COFFS SQUASH & SWIM CENTRE

Finals Report
The 2018 finals were played out before a packed gallery with finalists (1) Christine Nunn Australia and (2) Sarah Cardwell Australia seeking the all- important win for a spot in the World Championships 2019. The match started with both players looking to settle in and lengthen the rallies. This suited Sarah early as she jumped out to lead in the opening game but the tenacity of Christine showed through as she came from behind to steal the opening game. A similar start in the second saw Sarah have her chances but Christine again produced error free rallies to draw level and take the second game to go two game up. Christine looked to have the upper hand at the start of the third but a courageous fightback by Sarah where she strung together well placed short balls to the forehand court and she found herself back in the match taking the third and fourth games and appeared to gaining confidence as a result. In the final game both girls traded volleys and used the corners looking to create a slender opening and at 7-5 Christine won two points well directed to the forehand clinch the match in five games.

The Men’s final opened at a hectic pace with Evan Williams looking to be in command early before Dimitri worked the ball short to the backhand and closed the gap. Evan looked like he had squandered the lead as Dimitri drew level at 10-10 and with a couple of close calls managed to win the tie break and go one up.
Dimitri opened the second game with a change in pace and movement to making Evan move to the front court each rally. Evan’s returns under pressure resulted in unforced errors for Dimitri to level the games at 1-1.  Dimitri continued a similar pattern of taking Evan to the front in the third and fourth games as Evan found difficulty in keeping any ball consistently to length with Dimitri winning in four games.

The crowd acknowledged the performances of the players at Dimitri retained the title for back to back Open wins here in Coffs Harbour 2017/18 and now a spot in the World Championships in 2019.`

Presentations to the players were performed by NSW State Member for Coffs Harbour, Andrew Fraser. Andrew was delighted to be present to witness two great finals and stated “ I could watch another two hours of this” extremely well played and my congratulations to the players and all the internationals who have come to the Coffs Coast for this wonderful event here at the centre”

 Women’s Open Final
1 Christine Nunn AUS defeated (2) Sarah Cardwell AUS 3/2 11-9 11-9 5-11 5-11 11-7 (55m)
Men’s Open Final
1 Dimitri Steinmann SUI defeated (2) Evan Williams NZL 3/1  10-12 11-5 11-6 11-2 (47m)

Player Comments
Women’s Open Champion 2018 Christine Nunn delighted after her win  to have the opportunity of competing in the World Championships in 2019 stated Obviously I’m really happy to pinch the win today. Sarah was hitting really nice lines & putting me under a lot of pressure – in the end, I was just thinking about volleying as much as I could. I’m  off to China for the World Team Championships on Friday so feeling good heading into that, Thanks to the Saxby family for hosting yet another fantastic event!”

Dimitri stated after the finals “ Always tough playing Evan, but I have enjoyed my squash here this week. Exciting to get the win and off to Chicago in February”.  

Men’s Semi-Finals
Men’s Report
Dimitri Steinmann No 1 seed proved to consistent for his challenger today in Nicholas Calvert. Dimitri who is the defending champion
Evan Williams the No 2 seed  playing for the first time here in Coffs Harbour put in a very solid performance against Asyraf Azan with minimal errors frustrating his opponent and emerge with a straight games win.
The final should be a great contest with both the top seeds through and vying for a spot in the World Championships 2019.

Player Comments
Evan Williams stated “ It was a good match. I relied on keeping the ball tight and it all came together today. Happy with the result and looking forward to the final tomorrow”

Women’s Semi-Final
Women’s Report
The first semi-final between Christine Nunn and Tamika Hunt came to an early end with Hunt conceding in the third game with injury.
In the other semi-final Sarah Cardwell and Jessica Turnbull both produced some great drives and volleys early with Sarah winning the vital closing points to take the first game.
Jessica came out stronger in the second taking advantage of great volley drives to level the games at one all. In the third and fourth games Sarah used the high ball to stem Jessica’s attack to the backhand.

Women’s Results
(1)Christine Nunn defeated Tamika Hunt 3/0 retired 3/0 11-3 11-3 1-0 retired (13m)

((4) Jessica Turnbull AUS lost to (2) Sarah Cardwell AUS 7-11 11-9 6-11 6-11 (37m)

Player Comments
Sarah Cardwell has moved into the Finals after a strong performance against Jessica  Turnbull and After the match stated “Really glad to get the win today especially as last time I was 2-0 up and lost in 5. Looking forward to tomorrow, excited to battle for a title and a spot in the World Championships!

Report 2^nd Round Report

City Mayor welcomes all the players to Coffs Harbour for the Roberts & Morrow North Coast Open. Mayor Denise Knight was delighted to welcome the international players and visitors to the city of Coffs Harbour and congratulated the Tournament Committee for hosting such a great event. Extending best wishes to the players for the competition she encouraged them to take in the attractions of the city as a beautiful part of Australia.
There were plenty of upsets tonight with some great performances by players as five seeds bowed out to eager opponents seeking a spot in the Quarter Finals and a step closer to a chance at winning the event and a invitee place for the World Championships in February 2019.

Getting proceedings started first up match between defending champion and No 1 seed Dimitri Steinmann Switzerland had to overcome a vastly improved Ruan Olivier South Africa. Olivier took the challenge right up to the top seed leading in the opening two games and forced the second game to a tie break before Steinmann took advantage of two errors to go two games up. The third game saw both players raise the consistency with Steinmann changing the pace to gain the opening break at 9/8 as Olivier erred to give Steinmann the match in straight games to advance to the quarter finals.

The  match between Naoki Hayashi JPN and Bryan Lim Tze Kang MAL provided an upset with Hayashi continuing his great form coming from two games down to emerge victor in five games over the No 5 seed. Naoki now advances to the quarter finals where he will meet Asyraf Azan for a place in the semi-finals.

Rohan Toole AUS continues to upset the seedings defeating No 4 seed Scott Galloway NZL in four games. Toole produced some good performances at the recent Shepparton International and will now face Nicholas Calvert who also defeated the No 8 seed, Thomas King CAN with the winner  to secure a semi-final place.

Men’s 2^nd Round Results
Dimitri Steinmann SUI defeated Ruan Olivier RSA  3/0 11-6 12-10 11-8 (30m)
Robin Gadola SUI defeated (7) Joel Luca AUS  W/O
(8) Thomas King CAN lost to Nicholas Calvert AUS  0/3 4-11 3-11 2-11 (32m)
Rohan Toole AUS defeated (4) Scott Galloway NZL 3/1 13-11 9/11 11/9 12/10 (35m)
(3)Thomas Calvert AUS lost to  Asyraf Azan MAL 0/3 5-11 6-11 10-12 (23m)
Naoki Hayashi JPN defeated (5) Bryan Lim Tze Kang MAL 3/2 10-12 8-11 11-2 11-5 11-9  (49m)
(6) Alex Eustace AUS defeated Courtney West AUS 3/0 11-7 11-9 11-1 (33m)
Lachlan Coxsedge AUS lost to (2) Evan Williams NZL 3/0 7-11 6-11 8-11 (26m)

Player Comments
After one of his best performances Asyraf Azan MAL  reflected on his match with Thomas Calvert and stated “ I enjoyed playing with Thomas, he’s such a good squash player. He played clean squash and It was really enjoyable. He’s a talented player and I was pleased to win tonight. Tomorrow hope to be good”

Rohan Toole was feeling pleased with his performance tonight and after the match stated “ I was a bit nervous as I have had many battles against Scott in my junior years. Always a tough opponent and happy I dug in and played well. Really looking forward to my match tomorrow.”

Womens Quarters Report

The Quarter Finals opened with No 1 seed Christine Nunn AUS against Taylor Flavell AUS with Nunn showing her speed to control the game and pressure Taylor into error to record a comfortable win in straight games.

Jessica Turnbull No 4 seed dominated the front court against Courtney Mather for a 3/0 win to advance to tomorrows semi-final against No 2 seed Sarah Cardwell. Cardwell had earlier defeated Selena Shaikh to secure her Place in the Semi-final against Turnbull.

 WOMENS OPEN Quarter Final Match Results
(1)Christine Nunn AUS defeated  (5) Taylor Flavell AUS 3/0 11-5 11-0 11-6 (20m)
(7) Shehana Vithana AUS lost to (3) Tamika Hunt AUS 0/3 12-14 8-11 5-11 (25m)
(4) Jessica Turnbull AUS defeated Courtney Mather AUS 3/0 11-1 11-2 11-4 (16m)
(6) Selena Shaikh AUS lost to (2) Sarah Cardwell AUS 0/3 4-11 7-11 8-11 (22m)

31 August – ROBERTS & MORROW North Coast Open WOMENS FIRST ROUND DRAW & RESULTS

REPORT
First Round action of the Women’s Open started this morning with an unfortunate injury to PNG player Lynette Vai early in the first game causing her to withdraw from the match against Shehana Vithana AUS.

In other action Jessica Turnbull AUS 4^th seed, saw off a very determined Chiao-Chi Lin of Taipai. The scoreline didn’t reflect the challenge put up by Chiao-Chi who volleyed exceptionally well as the match progressed.

In the match of the round Selena Shaikh AUS defeated Challen Stowell AUS in a five game thriller to advance to tonight’s Quarter Final stage where she will meet  No.2 seed Sarah Cardwell AUS.

Women’s Open  First Round Results
[1] Christine Nunn (AUS) [Bye]
[8] Jessica Osborne (AUS) v [5] Taylor Flavell (AUS) 5-11 5-11 2-11 (18m)
[7] Shehana Vithana (AUS) v Lynette Vai (PNG) 3/4 (Lynette Vai retired injury)
[3] Tamika Hunt (AUS) [Bye]
[4] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) v Chiao-Chi Lin (TPE) 11-3 11-5 11-6(22m)
Courtney Mather (AUS) v Trace Johnson (AUS) 11-2 11-6 11-4 (16m)
[6] Selena Shaikh (AUS) v Challen Stowell (AUS) 11-7 11-13 11-6 8-11 11-5 (37m)
[2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) [Bye]

Player Comments

Jessica Turnbull was full of praise for her opponent Chiao-Chi after the match “ She’s a great trier- sportsmanship was great which made it an enjoyable match for me”

Selena Shaikh was relieved after her hard fought win against Challen Stowell stating” Was good to get the win. Was closer than I wanted, but happy to get through to the quarter finals tonight”

 ROBERTS & MORROW NORTH COAST OPEN PSA CHALLENGER TOUR 5
– COFFS HARBOUR NSW

Play got underway tonight in the PSA Challenger 5 Tour  Qualification Event for the World Championships Chicago 2018/19.
First up action between Benjamin Ratcliffe AUS and Ruan Olivier RSA set the stage for good contests with Olivier quick to punish any short ball early. Ruan maintained pressure to the corners cutting off Ratcliffe’s shots to run out a comfortable winner in three games.
Next up was 9/16 Robin Gadola SUI against talented U/19 Australian Jacob Ford who surprised his more experienced opponent coming from behind at 8/6 to draw level at 10-10 forcing the first game to a tie break before Gadola was able to clinch the important game 13/11. Gadola started to control the centre court better in the second and third games to advance to tomorrow second round.
Players have appreciated the tremendous playing surface at the Coffs Harbour Squash Centre as shown by Courtney West AUS against Shahzad Khan AUS who produced plenty of shots but unfortunately wasn’t able to break the consistency of West who went on to win in straight games. 
Asyraf Azan MAS produced plenty of shots in his match against Madison Eggert to upset his opponent in three games and advance to the second round where he now meets Number three seed Thomas Calvert of Australia.
The final match between Naoki Hayashi JPN and Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek EGY saw the leftie Naoki show his class with plenty of control as he felt at ease on the backhand court and tighter placement saw him through to the second round comfortably.

Men’s 1^st Round Draw – Results
[1] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) [Bye]
Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) lost to [9/16] Ruan Olivier (RSA) 8/11 0/11 7/11 (24m)
[9/16] Robin Gadola (SUI) defeated [WC] Jacob Ford (AUS)13/11 11/5 11/4 (36m)
[7] Joel Luca (AUS) [Bye]
[8] Thomas King (CAN) [Bye]
[WC] Nic Calvert (AUS) defeated [9/16] David Illich (AUS) 11/1 5/11 11/8 11/7 (39m)
[9/16] Rohan Toole (AUS) defeated Faisal Riaz (PAK) 11/2 11/2 11/2 (11m)
[4] Thomas Calvert (AUS) [Bye]
[WC] Madison Eggert (CAN) lost to[9/16] Asyraf Azan (MAS) 6/11 7/11 10/12 (26m)
[9/16] Naoki Hayashi (JPN) def Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) 11/7 11/2 11/8 (26m)
[5] Bryan Lim Tze Kang [Bye]
[6] Alex Eustace (AUS) [Bye]
Shahzad Khan (AUS) lost to [9/16] Courtney West (AUS) 9/11 10/12 6/11 (25m)
[9/16] Lachlan Coxsedge (AUS) def [WC] Joel Arscott (AUS) 9/11 11/9 11/2 11/4 (36m)
[2] Evan Williams (NZL) [Bye]