Top seeds taste glory in Bega
Published Mon 04 Sep 2023
The top seeds have franked the form lines at the 2023 Volkswagen Bega open, with the highest ranked players in the men’s and women’s draws taking out the titles.
The men’s final saw Austrian Open champion Ryunosuke Tsukue (Japan) take on Canberra Open winner Velavan Senthilkumar (India) in the decider.
Both players dropped just one game on the way to the final, but when Tsukue took the first 11-4 it looked like the final might be one-way traffic.
However Senthilkumar was not to be out done and the pair could not be separated as the game went down to the wire. Eventually, it was the Japanese maestro who orchestrated a 12-10 win, seizing the momentum to claim the third game and his second title in four months.
The women’s tournament provided great entertainment with the leading players in the draw all performing strongly.
The locals performed extremely well, with Australians featuring in all four quarter finals. While Erin Classen and Sarah Cardwell were eliminated, Jess Turnbull and Alex Haydon took their place in the final four.
Haydon took on top seed Malak Khafagy who enjoyed success in Melbourne in July as a member of Egypts all-conquering World Junior Championships team.
The clash was a see-sawing affair, with Khafagy and Haydon trading the first two games before the South Australian earned a 2-1 lead. Khafagy swung momentum back her way dropping just one point in the fourth game to send it to a decider.
The match went right down to the wire, with Khafagy eventually prevailing 12-10 for a 3-2 win.
Following match, in-form Indian Tanvi Khanna took second seed Turnbull, with the pair matching each other a game apiece early on. Khanna edged ahead after the third and won an arm wrestle 12-10 to reach her third-straight final.
Having won the Costa North Coast Open in Coffs Harbour before finishing runner-up in Canberra last week, Khanna’s confidence was on a high. She claimed the first game but Khafagy won the next two before the Indian forced a decider.
In the end it was Khafagy who was too strong, winning the fifth to win 3-2 (7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8).
Australian Squash Tour
With matching results from their semi-final appearances, Jess Turnbull (3150) held on to her 250 point advantage over Alex Haydon (2900) in the Australian Squash Tour standings.
Quarter-finalists Sarah Cardwell and Erin Classen remain in third and fourth respectively ahead of Sophie Fadaely and Madison Lyon.
A round two appearance was enough to see Rhys Dowling leapfrog Ryan Cuskelly at the top of the men’s standings.
A quarter-final appearance allowed Joseph White to remain in third ahead of Nick Calvert and Oscar Curtis who both bowed out in round two.
There are still two more opportunities in October to earn points on the Australian Squash Tour before the AST Finals in November.
