Semi-finalists decided on day two of National Championships
Published Fri 23 Jun 2023
Most of the big names have made it through their quarter-final encounters on Friday at the 2023 Australian National Championships in Sydney.
Australia’s top-ranked player Jess Turnbull made it through her clash with Remashree Muniandy in under 20 minutes to set up a Saturday showdown with Madison Lyon.
The Australian Junior Open U19 champion and sixth seed sailed through her quarter-final over fourth-seed Sophie Fadaely in three straight games.
The bottom half of the draw saw some hard-fought clashes where the higher-ranked players didn’t have it all their own way.
Jennifer Condie upset Pascale Louka in the opening round and threatened an upset when she drew level at a game apiece with third seed Alex Haydon. However the World Cup representative was able to regroup, dropping just six points in the final two games for a 3-1 win.
Haydon will now take on Sarah Cardwell who also had to maintain focus to finish on top. World Junior Championships team member Erin Classen came back to even the game at a game all, and while Cardwell regained the ascendency, the match threatened to go the distance before the second seed took the fourth game 15-13.
In the men’s draw, the top two seeds are both through to the semi-finals however two other players defied the seedings to take their place in the final four.
Two-time champion Ryan Cuskelly was pushed in the opening set by David Turner but eventually triumphed in three games.
He will now meet Australian Junior Open U19 Champion Oscar Curtis who took 50 minutes to overcome fourth seed James Lloyd in four games.
Fifth seed Dylan Molinaro continued his strong form from the opening round to take down World Cup representative Nick Calvert in straight games.
If Molinaro is to make the final he will need to overcome second seed Rhys Dowling, with the 2022 runner-up defeating Gregory Chan in just 20 minutes.
Semi-final action kicks off at Thornleigh Squash & Fitness Centre at 1pm AEST on Saturday with approximate game times as follows:
- 1:00pm AEST 1-Ryan Cuskelly (NSW) v 5/8-Oscar Curtis (WA)
- 1:45pm AEST 1-Jess Turnbull (QLD) v 5/8-Madison Lyon (QLD)
- 2:30pm AEST 5/8-Dylan Molinaro (VIC) v 2-Rhys Dowling (QLD)
- 3:15pm AEST 3/4-Alex Haydon (SA) v 2-Sarah Cardwell (VIC)
