GRANITE CLUB OPEN 2012

TORONTO (26TH – 29TH MARCH 2012)

Monday 26th March: Round 1

Opponent: Thaisa Serafini
Country: Brazil
World Ranking: 61
RESULT: Won 3-0; 11/5 11/6 13/11

I had a good start to the match, playing the game i wanted to play, and getting a good feel of the court conditions.
Thaisa fought harder in the third and i had to stay focused in order not to let the third slip away.

On Sunday morning I had a little accident by cutting my playing hand with a broken glass. I managed to practice with it, and strategically placed some band aids to cushion it well …and fortunately it held up nicely during the match.

Tuesday 27th March: Quarter Finals

Opponent: Tesni Evans
Country: Wales
World Ranking:  55

Tesni caused an upset by beating Olivia 3-0 (WR no.45), so she will definitely bring her A game tonight…and so will I, band aids and all.

Full results on: http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/graniteclub201.htm

NEW WORLD RANKING

It’s a start of a new month,and the world rankings have been updated.

WE’RE NO.44!! YEAH!!

We’ve finally cracked the Top 50…another milestone reached!
This calls for a celebration. WHOOO HOOOO!!!

Ranking History

Oct 2011: No.44
Sep 2011: No.51
Aug 2011: No.52
Jul 2011: No.63
Jun 2011: No.60
May 2011: No.64
Apr 2011: No.64
Mar 2011: No.78
Feb 2011: No.78
Jan 2011: No.63
Dec 2010: No.75
Nov 2010: No.77

NEXT UP:

Kuwait Open
6th – 9th October

PHOENIX SEMI FINALS

Semi Finals:
Friday 16th September (evening session)
Opponent: Nicolette Fernandes
Nationality: Guyana
World Ranking: 46
Tournament Seed: No.5
Result: Lost 2-3; 5/11 3/11 11/9 13/11 7/11

Nicolette caused an upset in the Quarter Finals by beating the no.2 seed. She was ranked in the Top 30 before she suffered a major injury. The match between us was tough. I didn’t know what to expect. I started out quite relaxed…maybe too relaxed because i was down 2-0 in games before i knew what happened. I would have been really disappointed if the third game turned out to be a repeat of the previous one, but i received strength to fight…and boy did i fight for each point. The rallies had to be longer, the pace had to be mixed up, and i had to keep moving her around the court – not fearing to attack the ball. In the last game, my length got a little shorter again, giving her more opportunities to control the rallies. In the 5th, she had a 5-1 lead which i managed to close down to 5-4. the 6-4, 7-4, 8-4, 5-8, 9-5, 10-5, 6-10, 7-10, then an unfortunate stroke against me, which gave her the match at 11-7. Lots of lessons learnt. Overall, I am happy that i was able to fight back after a poor start. I probably need to work on that somehow – starting strong.

All in all, it has been a great and successful USA Tour. We will wait for the new rankings at the beginning of October with eager anticipation.

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR OCTOBER

KUWAIT OPEN
6th-9th October

CHINA OPEN
11th-14th October

QATAR OPEN
15th -17th October

SPANISH OPEN
19th-22nd October
(My hubby will be joining me on this trip!! Looking forward to it.)