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Sharon Wee bt Emma Chorley   11/6, 6/11, 11/8, 7/11, 11/8 (39m)
Nour El Tayeb bt Lauren Siddall    11/7, 12/14, 11/9, 6/0 rtd (38m)
Aisling Blake bt Alexandra Norman             11/6, 11/9, 11/2 (28m)
Victoria Lust bt Christina Mak            11/5, 11/4, 7/11, 11/4 (39m) 

Donna Urquhart bt Kanzy El Defrawy 11/5, 7/11, 11/3, 11/2 (26m)
Low wee Wern bt Lauren Selby                  11/4, 11/7, 11/6 (28m)
Nour El Sherbini bt Alana Miller 11/9, 7/11, 6/11, 11/9, 11/5 (54m)
Joshna Chinappa bt Celia Allamargot         11/9, 11/9, 11/5 (21m)

Latasha Khan bt Melody Francis                 11/1, 11/5, 11/2 (21m)
Emma Beddoes bt Lucie Fialova                 11/4, 11/6, 11/6 (28m)
Amanda Sobhy bt Line Hansen                   11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (21m)
Kylie Lindsay bt Elise Ng          5/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9, 11/7 (45m)

Sarah Kippax bt Leonie Holt                       11/2, 11/6, 11/3 (24m)
Dipika Pallikal bt Lisa Camilleri         11/6, 8/11, 11/6, 11/8 (34m)
Joey Chan bt Nicolette Fernandes     11/6, 11/9, 7/11, 12/10 (49m)
Annelize Naudé bt Deon Saffery                11/2, 11/6, 11/2 (19m)

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XXtras #2, a tight fit

En Francais

No Stopping the Juniors ...

It was a great day for the juniors at Frans Otten, with the two Nours - El Tayeb and El Sherbini, Amanda Sobhy, and birthday girl Dipika Pallikal all upsetting seeded players ...
  

The first part of today's play took place on three courts, with the final seven matches all following each other on the Frans Otten Centre Court (so the early finishes are officially over!.

First up on Centre Court was Malaysia's Sharon Wee, the second seed in the qualifying competition. Sharon came through by the skin of her teeth, beating English youngster Emma Chorley 11/8 in the fifth.

"That was close," said Sharon, but what do you expect, this is the World Open, everyone's going to be playing their best!".

Aisling Blake, Donna Urquhart, Wee Wern Low, Joshna Chinappa and Latasha Khan all went through to the qualifying finals reasonable comfortably as expected, but there were three upsets and you'll not be surprised to learn that young Egyptians were involved in two of them.

A determined performance from England's Victoria Lust put paid to Christina Mak's chances of progress, and equally determined efforts from World Junior finalists Nour El Tayeb and Nour El Sherbiny saw that pair through too.

Tayeb got the better of a see-saw match against Lauren Siddall, the Yorkshirewoman having to retire during the fifth with a reoccurrence of the hip strain that ended her British Open bid last week.

The final match on the outside courts proved to be the best of the lot as world #41 Alana Miller was the latest to test the mettle of the 13-year-old world junior champion, and Sherbiny was not found wanting.

It was a tremendous match, close all the way with hardly a moment for either player or the crowd to catch their breath. Alana was trying everything she knew, and some of Sherbini's retrieving was simply breathtaking.

It looked as though the Canadian was heading to victory as she built a lead in the fourth, but Sherbini was not to be denied, came back to level the match and always held the lead in the fifth.

"I can't believe it," said an excited Nour after the match.
Start believing people, start believing.

As the action moved exclusively onto the Centre Court, the upsets continued to come. Amanda Sobhy produced the biggest - in rankings terms #84 v #26 - as she despatched Line Hansen, the second-highest ranked player in qualifying, in straight games. The 16-year-old American, whose father is Egyptian, joins the two Nours in unexpected qualifying finals.

It was only a marginal upset when Kylie Lindsay - #47 in the world - came from two down to beat Elise Ng - #46 - but the Kiwi was might pleased, having narrowly lost to the Hong Kong player twice before.

Dipika Pallikal eschewed her "winner or bust" policy of recent times, battling hard to an impressive win over Lisa Camilleri, just as Joey Chan battled her way to a win over Nicolette Fernandes, who looked to be on the way back after falling two games behind, but couldn't prevent the Hong Kong youngster (21 but she looks younger) taking the fourth 12/10.

The day concluded with a comprehensive win for the Netherlands' last hope in qualifying as Annelize Naudé beat Deon Saffery in straight games.

Aisling Blake bt Alexandra Norman
             11/6, 11/9, 11/2 (28m)

"I'd played her before, so I knew that her ranking didn't tell you what a good player she is.

"She retrieved really well, I had to get it deep into those back corners to make any opportunities, and had to work doubly hard to win those points. I got a good start in the third which made the difference and I managed to keep the momentum from there.

"I'm used to playing here having benn based in Amsterdam for a while, and it's nice to be able to cycle to the courts for the World Open!

Donna Urquhart bt Kanzy El Defrawy
    11/5, 7/11, 11/3, 11/2 (26m)

It seems funny to come back to the qualifiers after my success at the British Open - but it's good to be back playing again.

She had nothing to lose, and was a bit tired after all her games over the weekend and yesterday. She has some great shots which kept me on my toes, and they were all coming off in the second.

My experience in the British Open makes me want to do it again. Wee Wern and I are about equal in results - so qualifying will be difficult - but I'd like to get through to play in my first worlds.

Sharon Wee bt Emma Chorley 
     11/6, 6/11, 11/8, 7/11, 11/8 (39m)

"That was tough, but what do you expect, it's the World Open! Everyone will be wanting to do well and trying their hardest here, especially the young ones with nothing to lose and no fear.

"I always knew it was going to be tough, I just hung in there and used my experience, but it was getting quite close at the end of the fifth …

"I'll need to find better form than that for the next match, and I know I'll have to play hard again.

Victoria Lust bt Christina Mak
            11/5, 11/4, 7/11, 11/4 (39m) 

"I'm really pleased - especially as it's my first worlds.

"In the first two games, my length was working really well, but in the third my length went and she started to take advantage.

"It's great to have the chance to play Aisling - she's had some good results lately. My goal is to get into the top 40."

Low wee Wern bt Lauren Selby  
        11/4, 11/7, 11/6 (28m)

"All three games were really close, and she had leads in all of them, I just tried to hang in there.

"It's my second World Open, I made the main draw last time, but it will be difficult as I'm playing Donna tomorrow and she's been getting some great results recently.

"My target for the year was to make the top 30 … I'm 33 now so a few more wins and I should be able to make that, fingers crossed …"

 

Amanda Sobhy bt Line Hansen 
       11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (21m)

"I'm glad I played on that court yesterday, it takes a lot of getting used to and I felt much more comfortable on it today. I played Line once before, at the Burning River Classic in the US, and she beat me 3/0. So I knew her game and didn't have to spend the first game today getting used to her. I guess my attitude as I came on to the court today was 'I can beat her, but if I lose it's no great problem'

"I know I have to make my mind stronger, I often go two or three points up and then lose two or three quickly, so I was pleased with how I managed to keep my focus through all the games today. I've improved my movement since the world too, I feel a lot quicker around court and I knew I could wear her down physically if I needed to.

"I didn't bring enough clothes! I expected to be going home tomorrow, back to school, but now I have to tell my teachers, change my flight and find a launderette … it's worth it though …"

Latasha Khan bt Melody Francis 
         11/1, 11/5, 11/2 (21m)

"I'd never played Melody before, but she's a good player, she hits the ball well and caused me a few problems, she'll improve, that's for sure. I'm fortunate that I've played on this court a lot, it's easy to lose the ball so you have to play a bit safer, that worked to my advantage.

"I don't know how many World Opens I've played in – I joined WISPA in the 90s but didn't start playing professionally until '97 and I've missed some for various reasons. I'm just happy to be playing!

"This is the toughest qualifying draw I've ever seen, the standard has really gone up over the last two or three years, we just need more tournaments now to support the players.

"This is a really great tournament, the venue is fantastic and Tommy has done the best job, he's so organised. Women's squash is very lucky to have him …"

Nour El Sherbini bt Alana Miller
        11/9, 7/11, 6/11, 11/9, 11/5 (54m)

"When I saw the draw I sort of knew it wasn't the best thing to come up against one of these young Egyptians, they seem to be playing really well, but as the match came nearer I was looking forward to it.

"Playing a junior you expect them to give you a few cheap points, but she certainly didn't do that! I'm disappointed, I would like to have executed my game plan a little better, but she played a better length and she had a better short game when it came to it, so she deserved to win.

I didn't really feel any pressure. It's sometimes hard to deal with, but squash is such a small community that you're always playing lower-ranked players, you just need to be on top of your game, pressure or no pressure."

 

Dipika Pallikal bt Lisa Camilleri   
       11/6, 8/11, 11/6, 11/8 (34m)

"For the past two months I haven’t had any good wins, so today I just wanted to get on court and play the way I used to, hitting the ball hard, chasing the ball down and battling for points.

"I tried to keep the ball low and hard, keeping it to the back until I got an opportunity. It’s been great to be back working with Malcolm in Pontefract, there’s a really good atmosphere there and a lot of Indian players too, it’s made such a difference.

"I wanted to play well on my birthday too, it hadn’t been a good day so far, sitting in my room struggling with a broken computer!"

Joey Chan bt Nicolette Fernandes
      11/6, 11/9, 7/11, 12/10 (49m)

“It’s the first time I’ve played her, she’s not been on the circuit for a while, so in the beginning it was difficult to predict her pattern of play.

“In the first two I was trying to keep it deep, and she wasn’t playing too much on my backhand which was to my advantage.

“I relaxed in the third, and made too many mistakes, so I tried to be more patient in the fourth, particularly trying not to miss my volley drops.

“It’s my second world open, I lost in the first round of qualifying last time, so my goal here it to reach the main draw, so this is a good first step …”

Annelize Naudé bt Deon Saffery
       11/2, 11/6, 11/2 (19m)

"I was in the zone tonight - and really out to get revenge on Deon as she beat me last time we played. I've just come back from Eindhoven where I won the SquashTime WISPA event - and that gave me a lot of confidence. I had so much support here tonight, it was fantastic.

"This is really my court - I had a game plan tonight and stuck to it

"It's great having this event here in Amsterdam - the organisers have done a great job in publicising it and there's been lots of coverage in the papers.

"I've not played Joey for a long time - but I'm looking forward to it as I'm hoping there will even more people here at the Frans Otten Stadion."

 
Cover girl Nicolette signs the 2010 WISPA calendar for a fan