Top seeds etch their names into history
Published Sun 25 Jun 2023
Jess Turnbull and Ryan Cuskelly started the Australian National Championships as favourites and ended it victorious after winning their respective finals at Thornleigh Squash & Fitness Centre today.
With four Commonwealth Games representatives on show in the title deciders, the crowd was treated to some high class and high intensity squash to cap of four days of competition.
The results also took Turnbull and Cuskelly to the top of the Australian Squash Tour standings after three rounds.
WOMEN’S FINAL
1-Jess Turnbull (QLD) d 5/8-Alex Haydon (SA) 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-1)
Jess Turnbull completed a dramatic comeback to defend her Australian National Championship, overcoming Alex Haydon in a five-game thriller.
The Aussie No.1 started in top gear to take the first game 11-5 in quick time, however Haydon was able to regroup and took the second by the same score.
The third was a point-for-point affair with Turnbull just ahead 6-4 when Haydon turned the tables. The South Australian reeled off seven of the following nine points to take the game.
The 21-year-old took that confidence into the fourth game and managed to get within two points of the title with a 9-7 lead.
It was then that everything changed.
Turnbull clicked into top gear and went on a tear, winning 15 of the next 16 points to go from the brink of defeat to lifting the trophy for a second straight year.
Reflecting on the comeback, Turnbull said she was able to find her best play when her back was against the wall.
“I knew I had to pull something out of the bag,” she said. “Thankfully my experience helped me out a lot there.
“Absolutely it could have got away from me then. Alex is very good on the volley, a very attacking player so I needed to shut down her options and I was able to for those crucial points, able to get my confidence back for the fifth and really put it down.”
Coming to the end of a gruelling few months on the road, Turnbull is ready to put down the racquet for a while.
“Alex has been working hard on and off the court, and so have I,” said Turnbull. “I know we’re both very tired, ready to have a break, and so I think for both of us to have such a close match and to take it to each other was great.
“Hopefully it was entertaining for the crowd.”
MEN’S FINAL
1-Ryan Cuskelly (NSW) d 2-Rhys Dowling (QLD) 3-0 (13-11, 16-14, 11-9)
Ryan Cuskelly claimed his third Australian National Championship in the last 10 years with a hard-fought three-game victory over Rhys Dowling.
Down 5-9 in the first game, Cuskelly knuckled down to win nine of the following 11 points to take the early advantage.
The second game see-sawed with Dowling taking a 5-0 lead which was whittled down to a one-point buffer. From then, neither player was able to win more than two points in a row, and as the scores past 11, it was Cuskelly who was the first to go back-to-back to win a 30-point game.
The two-time champion carried that momentum into the third and had one hand on the trophy at 10-5. As Cuskelly looked to kill the match off with some daring shots, Dowling was able to save four Championship Points but he couldn’t hold out his Birmingham Commonwealth Games teammate who won the third game 11-9.
Cuskelly said going into the match he was aware of the need to assert scoreboard pressure from the outset.
“Mentally I thought I really needed to get that first game,” he said. “Even though I was behind I thought I was playing ok.
“I just missed a few shots, but then I let that go and I actually started playing alright and I was lucky to sneak it at the end.”
As the end drew near, Cuskelly felt the pressure to close the game out before finally edging out Dowling who has now finished runner-up for three years in a row.
“It was hard to finish it off,” he said. “I thought I won it, then I tried to force it - I just wanted it to be over.
“I went for some stupid shots, started going for a few but I ended up pulling it off so I was lucky in the end.”
2023 Australian National Championships
Thornleigh Squash & Fitness Centre
Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 June 2023
Men’s PSA Closed
1st Ryan Cuskelly, 2nd Rhys Dowling, 3rd Dylan Molinaro
Plate Winner: Brendan MacDonald
Women’s PSA Closed
1st Jess Turnbull, 2nd Alex Haydon, 3rd Sarah Cardwell
Plate Winner: Sophie Fadaely
Men’s Premier Grade
1st Ebenezer Swan, 2nd Anthony Thomas, 3rd Michael Bolton
Men’s A Grade
1st Regan Acret, 2nd Willard Lee, 3rd Jackson Wylie
Women’s A Grade
1st Karen Blon, 2nd Hailey Ho, 3rd Jessica Rogerson
Men’s B Grade
1st Stanley Chung, 2nd Peter Sinodinos, 3rd James Herbert
Women’s B Grade
1st Emilia Scott, 2nd Zandalee Palmer, 3rd Meaghan Wang
Men’s C Grade
1st Phillip Chow, 2nd Darvan Thavendran, 3rd Andy Wong
Women’s C Grade
1st Elizabeth Wang, 2nd Catherine Hay, 3rd Ashleigh Odewhan-Oxley
