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LATEST NEWS
6.8.08
Entries Still Open for NSW Open Aug 15 - 17
Brush shoulders with World Champion David Palmer OAM during the HEAD NSW Open, entries are still being taken for tis great event, see tournaments for entry form.
3.8.08
Wonder Man Palmer Finally Triumphs at Australian Open
David Palmer finally righted one of Australian squash’s greatest anomalies when he took out the Australian Open squash title with a straight games win over New Zealand’s Kashif Shuja in Clare, South Australia on Sunday. Palmer had won four British Open and two World Open titles heading into the tournament but had never managed to win his home championship in what has been a glittering career. But in a highly entertaining final he beat Shuja 11-7, 14-12, 11-8 to put his name on the trophy alongside players such as Geoff Hunt, Chris Ditmar and Ross and Brett Martin.
“I was pretty confident coming in but rankings aside you obviously still have to win,” the world number five said.
“I was much higher ranked than the other guys here and I wasn’t at my best because I’m in my off-season.
“But at the end of the day I’m happy to win and finally get my name on the trophy with those other great Australian players.”
Palmer said winning the title was one of his main career goals when he first started playing.
As a junior learning the game in the New South Wales town of Lithgow, he targeted the Australian junior and senior titles, the British Open and the World Open.
“I just didn’t think it would take me this long to win the Australian Open,” the 32-year-old said.
Congratulaions David!
Au Stuns Brown to Claim Women's Australian Open
Hong Kong’s Annie Au came from two games down then saved two match balls to beat top seed Kasey Brown in a thrilling women’s final of the Australian Open squash championships in the South Australian town of Clare on Sunday.
The seventh seeded Au looked headed for defeat when Brown took the opening two games, but fought back magnificently to overcome the world number 13 6-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 in 80 minutes and become the first Hong Kong player to win the Australian Open.
In a match deserving of the final, Brown and Au thrilled the crowd with their never-say-die attacking styles.
Brown, who won the title in 2008, had match balls at 10-8 in the fifth, but Au refused to concede and won the next four points to close out the match.
Palmer Top Seed for HEAD NSW Open, Doubles & Graded Events Championships Aug 15 - 17
NSW Squash Ambassador David Palmer OAM will be competing in his first NSW Open for over a decade. This will be a great opportunity to see David in action after his great 4th British Open title earlier this year. David will also be competing in the Men's Doubles with the NSW Under 17 Boys Champion Cameron Deehan.
This event is being sponsored by HEAD, which have also committed their sponsorship for 2009 and 2010.
For the first time at the Open we see doubles events and as usual there are the full section of graded events from State to novice
See Tournaments for entry form. Click here for Poster
David Palmer OAM Coaching Clinic August 7
NSW Squash with Black Knight and Ashaway Strings proudly presents the David Palmer OAM Coaching Clinic on Thursday August 7 at Thornleigh Squash Centre. NSW Squash Ambassador David Palmer is looking forward to share his experiences and expertise with participants to help improve their squash, where the clinic will be video taped for participants. The $60 cost includes refreshments, video and photo of the coaching session, great value to be coached by our World Champion. Contact NSW Squash on 9484 8271 to book your place for this once in a lifetime experience. Click for information.
Bakers Delight Top Sports Grant
Buy a savoury scroll from Bakers Delight and nominate your sporting club for a chance to score a $2500 top sports grant.
NSW Squash Sends it's Best Wishes to Referee Dawn Moggach
All at NSW Squash wish Dawn Moggach a speedy recovery after her surgery to repair a herniated stomach.
29/7/08
Mandatory Pennant Rules Presentations
As advised to all clubs in the February and July District Meetings, the mandatory Pennant rules Presentations will take place in August/September. A minimum of 2 players per team must attend. For all enquiries please contact the Pennant Administrator on 9913 1963 or NSW Squash on 9484 8271. click here for schedule
11 PAR Scoring System Survey
With the push in Asia and Europe to use the 11 PAR scoring system, the WSF AGM in October will vote on which scoring system will be used worldwide. NSW Squash has been trailling the 15 PAR scoring system for a number of years on the request from WSF, all other countries have been using the traditional 9 point, on service scoring system.
To help Squash Aiustralia vote, we are asking players to use the 11 PAR scoring system during a practice match, fill in a survey and fax or email to NSW Squash by 25th August, thank you for your assistance in this important process.
NSW Masters State Titles
Played at Thornleigh & Dural Squash Centres the last weekend in June with over 160 players competing. Tournament Director Alan McLeod kept matches on time which all players appreciated. Click here for results
10.7.08
NSW Junior Age Championships Results
Over 110 juniors from across NSW and the ACT competed in the titles, sponsored by Sage Pastel, Dunlop Sports and Mortgage Link, NSW Squash thanks these sponsors for their continued
support
This year Doubles events and an under 9 division was added, which proved popular. Most noted results included a sister act of Iritana and Moanda Gray of Big River Squash in Grafton playing the Girls Under 15 Final, brother act of James Law O'keefe Winner Boys Under 13 and Matthew Law-O'keefe runer up Boys Under 9 and the family afffair of the Mazhar family of Thornleigh squash with oldest Nodoka Mazhar competing in the Girls Under 15, brother Go, Boys Under 11 runner up
and baby of the famil 8 year old
Ayana taking out the Girls Under 9 and Girls Under 11 runner up.
John North of Sage Pastel, commented on the high standard of play, whilst announcing that his company will again be back in 2009.
Congratulations to all players on competing and parents for their support. Sue Doherty again did a great job as Tournament Controller, with Dawn Moggach as Tournament Referee.
Finals results:
Event Winner Runner Up
Girls Under 19 Tamika Saxby Stacey Francis
Boys Under 19 Matthew Durda Simon Summers
Girls Under 17 Heather Pilley Talei Mataileuv
Boys Under 17 Cameron Deehan Wesley Cusick
Girls Under 15 Iritana Gray Moana Gray
Boys Under 15 Michael Badenhorst Sam Evans
Girls Under 13 Kristen Knightengale Alysha Ferguson
Boys Under 13 James Law-O'Keefe Rohan Toole
Girls Under 11 Rachel Gibson Ayana Mazhar
Boys Under 11 Jesse Keegan Go Mazhar
Girls Under 9 Ayana Mazhar Paris Ford
Boys Under 9 Cody Pearson Matthew Law O'keefe
Doubles
Mixed Under 19/17 Elliot Geddes Tamika Saxby
Euan Henman Stacey Francis
Boys Under 15 Andrew Lloyd Brad Williams
Michael Badenhorst James Rooke
Boys Under 13/11 Kailan Harris Jesse Harrison
Nathan Youd Glen Neil-Robson
Girls Under 17/15 Laura McGreddie Iritana Gray
Holly Barnes Moana Gray
Full results will be posted shortly
Spring Pennant District Meetings
Will be held:
South/East: Monday 21 July at Wests Ashfield Leagues Club
North: Tuesday 22 July at North Sydney Leagues Club
West: Wednesday 23 July at Coolibah Squash
All players are welcome with all meetings commencing at 7pm. Click here for agenda
Palmer Aims to End Anomaly
David Palmer will try to end one of the great anomalies of Australian squash later this month when he heads to the South Australian wine making centre of Clare for the Australian Open.
Palmer has won four British Opens and two World Opens in an illustrious career that has already seen him labeled as one of the sport’s all time greats.
But strangely the 32-year-old from Lithgow in New South Wales has never won an Australian Open.
He said getting his name on the trophy alongside players such as Geoff Hunt, Chris Dittmar, Rodney Eyles and Rod and Brett Martin was the prime reason for returning home from his base
in the US city of Boston.
The Australian Open will be played on an all-glass court in Clare from July 29-August 3.
Palmer has been seeded number one in the men’s draw, while former champion Kasey Brown is the women’s top seed.
“Clare hosted the championships for the first time last year and did an outstanding job,” Squash Australia chief executive officer Gary O’Donnell said.
“The glass court was set up in the town’s newly developed sports stadium and the people really embraced the tournament.”
The 2008 field boasts a large international contingent, with Australian players being joined by those from New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Pakistan, India, England, Ireland and Wales.
“It’s pleasing to see so many international players coming out this year,” tournament organiser Des Panizza said.
“The field is stronger than last year and features a host of top class players in the main draw, and also in qualifying.
“It really shows to us that the Australian Open is on the way up in terms of the overall quality of players it attracts.”
While Palmer is the obvious favourite in the men’s draw in the absence of defending champion Stewart Boswell, his challengers are all evenly matched.
England’s Chris Ryder is the likely second seed ahead of New Zealander Kashif Shuja and Hobart’s Aaron Frankcomb.
Hot on their heels will be New South Wales pair Scott Arnold and Ryan Cuskelly and Queenslander Bradley Hindle, while Pakistan’s Khawaja Adil Maqbool should round out the seedings.
Dangerous floaters in the draw will be resurgent Queenslander Steve Finitsis and Englishman Robbie Temple, while Hong Kong’s Dick Lau could cause havoc if he wins his way through qualifying.
The women’s draw is wide open, with Brown certain to face stiff competition from second seeded Kiwi Jaclyn Hawkes, only five places below the Australian on the world rankings.
Rising Australian star Donna Urquhart is the third seed with Hong Kong’s Christina Mak rounding out the top four.
The rest of the seedings are Victoria’s Amelia Pittock (4), Queenslander Lisa Camilleri (6), Annie Au of Hong Kong (7), and Kiwi Joelle King (8).
There will also be a new women’s champion in 2008 with New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen committed to a tournament in Singapore and unable to defend her title.
Brown, who won in 2006 and was runner-up to Kitchen last year, said she was hoping to become the first multiple winner of the Australian Open since Sarah Fitz-Gerald, who won the last of her
four titles in 2002.
“I’m not taking anything for granted,” the 22-year-old from Taree in New South Wales said.
“There are a lot of girls in the field who are a similar standard, so anyone could win it.
“There are also a lot of players coming who are now starting to make their mark on the professional game after good junior careers.
“Hopefully I’ll have a bit too much experience for them and I can win my second title.”
The UK-based Brown has already won twice on the professional tour this year, taking the Atwater Cup in Canada in March and the Crocodile Challenge Cup in Hong Kong last month.
She also took out the Australian Closed Championship in June, beating Urquhart in the final.
Qualifying for the tournament begins in Clare on July 29 with the main draw starting on Thursday July 31.
The finals will be played on Sunday, August 3.
29.6.08
From The Times
Tennis traditions given chop with new technique of Squash stroke
Wimbledon stars let their wrists do the talking when taken to extremes
Roger Federer of Switzerland reaches for the ball during his match against Robin Soderling of Sweden
Sometimes it seems that there is a whole different ball game out there. And that game is squash.
Rafael Nadal has started playing it more this year. Roger Federer has just been getting better and better. The champion, though, may well be Fabrice Santoro, of France, who was knocked out in the first round by Andy Murray, another decent-looking squash player, three days ago.
We are talking here about the use of the wrist. Any beginner given the traditional start to tennis will be taught to lock the wrist, to hit groundstrokes as if the hand is an extension of the forearm. Yes, roll the wrist, but not do not break it, do not use it as a hinge. Do not play squash.
But in the ever-changing world of technique, the wrist hinge has found its way through the gates of the All England Club. It arrives as a collective product of new technology, better athleticism and sheer desperation to keep the ball in play. But you would never have seen Pete Sampras, the American who won seven Wimbledon titles and an equal number of other grand-slam events, playing it.
As Greg Rusedski, the former British No1, said: “In our day, maybe we just weren't good enough to do it.”
The specific shot he is talking about is played off the forehand, wide out on the stretch, in an attempt to reach an out-spinning serve or, more likely, a cross-court drive. “If you're dragged out wide and you've got no chance to get a racket on it properly, you can either throw up a lob and most likely watch someone bury it, or you can alter your grip and play a squash shot,” Andrew Castle, the BBC presenter and another former British No1, said.
Castle should know about squash because, 16 years after retiring from professional tennis, he is still playing squash for Surrey. It was Castle who taught Stefan Edberg to play squash when Edberg was living in London; Castle plays Tim Henman at squash and on Sunday morning has a court booked to play Henman's brother.
“That stiff wrist thing has gone in tennis,” Castle said. “The squash shot is not something you practise. It's a last-resort shot but, increasingly, more players are using it.”
The squash lobby has noticed this, too, notably Peter Nicol, the former world No1. “Yes, they are clearly adopting squash techniques, the use of the wrist shots, especially on grass,” he said. “Both squash and tennis have got quicker and quicker and you have to adapt and mix it up. You can't just use the old techniques any more. Federer once said that a lot of his different shots were from his days playing squash.”
His reference is the French Open semi-final of two years ago, Federer versus David Nalbandian, when the Swiss ran back to chase a lob and pulled off a forehand pass from the baseline with his back to the net. Afterwards Federer put it down to the squash that he played regularly as a child with his father.
“I imagine that a lot of other players then thought, ‘If it works for him, then why not me?'” Nicol said, going on to suggest that tennis players would benefit from studying squash. “It would be good to get them to watch a top, live match and understand what works,” he said. “I think that would really help them.”
The squash influence is not new. Ivan Lendl, the Czech former world No1, used to play the sport to strengthen his backhand. Murray played squash as a child in Dunblane, but he has a mother, Judy, who carefully schooled him and his brother, Jamie, in the arts of spin and touch that are so closely related to squash.
“I taught them a lot of the different skills so they both can slice and drop-shot pretty well,” she said. “I was always very aware that if all you can do is rally big and hard, what do you do if you come up against someone who does that better? For example, this squash-looking shot has evolved to counter the cross-court forehand.” The point, though, is that more and more players are incorporating it. Why now? Because technology has produced rackets that allow them to. And, as Rusedski explained, because the new generation have the physique to match. “These guys are so strong,” he said. “Look at Federer and Nadal, they are probably the strongest guys to have been at the top ever.”
So watch for the wide-out squash flick. “Obviously Federer and Nadal do it,” Castle said. “Juan Carlos Ferrero is brilliant at it. Andy Roddick can flip a squash shot, too. But Santoro - virtually every shot he plays is squash. If he did play squash, what a nightmare he would be.”
Brown Takes Hong Kong Title
New South Welshwoman Kasey Brown lived up to her top billing when she beat Rebecca Chiu in straight games to win the Crocodile Cup squash tournament in Hong Kong on Sunday night. Brown is ranked 13 in the world to Chiu’s 14, but the Australian dominated on the court to take the final 9-3, 9-2, 9-7 in 46 minutes.It was the 22-year-old from Taree’s second title of the year following her win in the Atwater Cup in Canada in March and her ninth since she joined the professional tour in 2003.Brown will now return to Brisbane to continue training with the Australian Institute of Sport before taking part in the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur beginning on July 23, and the Australian Open in the South Australian town of Clare from July 30-August 2.
Australian Closed & Graded Championships
Brown wins third successive title, Arnold stops Finitsis
Taree’s Kasey Brown won her third successive Australian Closed Squash Championship title when she beat second seed Donna Urquhart in straight games in Sydney on Sunday.Brown, the world number 13, was playing her first tournament in Australia this year and showed why she is tipped to become the country’s next top 10 player as she beat fellow Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder Urquhart 9-5, 9-2, 9-7.In the men’s event, Sydney’s Scott Arnold won his first Closed title when he ended Queenslander Steve Finitsis’s long winning run with a tough four-game victory.Finitsis won the first game but then ran out of steam as Arnold triumphed 7-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-4.Finitsis had won his last four Professional Squash Association tournaments but after three close games he “ran out of legs” in the fourth as Arnold cruised to victory.Earlier Arnold beat Newcastle’s Mathew Karwalski 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 in one semi-final, while Finitsis upset second seeded Ryan Cuskelly 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6.NSW Squash director Carin Clonda said the tournament, played at the association’s headquarters at Thornleigh in north-west Sydney, had been a great success.“It’s the first time we’ve held the Australian Closed and it was great to have a lot of our New South Wales players back from overseas or back from the Australian Institute of Sport,” she said.“It’s great that we’ve been able to have a major event for them to come back to.“We are now in discussions with Squash Australia to host the tournament for another two years and we are looking to increase the prize money, of this years $5000 total for the Men’s and Women’s Opens“It’s brilliant for our club players to be able to see the calibre of squash we have seen here this weekend.“I also want to thank our tournament controller, Sue Doherty, who made sure we stayed on schedule for the whole tournament and Chris Sinclair Tournament Referee. ”NSW Squash also wishes to thank sponsors Australian Sports Commission through Squash Australia, Dunlop and Frucor Beverages for their support of this event, and a special thank you to John Holland President of Squash Australia who presented the prizes. For final results click here
11.6.08
Squash on the ABC Radio 702 this Thursday 12 June
Squash will feature in the James Valentine program, The Forgotten Sport, Report this Thuesay 12th June at 1.35pm.
2009 World Masters Games 10 - 18 October 2009
Registrations for the 2009 World Masters Games have now opened, click on the logo at right to view the website or go to www.2009worldmasters.com
David Palmer Signs with Black Knight
NSW Squash Ambassador David Palmer has signed with Canadian Racket Company Black Knight, What better timing with David just having claimed his 4th British Open title. David is currently developing a new range of rackets to be lauched onto the international market later this year.
National Teams Championships Expressions of Interest for NSW State Team
To all NSW Ranked players, click here for more information
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