First Round - Day Two
Posted by Tom Quinn on 26-Nov-2007Categories: News Comments: [add a comment]
(photo courtesy Steve Line of squashpics.com)
Tonight saw the completion of the first round matches at the main event venue at the Fairmont Southampton.
Robert Edwards talks about the first player to come on stage - his father is someone everyone knows by his first name - Jonah. His son, Joey Barrington, did not take up squash until he was 19. He has one of the most famous surnames in squash. The second player is an immense talent - US Open champion and number seven in the world - Nick Matthew.
As the two players warm up Edwards talks about the remarkable fitness these guys have. He tells the crowd that their fitness comes from hours of practice.
Edwards talks about the fact that we have three referees - this system implemented by the PSA reduces the number of disputed calls. He also talks about how the tin on the professional tour is 17″ rather than 19″, and that players have 2 minutes between games rather rather than the traditional 90 seconds. The first game then gets underway.
Day One Summary and Day Two Preview
Posted by Tom Quinn on 26-Nov-2007Categories: News Comments: [add a comment]
(photo courtesy Steve Line of squashpics.com)
Day One of the Endurance World Open 2007 saw the fruition of three years of hard work, and the audience were treated to a spectacular opening ceremony, provided fantastic support for a local Bermudian, and saw a the second major upset of the day.
The first day of the tournament had actually started at midday at the BSRA club in Devonshire. First up was Frenchman Thierry Lincou, who defeated qualifier Julian Illingworth despite a minor hiccup in the third game. The next match saw the first upset of the day - qualifier Jonathan Kemp defeated 15th seeded Malaysian Ong Beng Hee 3-1. Englishman Peter Barker then dispatched his compatriot Bradley Ball 3-1. The final match at the Devonshire club was a marathon affair - Egyptian Wael El Hindi pipped Mexican Eric Galvez 3-2 in 99 minutes.
Then the matches moved to the main venue at the Fairmont Southampton. World number one Amr Shabana was on court first, playing Frenchman Renan Lavigne. Lavigne, originally slated to be a qualifier, kept the pressure on throughout but went down 3-1 despite a gritty performance. Then it was the big one - Bermudian James Stout playing number 12 seed Stewart Boswell. Stout acquitted himself well but just wasn’t up to the task of defeating his Australian opponent, despite fanstastic support from the locals in the arena. Then defending World Champion David Palmer then stepped on court and made short work of qualifier Shawn Delierre. The final match of the night saw an out of form Lee Beachill lose to Welshman Alex Gough in five games. Beachill, with the higher ranking, would have expected to win this, and he came out strong in the first game, but his older opponent played the waiting game - waiting for Beachill to make mistakes, which he began to do more often as the match wore on. The final match score was 4-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-4, 11-5.
Today we see another 8 matches - 4 at the BSRA and 4 at the Fairmont Southampton venue. There are several ties which promise to be very close. We will also see Frenchman and number two seed Gregory Gaultier make his debut in the event tonight at 9pm on the glass court. For more details see Today at the Open. For Royal Gazette coverage see Defeated Stout has plenty to shout about.
Opening Ceremony
Posted by Tom Quinn on 25-Nov-2007Categories: News Comments: [add a comment]
(photo courtesy Steve Line of squashpics.com)
The night begins with greetings from the Town Crier of Hamilton. He then welcomes Robert Edwards - the “Voice of Squash”.
The drums of the Bermuda Regiment then provide some musical accompaniment, and Robert Edwards introduces some of the players from the different countries being represented - led out by John White of Scotland.
He tells Bermuda to be proud of what has been achieved, and gives special thanks to Kim Carter, Tournament Chairman, Ross Triffitt, Tournament Director, and Marc de Verteuil, Facilities Director. He also thanks the team of volunteers who made all this happen.
Edwards then asks David Gibbons, Chairman of the BSRA, and Dr. The Hon. Ewart Brown, Premier of Bermuda and Minister for Tourism, to come to the stage. The Premier tells Edwards that it has been a great year for Bermuda in terms of “Sports Tourism”, with the PGA Grand Slam, the World Triathlon Championship, the Gold Cup and now this event. He says that such events only serve to increase the focus on the island and help tourism.
The dignitaries and Drum band depart the stage, and Edwards welcomes Frenchman Renan Lavigne - one of the “three musketeers” who was a qualifier until Egyptian Karim Darwish dropped out through injury and Lavigne made it to the main draw. But his luck ran out when he drew his opponent…Then he welcomes the “Prince of Cairo” - one year and seven months at the top of the world. Amr Shabana. And the first match in the main venue of the Endurance World Open Bermuda 2007 begins in earnest.
History Being Made
Posted by Tom Quinn on 25-Nov-2007Categories: News Comments: [add a comment]
In April 2004, an historic agreement with the Professional Squash Association (PSA) was signed. The agreement was for Bermuda to host the PSA Masters in 2005 and 2006, and then be home to the largest squash tournament in the world - the World Open Championships, in 2007.
After more than three years in the making, the opening ceremony of the Endurance World Open Bermuda 2007 will take place tonight at the custom-built venue at the Fairmont Southampton.
The action starts at 6pm with World number one and Masters Champion Amr Shabana taking on Frenchman Renan Lavigne. This will then be followed by local Bermuda wildcard James Stout playing Stewart Boswell of Australia - a match which will no doubt see Stout receive fantastic support from a partisan crowd in the 1400 seater arena overlooking the South Shore.
But there will be action earlier in the day as four matches take place at the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association (BSRA) at Devonshire, starting at midday.
For more details read Today at the Open
Press Report for Sunday 25th November
Posted by Roger Sherratt on 25-Nov-2007Categories: News Comments: [add a comment]
After 2 days of qualifying matches at the Devonshire Squash Courts, all systems are go for the start of the Endurance World Open Bermuda 2007 Squash Championship at the Fairmont Southampton stadium, as we hear in this report from Squash spokesman, Roger Sherratt:
By late Saturday we had 8 players qualify for the main draw and they join the world’s top 23 and our own wildcard James Stout to battle it out for the Endurance World Open title this week. Not unexpectedly, our 4 local qualifiers were all knocked out, but Canadian squash fans had something to cheer about when Shawn Delierre of Montreal triumphed 3-2 against his Australian opponent in the longest and one of the most exciting matches so far - 77 minutes of action packed squash. But Delierre will need all the fan support he can muster when he goes up against the current World Open Champion, Dave Palmer of Australia in one of tonight’s matches following the Opening Ceremony.
Attention now turns to the all glass court in Southampton, which is all set and looks magnificent. The Opening Ceremony gets underway at 6 this evening followed by a match between the current world #1 ranked player (and #1 seed) Amr Shabana of Egypt and Renan Lavigne of France, followed by our own James Stout who takes on the world #15 Stewart Boswell of Australia.
We have great 4 matches every night, starting at 6pm on the all glass court until Finals Night next Saturday. And for anyone coming to watch, parking is available at Horseshoe Bay, with free hotel shuttle service up to the venue. Tickets for tonight are still available on the internet at www.boxoffice.com, or at the venue an hour before doors open.
Roger J. Sherratt, Press Officer, Bermuda Squash Racquets Association
