2 seed Ramy Ashour.
Richards dominated the opening game to win it 11-6 and held game ball in the second at 10-9 but was unable to close it out. Ashour squeezed home 12-10 and from 5-4 down he won the third 11-6.
However, Richards roared back in the fourth and looked set to take the match the full distance as he led 9-4, but the Egyptian maestro put together an astonishing run of seven points without reply to clinch victory.
Ashour said: "Tom played a great game and was ahead in all of the games. I am a little bit disappointed with the way I played but all credit to Tom. He played very well. But I will need to play a lot better in the next round."
Richards said: “I am very disappointed to have lost because I was in some very good positions in the second and fourth games and should have finished them off. But in a couple of days I might feel a bit differently.”
The quarter-final draw features four outstanding contests, with Ashour facing Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, who outclassed Finnish No.1 Olli Tuominen 11-6, 11-6, 11-1.
Four-times world champion Amr Shabana tackles Malaysian Azlan Iskandar, who has looked impressive this week at the Westwood Club.
Quarter-finals, Thursday:
5pm: (4) Amr Shabana (Eypt) v Azlan Iskandar (Malaysia)
6pm: (1) Nick Matthew (England) v David Palmer (Australia)
7pm: (3) James Willstrop (England) v (7) Peter Barker (England)
8pm: (2) Ramy Ashour (Egypt) v (6) Gregory Gaultier (France)
The North American Open goes out live on ESPN3.com this week. Broadcast Schedule:
Friday, February 25: 6:00pm
Professional Squash Association: North American Open (Semi-finals)http://espn.go.com/espn3/index?id=131353
Saturday, February 26: 5:00pm
Professional Squash Association: North American Open (Final)
http://espn.go.com/espn3/index?id=131404
No comments:
Post a Comment