The third night of the 2018 Australian Open Squash Championships produced a number of notable results that have thrown the title race wide open in both the Men’s and Women’s draws.
The narrative of the Women’s Open in particular took an interesting turn on Friday night, with the top two seeds in Christine Nunn [1] and Ho Tze-Lok [2] removed from the draw by Hana Ramadan and Low Wee Wern respectively.
Ramadan’s performance was particularly impressive, with the Egyptian bursting out of the blocks to win the first two games against Nunn, who was competing in her hometown event. The number on ne seed fought back to win the third, but unfortunately for Nunn, her quest for a sixth PSA World Tour title in 2018 was put on hold, as the 20-year-old Ramadan held her nerve to win in four.
The other notable result from the Women’s draw was Wee Wern’s clinical straight-game victory over Tze-Lok in 24 minutes. Wee Wern, a former World No.5, only returned to the court in July following a long lay-off from an anterior cruciate ligament injury and has already began her climb up the rankings with wins at the Malaysian and Tasmanian Opens in recent weeks.
Those two results saw Wee Wern win the PSA Women’s Player of the Month for July, and all indications so far in this tournament have her on track to contend for her third title in as many PSA events.
The two other quarter-finals in the Women’s draw were won by the highest remaining seeds. Rachel Arnold [4] defeated Malaysian compatriot Ooi Kah Yan in straight games, while Hong Kong’s Tong Tsz-Wing [3] overcame local hope Sarah Cardwell [5] in a grinding five-game encounter that lasted 65 minutes.
Based on tournament rankings, the results in the Men’s Open quarter-finals went largely as expected. The exception being the dismissal of Josh Larkin [2], who went down in a gruelling 76-minute battle with Sebastien Bonmalais [5].
The Frenchman took the early ascendancy in the contest and won the first two games, before Larkin responded with the next two. Last year’s Australian Open runner-up looked to have all the momentum heading into the deciding game, but it was Bonmalais who held his nerve to book a semi-final date with Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann [3].
Steinmann could also be forgiven for heading into their upcoming encounter a little weary, following his taxing duel with New Zealand’s Evan Williams [7]. It took the Swiss star 70 minutes to get the better of Williams, in a match where Steinmann had to recover from losing the first game to eventually win in five.
Meanwhile, hometown hero Rex Hedrick [1] will meet Malaysia’s Mohd Syafiq Kamal [4] in the other semi-final, after both players won their matches on Friday night in straight-games against Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue and New Zealand’s Luke Jones respectively.
All results:
Women
[3] Tong Tsz-Wing (HKG) def [5] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 12-14, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (65 mins)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) def [1] Christine Nunn (AUS) 11-9, 11-9, 5-11, 11-3 (43 mins)
[4] Rachel Arnold (MAS) def Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (23 mins)
Low Wee Wern (MAS) def [2] Ho Tze-Lok (HKG) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (24 mins)
Men
[3] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) def [7] Evan Williams (NZL) 8-11, 11-2, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7 (70 mins)
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) def Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 11-8, 11-1, 11-2 (33 mins)
[4] Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) def Luke Jones (NZL) 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (26 mins)
[5] Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) def [2] Joshua Larkin (AUS) 11-9, 11-7, 5-11, 10-12, 11-3 (76 mins)
The semi-finals of the 2018 Australian Open Squash Championships will take place on Saturday evening, with matches kicking off from 5:00pm AEST.
Remember, if you can't get to Mulgrave to view the action live, you can tune in to Squash Australia's YouTube channel over the weekend to view the Men's and Women's Open Semi Finals and Finals. Link Here: SquashAustralia.tv
Featured Image: Egypt's Hana Ramadan (left), in action during her second round win over Malaysia Wen Li Lai, is through to the 2018 Australian Open Women's semi-finals (Credit: Mike Wilkinson).
Article by Squash & Racquetball Victoria