2020 VOLKSWAGEN AUSTRALIAN OPEN | Day 2 Review

Published Fri 05 Feb 2021

Photo: Sarah Cardwell edged out Tamika Hunt in a four-set thriller.

Day two of the 2020 Volkswagen Australian Open provided some exciting quarter final match ups in both the Men’s and Women’s draws at the Bega Squash Club in Bega, New South Wales, Australia.

The two unseeded players who provided upsets in round one showed that they deserved their respective places in the quarter finals as they really tested their higher seeded opponents, but ultimately it was a day for the seeds as the top four seeds in both draws made their way through to the semi finals.

The round one surprise in the Men’s draw 41-year-old Peter Vaughan pushed [3] Thomas Calvert to four games but Calvert was too good in the end winning 11-6, 3-11, 11-2, 11-6 (40min).

With that win Calvert has earned himself a semi final match up with the top seed Joseph White who again won through in straight games 11-6, 11-3, 2-0 ret. (22min).

Meanwhile in the Women’s draw unseeded Hannelize Human took the first game off [4] Selena Shaikh before the Victorian eventually finished off a very close second game and fought her way through to win 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 (34min).

Shaikh will now play top seed Rachael Grinham who survived a close first game to defeat 6^th seed Jessica Osborne in straight games 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (22min).

In their first meeting on the PSA tour [4] Rhys Dowling and [5] Rohan Toole had an up and down affair exchanging one sided games until Dowling eventually finished it off in four games 11-2, 5-11, 11-2, 11-5 (31min).

He will now meet [2] Nicholas Calvert in the semi finals who again overcame [8] Solayman Nowrozi 3-0 in a repeat result from the Gold Coast PSA Satellite semi final last month 11-9, 11-1, 14-12 (56min).

Probably the most anticipated match of the night was the last to start between [2] Sarah Cardwell and [8] Tamika Hunt.

The pair met in the final of the Sandgate PSA Women’s Open exactly two weeks ago where Hunt claimed her first PSA title since 2017. This rematch certainly didn’t disappoint as Cardwell took the first game before Hunt hit back to level it at 1-1.

The third and fourth games couldn’t have been any tighter but it was Cardwell who managed to reverse the result from two weeks ago, booking her place in the semi final 11-7, 7-11, 13-11, 13-11 (45min). Cardwell will meet [3] Jessica Turnbull in the semi final after she maintained her unbeaten record over [5] Alex Haydon with another 3-0 win 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (24min).

Semi Finals will be underway from 2 pm (AEDT) tomorrow as below:
2:00pm - [1] Joseph White v [3] Thomas Calvert
2:45pm – [1] Rachael Grinham v [4] Selena Shaikh
3:30pm – [2] Nicholas Calvert v [4] Rhys Dowling
4:15pm – [2] Sarah Cardwell v [3] Jessica Turnbull

Full draws and results can be found on SportyHQ here:

https://squashaustralia.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Volkswagen-Australian-Open-2020

If you can’t make it to the courts to see the action in person you can still watch the matches on the livestream on Squash Australia Facebook page or YouTube channel at www.squashaustralia.tv

TODAY'S RESULTS

[1] Joseph White (AUS) v [7] Javed Ali (AUS)

11-6, 11-3, 2-0 retired (22m)

[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [6] Jessica Osborne (AUS)

12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (22m)

[4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) v [5] Rohan Toole (AUS)

11-2, 5-11, 11-2, 11-5 (31m)

[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) v [5] Alex Haydon (AUS)

11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (24m)

Peter Vaughan (AUS) v [3] Thomas Calvert (AUS)

6-11, 11-3, 2-11, 6-11 (40m)

Hannelize Human (RSA) v [4] Selena Shaikh (AUS)

11-9, 10-12, 4-11, 7-11 (34m)