Wee ends home hopes
09-Jul-2010 - Squash Australia
Top seeded Malaysian Sharon Wee (pictured) ended dreams of a hometown win when she downed Maggy Marshall in straight games in the quarter-finals of the Tasmanian Open squash tournament in Hobart on Friday.
Local fans were hoping to see an upset but Marshall, who was playing on her home court, was unable to match the Malaysian world number 35, Wee winning 11-5, 11-1, 11-4 to move into a semi-final against Sarah Cardwell.
Marshall has been making great strides of late but the gap of 64 places on the world rankings proved too much for the 20-year-old to overcome.
Cardwell, the sixth seed from Melbourne, caused a minor upset when she downed fourth seed Zoe Petrovansky in five games 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6.
The second semi-final will be between second seed Lisa Camilleri and third ranked Melody Francis of Melbourne.
Camilleri, winner of the Victorian Open last week, saw off Kiwi Amanda Cranston in four tough games 13-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9.
She won’t find the going any easier against Francis, who looked in great touch as she dominated sixth seeded Austrian Birgit Coufal 11-4, 11-8, 11-7.
Camilleri has played Francis twice already on the Australian Squash Tour, in the final of the Black Knight Open in Perth and the semi-final of the South Australian Open and won both times, although neither match was an easy victory.
But Camilleri is still the favourite to go into Sunday’s final, where she will be aiming for her fifth straight tournament victory.
In the men’s draw the top two seeds progressed in contrasting fashion.
Adelaide’s Mike Corren downed Dutchman Frank Hartkoren in straight games 11-6, 11-7, 11-1, while second seed Nathan Stevenson battled for over an hour to subdue the challenge of Swiss Reiko Peter 12-14, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8.
Corren takes on another Dutchman in the semi-finals, Bart Ravelli, who beat Korean Se Hyun Lee 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.
Meanwhile Stevenson faces 20-year-old New Zealander Evan Williams, who caused the biggest shock of the tournament when he ousted fourth seed Josh Cardwell 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4.
Results (prefix denotes seeding):
Second round
Men
1-Mike Corren (SA) bt James Skiffington (NZL) 11-2, 11-3, 11-2
Frank Hartkoren (NED) bt Steven London (ENG) 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3
3-Bart Ravelli (NED) bt Sam Fife (Qld) 11-6, 11-7, 11-7
Se Hyun Lee (KOR) bt Jonas Daehler (SUI) 13-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4
Evan Williams (NZL) bt 8-Cheng Yao Huang (TPE) 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9
4-Josh Cardwell (Vic) bt Hon Fung Wong (HKG) 12-10, 11-6, 14-12
6-Reiko Peter (SUI) bt Jamie Mathews (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-7
2-Nathan Stevenson (Qld) bt Sunil Seth (Qld) 11-9, 11-4, 11-4
Quarter-finals
Men
1-Mike Corren (SA) bt Frank Hartkoren (NED) 11-6, 11-7, 11-1
3-Bart Ravelli (NED) bt Se Hyun Lee (KOR) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5
Evan Williams (NZL) bt 4-Josh Cardwell (Vic) 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4
2-Nathan Stevenson (Qld) bt 6-Reiko Peter (SUI) 12-14, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8
Women
1-Sharon Wee (MAS) bt 7-Maggy Marshall (Tas) 11-5, 11-1, 11-4
6-Sarah Cardwell (Vic) bt 4-Zoe Petrovansky (Qld) 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6
3-Melody Francis (Vic) bt Birgit Coufal (AUT) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7
2-Lisa Camilleri (Qld) bt 8-Amanda Cranston (NZL) 13-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9