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NORTH COAST OPEN 2016
Congratulations to Tamika Saxby and Zac Alexander winners of the North Coast Open 2016
FINALS DAY – NORTH COAST OPEN PSA W & M
A packed gallery were treated to some great action with Coffs Harbour’s Tamika Saxby showed why she is moving up the rankings with a commanding display against No 1 seed Lisa Camilleri of Australia.
The first game opened with plenty of pace and from 4/3 Saxby controlled the rallies as she cut off any of Camilleri’s shots keeping up the tempo to take the game 11/4.
In typical fashion Camilleri mounted a tougher challenge in the second game and was well in the match at 8-8. Again, Saxby played the crucial points better catching her opponent out of position to go two games up.
In the third game Lisa struggled with the pace as Tamika dominated the centre court and limited any opportunities for Lisa to get back into the match. Tamika winning 11/3 to claim the North Coast Open, adding number 5 PSA title to an impressive record this year.
After the match Tamika said “ I played well but it was a relief as well as this was my home town and to win a championship on my home courts is something special”. “the courts and facilities were great”
In the Men’s Open Final Joshua Larkin and No 2 seed Zac Alexander provided spectators to some great shot play. In the opening game the players appeared to
glue the ball to the backhand wall and patience by both saw each attack any loose return with Alexander producing a blistering backhand winner to which the crowd responded to take the game into a tie break.
The importance of winning the first game became evident as Alexander showed superb control in the second and third games to take the match in three games .
At the presentations Zac added “ the courts here are really great to play on and it’s nice to win this tournament as it’s one of the best on the Australian tour. I’ll definitely be back”
Women’s Open Final
Tamika Saxby AUS def 1 Lisa Camilleri AUS 11/3 11/8 11/2 (23 min)
Men’s Open Final
Zac Alexander def 1 Joshua Larkin AUS 13/11 11/4 11/2
With the PSA Open Championships wrapped up, the support graded program brought a buzz to the centre with players from five states taking part. The standard of squash was tough and for many in the lower grades a real experience mixing with the professional ranks and taking in some great viewing and tips during the weekend.
Congratulations to Jacob Ford who outplayed all challengers in the State Grade with a thrilling win against experienced Andrew Pringle of Redcliffe Club Qld. Earlier Jacob had narrowly missed making it into the first round of the Men’s PSA Open as he reached the final round of Qualification going down in three games to Joseph White to miss one of the four spots available in the Open Draw of 16. The surprise player in the PSA Qualification draw and State Grade had to be Brad Harrison who produced some of his best efforts to challenge higher ranked player’s. Bradley played confidently and relaxed to make it through to the final play offs before going down in five tough games.
Members of the Coffs Club certainly enjoyed the competition stepping up to test many of the visitors and showed plenty of tenacity to take out a number of the prizes on offer. Paul Ivanoff took out C Grade, with Nathan Tidey winning D Grade. In other events Kent Cheney won the A Grade Plate Final against Aaron Moulds of Dubbo. In B Grade Daniel Ralph defeated Jeff Iddles in five games to win the Plate event.
Junior Clinic
One of the most popular events during the lead up to the North Coast Open was the Junior Clinic conducted with many of the leading professional players giving their time to hit and pass on some tips to junior players.
Tournament sponsors, Coffs Hotel, Subways, Tecnifibre, The Edge Real Estate, Pro-Align, Mike Blewitt Ford, really ignited squash in both senior and junior ranks this week. Many of the visiting players helped out with the development programs at the centre as nearly 40 juniors took part in a development clinic on the opening day of competition. Among the players, Connor Sheen ENG took time to help our youngest members with Cooper Payne enjoying the hitting on court.
Results
Women’s State Grade Jemma Wratten Coffs Harbour def Renelle Karwalski Sandgate Qld 11/9 11/8 11/9
A Grade Laura Moloney Coutts Crossing def Claire Flannery Tomarey NSW 11/7 11/7 11/3
B Grade Angela Bennett Goulburn def Alison Carey Coffs Harbour11/6 11/4 11/7
C Grade Riley Carey def Adele Adebahr-Armstrong CH 11/6 11/5 11/5
Men’s State Grade Jacob Ford CH def Andrew Pringle Redcliffe Qld 11/8 11/5 11/8
Men’s A Grade Peter Witjes Elanora Hts def Scott Foster Canterbury BD 11/6 11/9 11/9
Men’s B Grade Michael Chircop Wyong def Bevin Sturm Brisbane 9/11 11/8 Ret.
Men’s C Grade Paul Ivanoff CH def Adam Payne CH11/13 11/3 11/2 11/7
Men’s D Grade Nathan Tidey CH def Ethan Sambrook CH 11/9 12/10 11/6
Tamika Seals South Australian Open Title to make it Four.
The ARC Campbelltown hosted the South Australian Squash PSA M5 and W5 tournaments throughout the week, climaxing with the Women’s Open Final today between No 2 Seed Tong Tsz-Wing of Hong Kong and Tamika Saxby Australia who was unseeded for the Women’s Open.
Saxby, the only Australian to make it through to the finals has been impressive form during the South Australian Open, where she ousted top seed Vanessa Chu, World Ranked 51 yesterday in the first semi-final to set up a final appearance against the No 2 seed Tong Tsz-Wing of Hong Kong WR 49. Tsz-Wing has earlier defeated Lisa Camilleri of Australia to advance to her second final appearance as part of the Squash Australia Tour this season.
The pairs meeting was billed as too close to call with contrasting styles but there was plenty of support for the talented aussie as play progressed. In a tough four games Tamika held her composure to cleverly clinch the match winner in a tie break 12-10 10-12 11-7 12-10 after 45 minutes.
Tamika said “ that was tough, so pleased to get through. I played the big points well and really happy with my win today”
Saxby’s current form has seen her catapult up the rankings with four PSA titles since May this year. Saxby’s performances have also been recognised by the Squash Player’s Magazine where she has been named “Player of the Month” for July following her string of successes.
In the men’s draw, it was an all-international final played between France qualifier, Vincent Droesbeke and second seed from South Korea, Ko Youngjo. Youngjo who has been competing on the Squash Australia circuit has been among the top performer’s in recent events and looking to secure his first break through. His opponent Droesbeke is only new to the PSA Tour and the South Australian Open was his first Australian tournament where he was to cause an upset as he methodically ground down his opponent in an epic five-game battle, the Frenchman claimed the title after winning 9-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-2, 11-4.
Fujitsu NSW Open Title to Saxby
Congratulations to Tamika Saxby on winning her third PSA Women’s crown at the Elanora Squash Centre in Sydney.
Tamika had a comfortable first up win before taking on the No 1 seed from Hong Kong, Lee Ka Yi. A tight opening gave Saxby the first game before Lee equalled in the second.
Saxby then gained control at the front court to mount plenty of pressure on the top seed before closing out the match 11/8 9/11 11/7 11/7 to move to the semi finals stage.
Tamika’s opponent was New Zealander Emma Millar and the match proved to be a tighter affair with both players trading shots and showing some exhilarating speed at the front court. Clever ball placements were unsettling her Kiwi opponent as Tamika went two games up. The third game went to a tie break with Millar pulling back a game. In the fourth a variation of pace proved a masterstroke as Tamika opened an early lead to run out victor 11/8 11/8 13/15 11/5.
The final was a rematch of the Sandgate Open where only weeks earlier, Saxby and Lisa Camilleri the No 2 seed had battled out for the title, with Saxby winning 3-1 on that occasion.
Camilleri went into the NSW final well prepared from her High Performance Squad training sessions in the lead up week. Unfortunately for the experienced Aussie, Saxby proved too strong once again. In a quick 23 minute game, Saxby dominated all three games and won 11-3, 11-5, 11-8.
After the final Saxby said “ I’m really happy with the way I played and it all seemed to fall into place on court for me and especially to win my home state title.”
The win makes it three titles for Saxby as in late May, Tamika won the title for the City of Perth Squash International followed by the Sandgate Open and now the Fujitsu NSW Squash Open. Tamika will use this momentum going into the South Australian Open next week, in hope of another good performance.
Tamika Scoops Sandgate for Title Two
It was only a few weeks ago that Tamika Saxby won her first PSA Tour Title but she has been quick to re affirm that it was not a one off as she swept to victory in the Sandgate Open Qld at the weekend to secure her second PSA title on home soil. The win showed her class and maturity as a player as she dominated her opposition through the rounds. In the second round she came up against the No 1 seed Sarah Cardwell WR 51 who she had beaten in the final of the Perth International in May.
With more match play Tamika’s all-round court skills have taken an upward pattern as she minimised any opportunities for her opponent and quickly controlled each game to run out winner in 4 games and move through to the semi-finals. 8/11 11/6 11/3/11/5.
The semi-final against Samantha Foyle Qld heightened the control Tamika was able to apply, as she quickly controlled the front court to wrapped up the match in straight games to take a place in the final.
In the Sandgate Open final spectators were treated to some high class entertainment with Tamika taking on No 2 Seed, Lisa Camilleri WR 69, before a home crowd.
At their last meeting in the semi-final of the Perth International Tamika won in three games. In this tournament Tamika had shown that she was in great form and ready to challenge the experienced Camilleri.
The first game opened at a high tempo with Tamika gaining the early break to go one game up. The second was a similar pattern with Tamika working Camilleri to all corners and
maintaining the intensity throughout to go two games up. Camilleri responded in the third game and seized on some uncharacteristic errors by Saxby to draw back one game.
With renewed focus and determination, Tamika controlled the front court and the earlier efforts had taken their toll on Camilleri as she struggled with Saxby’s pace and precision shots as she finished the game with a volley nic to the forehand front court to close out the match 11/8 11/5 4/11 11/1.
Saxby was jubilant with the win and performance “It’s great to get a second win at home” “ I had a strong first two games, however lost my way in the third game. I managed to piece it together for a strong fourth game” said Saxby
With the success of the Sandgate Open 2016 Tournament Host, Nathan Turnbull indicated that he was looking forward to building on this year’s success and continuing the event in 2017
Saxby Captures Perth Crown
There has been particular interest of the PSA Women’s International and Squash Australia Tour for local star, Tamika Saxby who has won her first PSA World Tour silverware after coming through a tough five games victory against No 1 seed, Sarah Cardwell of Victoria.
This was only Tamika’s second tournament back since returning to competition here in Australia after a two year stay in the UK where she was based in Edinburgh Scotland for training and competition.
It has been hard work that has paid dividends for the talented star as both players didn’t conceded any games advancing to the final of the Perth International. In earlier matches Saxby
despatched Korean Hwayeong Eum whilst Cardwell removed Seo, also of Korea before advancing to the final four. Cardwell WR 51 advanced to the final with a win over fellow Australian Samantha Foyle Qld whilst Tamika encountered Lisa Camilleri Australian and World Ranked 69 in the second semi-final and swept into the final without dropping a game.
This was the first meeting of the two players for a couple of years as Tamika took the opening game in a close finish with Cardwell closing out the second in similar fashion to level the scores.
The third game saw a tight and strong finish for Tamika to go two-one up. With confidence growing little separated the players in the fourth game but unforced errors by Tamika allowed Cardwell to draw level. In the deciding fifth game Tamika took full advantage of poor shots by a tiring Cardwell as she romped to victory for the loss of 5 points to complete a 11/9 9/11 11/9 8/11 11/5 victory after 65 minutes and capture her first PSA World Tour title.
Tamika has a busy schedule in Australia with several events including the Sandgate Open Qld, NSW and South Australian Open’s as lead up events to the Australian Open in August to be held in Melbourne. She is currently enjoying the changed climate and open spaces that Coffs Harbour offers to pursue her training schedule and is on track for these upcoming events.
Tamika’s time abroad has given her a steely resilience , determination and toughness to cope on the professional circuit when in Europe and other parts of the world where conditions are very different to here in Australia. Her experiences at the Scottish High Performance Centre helped to hone her skills and her outlook is one of confidence and enthusiasm for the future.
We are very thrilled for Tamika to break through on the tour and excitement within the centre has been fantastic during the week. Tamika is excited about her prospects as she moves forward with renewed vigour and goals for the challenges ahead.
Tamika has been training at the Coffs Squash Centre twice daily in preparation for the tough competitive circuit in the next three months as part of the Squash Australia Tour. She currently travels to Brisbane for additional training and match sessions with elite players and has held discussions about the newly formed Elite program with National Coach Dan Jensen at Stafford Qld and is optimistic about future opportunities.
