2020 VOLKSWAGEN AUSTRALIAN OPEN | Day 3 Review

Photo: [1] Rachael Grinham defeated [4] Selena Shaikh: Photo Courtesy of Sportageous 

Semi-finals day at the 2020 Volkswagen Australian Open was expected to provide some exciting match ups in both the Men’s and Women’s draws and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

We saw our first 5 game match of the tournament when [1] Joseph White and [3] Thomas Calvert took to the court. Calvert started very strongly playing his very best to claim the first game and open up a lead in the second before his opponent started to find his way into the match. Ultimately, the lead was enough for the 3rd seed to take a very close second game but it seemed the momentum had shifted. White capitalised on this shift in the third and went on to run away with the last three games completing an impressive comeback from 2-0 down to win in 5 games 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (58min).

White will now meet [4] Rhys Dowling in what is a first Australian Open final for both men and an historic Northern Territory match up with both players growing up in Darwin.

Dowling caused an upset in his semi-final defeating the in-form [2] Nicholas Calvert in straight games. Dowling held an advantage throughout the first two games but it was a slightly different story in the third. A mixture of some long rallies, a few good winners from Calvert, and a few errors from Dowling led to the 2nd seed having game balls at 10-8. However, Dowling showed he was eager to finish the match hitting 3 winners in the next 4 rallies to claim an impressive victory 11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (39min).

The only previous winner of this event, [1] Rachael Grinham (in 2017) showed her class when she took on [4] Selena Shaikh in the first Women’s semi-final. Grinham was on top from the start using her expvariety of shots to outsmart her younger opponent and she never let up winning in straight games 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (20min).

The second Women’s semi-final was billed as being a cracker of a match up with both [3] Jessica Turnbull and [2] Sarah Cardwell bringing good form and a history of close matches between them. On this occasion however, Queenslander Turnbull meant business and showed that from the outset. The score line perhaps didn’t reflect some of the great rallies between these two but ultimately it was Turnbull’s day as she finished the match in straight games with a very impressive performance 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (28min) earning a maiden Australian Open final berth in the process.

Grand Finals will be underway from 12 pm (AEDT) tomorrow as below:

12:00pm – [1] Joseph White (WR 167) v [4] Rhys Dowling (WR 228)

12:45pm – [1] Rachael Grinham (WR 29) v [3] Jessica Turnbull (WR 66)

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

Squash Australia would like to acknowledge and thank the following sponsors for their support of this event: Volkswagen, Tarra Motors, Bega Squash Club, BLK, Dunlop, Ashaway.

TODAY'S RESULTS

[1] Joseph White (AUS) v [3] Thomas Calvert (AUS) 

6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (58m)

[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [4] Selena Shaikh (AUS) 

11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (20m)

[4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) v [2] Nicholas Calvert (AUS) 

11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (39m)

[3] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) v [2] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 

11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (28m)