Sept 25 Nash Cup 2014
Day 4–2014 NASH Cup
WSA Semis & PSA Quarters
With only 12 players left in both events Dave Morrish gives us his views and predictions on today’s WSA semi-finals and PSA quarter-finals:
Afternoon WSA Semis
Cecelia and Hollie
Both players have matured a lot on the past year. If Hollie’s power game is accurate and she doesn’t make errors, she could definitely unsettle Cecilia. Could be interesting, both left handers! Cecilia might be too steady overall.
Kanzy and Nikki
Kanzy has not been tested until now. She is fearless and confident. Nikki will make her earn her points, right to the very last one. Feel Kanzy has too much ammunition for Nikki.
Evening PSA Quarters
Joe and Peter
Played each other only once before in PSA and Joe sneaked home 12-10 in the 5th! How much did last night’s 5 setter take out of Peter? When Peter gets the bit between his teeth…could be interesting but I am going to have to back Joe’s experience and strength here.
Raphael Kendra and Eddie Charlton
4 spots difference in their ranking and they have never played each other in PSA! This has ‘match of the day’ written all over it. Raphael is strong; Eddie is smart (not that Raphael isn’t!). I would not want to put my house on a prediction here but am going with my countryman and thoroughly looking forward to this match.
Sunil Seth v Jens Schoor
Fair play to Sunil for taking advantage of the opportunity he has been given in this tournament but I see only one result here – Jens in 3. Jens looks strong both mentally and physically and could go far in this tournament.
Declan James v Karim Ali Fathi
Karim leads Declan 1-0 in their head to heads. Declan is so capable of playing well above his ranking. He will need to play well to win. I see an upset here.
WSA Semi-Finals
[4] Hollie Naughton (CAN, WR 75) beat [2] Cecelia Cortes (USA, WR 70): 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 (41 mins)
Cecelia started the first game very brightly. She was moving very well from the first point of the match and getting to the ball early and playing excellent counter drops off Hollie’s boasts. 4 unanswered points came from this pressure. Hollie, however, started to find her rhythm and striking the ball much more crisply and accurately. She was rewarded with some back wall winners and crosscourt drives driven past the outstretched Cecelia. 0-4 became 5-5 and she continued accumulating points to get to 9-5. But Cecelia with the assistance of a left wall squeeze on Hollie after an impeccable length, a forehand drop winner from mid-court and a backhand boast from Hollie that just clipped the tin. Still leading 9-8 Hollie regained composure and hit an excellent backhand drive winner to lead 10-8. After another great rally with excellent positional play and shot making by both players Hollie forced a loose ball from Cecelia and stepped in to feather a backhand drop from mid court into the knick. First game to Hollie.
Hollie maintained her aggressive hitting, peppering the back of the court with accurate shots that left Cecelia with little to play from. Literally powering to an 8-2 lead before Cecelia found a way back. Two tins from Hollie brought Cecelia to 4-8. A superb backhand kill gave her another but a poor forehand drive into the tin on the next point gave Hollie another point. Another corner to corner rally with great coverage by both player that ended in a forced loose shot from Hollie which Cecelia drove into the open court. Hollie hit a superb back hand drive winner to give her 5 game balls with the score at 10-5. Cecelia dug in and had her best spell of the match. Playing tighter and more controlled with some great lobs and excellent countering she brought it back to within two points. A superb backhand volley kill from midcourt followed by a forehand whipped cross court past a despairing Hollie evened the game at 10-10. The crowd becoming very much involved in the game. But a let and unfortunately a blood injury as Cecelia gets clipped by Hollie’s follow through. A 10 minute injury break ensues as the bleeding is stemmed. Then, back on court, a warm up, and the players get underway again. Superb rally! Great penetrative hitting by Cecelia and great retrieving by Hollie. Cecelia looks to have the rally won three times but for Hollie to just reach the ball in time. But then a loose shot from Cecelia and Hollie hits a winning backhand drive into the back of the court past Cecelia’s despairing lunge. 11-10 to Hollie and she wins the next with a great length that Cecelina fails to dig out. Second game to Hollie.
The third was mostly dominated by Hollie’s heavy hitting with Cecelia countering with great cross courts and straight drops. It’s level pegging to 6-6 at which point Hollie manages to pull away and take the game and match with again some excellent driving and pressure that it creates. Hollie takes the match 3-0.
Cecelia: I’m disappointed to lose of course. That second game proved to be crucial in the outcome of the match.
Hollie: I tried to stay as focused as possible while Cecelia was treated for her blood injury. Winning that second game was so important. I’m so happy to have made my first WSA final!
[1] Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (EGY, WR 68) beat [7] Nikki Todd (CAN, WR 75): 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (25 mins)
Staying ahead on the score board in every game and always keeping Nikki under pressure was what Kanzy did to win this match in 3. Initially Nikki put away some great forehand and backhand volley drops. Halfway through the first game Kanzy tightened her shots and played the straight channels to the back of the court reducing what Nikki could play off. And firing in some knicks and straight drops helped too! Nikki couldn’t challenge Kanzy when she had so little to play off especially with the high tempo Kanzy managed to keep for most of the match. Even under pressure Kanzy was able to use imaginative shots to lift the pressure from herself and put it back on Nikki like at the end of the first game when she hit a screw-lob off one of Nikki’s drops tight to the back of the court and followed it up with a ripped cross court into space from Nikki’s dig out from the screw-lob.
The second and third games were much the same. Given the chance Nikki brought balls in short with wonderful touch off Kanzy’s looser drives but found the pace difficult to cope with. Kanzy took it 11-6, 11-7, 11-6.
Kanzy: Having never played Nikki before I was unsure what to expect. I was impressed with her touch which initially surprised me. I dealt with it by keeping the ball in the corners to neutralize it. Keeping the pace high also helped me to. I’m very happy to qualify for the final and try poutine for the first time which I was promised I’d have tonight for winning!
Nikki: Kanzy has great shots. She moved me around a lot. I knew I had to play a perfect game to stand a chance of winning but unfortunately I had too many unforced errors. Congratulations to Kanzy, she deserved the win.
PSA Quarter Finals
Joe Lee (ENG; WR 32) vs. [7] Peter Creed (WAL; WR 79): 11-3, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7 (58 mins)
Both players started very well with great movement, good channel play and excellent retrieving. Initially Joe was doing the probing and his accurate hitting had Peter on the run. But Peter is not just a runner, not by any stretch of the imagination. He played straight drops off some of Joe’s straight hitting which while being something of an aggressive shot kept the court from being opened too much. Joe coming back with some deceptive drops and boasts helped him run out the first 11-3.
Joe started the second very positively. He was attacking with very consistent lines. At 6-8 Peter takes the ball in beautifully for a straight volley drop winner. More tight rallies with great retrieving from both players. Joe goes down trying to get one of Peter’s drops. Massive point! Peter roars with passion! More tight drops and Peter secures the game.
Peter starts the third very positively and Joe is actively looking to slow to the ball and regain control of the games pace. At 6-3 there is a great point with superb retrieval from both players droping and counter droping and Peter finishes it by showing showing a crosscourt and hitting a drive straight for a winner. He punches the air.
Tin and another tormented scream. Joe now playing more controlled squash. Stretching, probing, attacking deep and giving Peter little to work with.
The fourth game was a very tense affair. At 3-3 Peter and Joe had a great rally with both of them being turned inside out multiple times. At 7-7 there is another lung bursting rally. Drop and counter drop and Joe drives straight with Peter going early to cover the crosscourt. Two big errors from Peter give Joe 9-7. It’s not the time for that. Joe takes the last two points and wins 3-1.
Joe: Winning the first relatively easily didn’t help me in the overall game I don’t think because Peter came into the second with much more energy and a new plan. I’m a bit annoyed to loose the second but very happy to get through. I played better today than yesterday and I hope I can play better again tomorrow.
Peter: Patchy. I played patchy today. Struggled too with focus. Lacking clarity at crucial times didn’t help me especially when I elected to play difficult shots instead of the safe ones which isn’t easy to do under pressure.
[4] Eddie Charlton (ENG; WR 55) beat [5] Raphael Kandra (GER; WR 59): 11-9, 11-1, 11-4 (40 mins)
Raphael rushed off to an early lead leading in the first 7-2. It was furious stuff being played at great speed. Eddie used great variation to change the pace of the game. Raphael, a bundle of energy contrasted with Eddie, a more measured player who used great variation to netrualise Raphael’s more explosive play. To be fair to Eddie he did extremely well to come back from 7-2 down and take the first game 11-9. Skill and tactics aside, he had to work for it.
The second and third games were all Eddie. It wasn’t the case that Raphael was playing poorly, quite the opposite infact. Eddie’s medias touch was turning all his shots to gold. Even his movement looked effortless. He took the second 11-1 and third 11-4.
Raphael: Well in the first game I got to a 7-2 lead. It was fast and furious. For some reason I because a bit more defensive which had the result of slowing the game down. This played into the hands of Eddie which is more like his natural game. I was out of rhythm and I couldn’t regain it. There more for me to learn I guess.
Eddie: I felt good in there. I knew I had to play well but it took me a bit of time to get going. I felt I executed my game plan very well.
Jens Schoor (GER; WR 87) beat [LL] Sunil Seth (GUY; WR 149): 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (30 mins)
Both players carried off where they finished in their previous games playing excellent length and counterattacking of any loose attacks from each other. Jens was able to work Sunil more around the court and kept collecting points in doing so. Sunjil again displaying wonderful athletic skills in continuously retrieving Jens tight shots and Sunil’s used his superb racket skills to take opportunity when they arose Match is Jens, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.
Jens: It’s often difficult to play someone you don’t know. Today was no exception. Sunil is a very skillful player and I knew I couldn’t relax. He was a little tired I think from his previous games this week. Happy to make it through to the Semis.
Sunil: I didn’t feel tired out there and am quite comfortable playing 1 match a day. But I was a little slow to push off when he brought me in short. Happy with what I’ve achieved this week.
[2] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY; WR 46) v [8] Declan James (ENG; WR 81): 11-6, 11,6, 11-8 (46 mins)
Great length hitting by both players in this match. Karim really kept the pace high and he loves to play like that. Declan is a more unhurried player, very focused and clear with what he was trying to achieve on court.
The first game was level pegging until 4-4 at which point Karim went on a run of 5 successive points. Trading the next few rallies with Declan saw him take the first 11-6. The second was a similar affair with Karim also taking it 11-6. The 3rd was a long game with excellent hitting from both players and superb retrieval. One rally in particular was never ending and was in excess of 50 strokes. It was tight in the end but Karim came through 11-8.
Karim: Declan is a very good player. Knows my game well and I know his as well. We knew what to expect. Managed to pick up the pace on him which helped me because I was struggling with his length. I wanted to inject pace. He wanted to slow it down. That can be difficult to play against. Happy to be through with a 3-0 win.
Declan: We were coached by the same coach for a time. We played some measured squash I guess you could say with Karim trying to up the pace. I needed the legs today and to be more physical, enough to break him down but I couldn’t manage it.