Titles go to New Zealand and Egypt
By BEN ROWLES in Bendigo
New Zealand’s Evan Williams and Egypt’s Hana Ramadan have taken out the respective Men’s and Women’s Open titles at the 2016 Bendigo International Open Squash Championships on Sunday.
In the Men’s Open Final, top seed Williams secured his fifth career PSA World Tour title and third in the space of three months by defeating Swiss sixth seed Dimitri Steinmann in a seesawing five gamer.
World number 92 Williams burst out of the blocks early to win the first two games 11-7, before Steinmann wrestled back control of the match to win the following two games in authoritative fashion.
Steinmann’s revival sent the match to a much anticipated fifth game, but it was Williams who was able to reverse the momentum and take out the last to secure a 11-7, 11-7, 1-11, 2-11,11-5 victory in 53 minutes.
The Women’s Open Final saw Ramadan face local Australian hope Jessica Turnbull in a match that pitted the tournament’s respective sixth and fifth seeds against each other.
Ramadan, who had progressed to the final after upsetting first and third seeds Millie Tomlinson and Nouran El Torky in the earlier stages of the tournament, assumed control of the match by winning the first two games.
Sensing the final slipping away, Turnbull lifted in the third to take it out 9-11 and get herself back in the contest.
But it wasn’t enough for the Queenslander, as Ramadan held her nerve again, as she had numerous times in the tournament, to secure an 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9 victory.
Many of the players that featured in the Men’s and Women’s Opens in Bendigo will now turn their attention to the 2016 Victorian Open Squash Championships, which will get under way on Tuesday August 2, with finals matches to take place on Sunday August 7.
Bendigo International 2016, Bendigo Squash Centre, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
PSA M5 Men’s Final:
[1] Evan Williams (NZL) bt [4] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 11-7, 11-7, 1-11, 2-11, 11-5 (53m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Evan Williams (NZL) bt Vincent Droesbeke (FRA) 9-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, 11-3 (46m)
[4] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt [2] Elvinn Keo (MAS) 11-2, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 (54m)
PSA W5 Final:
[6] Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt [5] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9 (36m)
Semi-finals:
[6] Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt [3] Nouran El Torky (EGY) 9-11, 12-14, 11-9, 13-11, 11-8 (72m)
[5] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bt [7] Yura Choi (KOR) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (23m)
Picture by Squash Victoria