Surprise after surprise

This year’s British Open is full of surprises. Yesterday Daryl Selby won Adrian Grant, Aslan Iskandar beat Thierry Lincou, Karim Darwish twist his ankle, and today Peter Parker beat Gregory Gaultier. On women’s side Donna Urquhart took Isabelle Stoer out from the tournament on the first round. But the biggest surprise has been that women’s world #1 Nicol David lost to Madeline Perry. Or to be precise Madeline played the match of her life and won Nicol David.


Men’s Quarter Finals

Peter Barker took his first victory over world #2 Gregory Gaultier. Until today they had played 7 times and Gregory had won each time in straight three games. Peter’s victory also ensures that there will be at least one English player in the final as in the semi final Peter will play against the winner of Nick Matthew and Daryl Selby.


Peter Parker ENG bt Gregory Gaultier FRA 3-2 (11-7, 7-11, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8) 76m
Nick Matthew ENG bt Daryl Selby ENG 3-0 (11-7, 11-5-11-8) 48m

Amr Shabana and David Palmer played extremely entertaining match. Both showing excellent shots after each other. And the fourth game, was an enormous fight. Palmer had two game balls whereas Shabana needed 6 match balls to end the match. These are the matches that are justifying long distance traveling and make ticket price look cheap. What a spectacular show!


Amr Shabana EGY bt David Palmer AUS 3-1 (11-8, 14-12, 4-11, 19-17) 86m
James Willstrop ENG bt Aslan Iskandar MAS 3-1 ()


Women’s Quarter Finals

Nicol David took the first game as usual, but the second and third game were both long. Nicol took 2-0 lead and had already match ball in the third game, but Madeline Perry fought back in big taking the third game after all. After that Madeline continued with good spirit taking the forth game quickly.

First ones started to ask if there are more surprises coming, but there were not many who really thought that Perry could win. Nevertheless, Perry played without prejudges and took 6-2 lead in the fifth game. David took two points, then one point to Perry, one to David and one more to Perry. Score 8-5 to Perry. David got two points and then Perry also. Match ball 10-7 to Perry. David did not give up and took a point. And then another point. David served and Perry returned the service straight to the nick. Fifth game 11-9 to Perry. And match 3-2 to Perry. Surprise was ready.

Rachel Grinham AUS bt Laura Massaro ENG 3-2 (5-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-7) 54m
Jenny Duncalf ENG bt Vanessa Atkinson NED 3-1 (11-1, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4) 39m

Alison Waters ENG bt Donna Urquhart AUS 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-7) 31m
Madeline Perry IRE bt Nicol David MAS 3-2 (6-11, 12-14, 15-13, 11-5, 11-9) 76m

Tags: PSA

Men’s Round 2

Gregory Gaultier FRA bt Kashif Shuja NZ 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-1) 25m
Peter Barker ENG bt Ong Beng Hee MAS 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-8) 66m

Nick Matthew ENG bt Cameron Pilley AUS 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-6) 30m
Daryl Selby ENG bt Adrian Grant ENG 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9) 78m


David Palmer AUS bt Wael El Hindi EGY 3-2 (11-6, 1-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5) 74m
Amr Shabana EGY bt Alistair Walker ENG 3-1 (7-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7) 48m

Aslan Iskander MAS bt Thierry Lincou FRA 3-2 (11-13, 11-4, 5-11, 14-12, 11-5) 91m
James Willstrop ENG bt Karim Darwish EGY 3-0 (5-11, 4-2 RTD) 22m

Tags: PSA

Men’s Round 1


Gregory Gaultier FRA bt Saurav Ghosal IND 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-5) 38m
Kashif Shuya NZ bt Mohamed El Shorbagy EGY 3-2 (11-7,13-11, 9-11, 2-11, 11-7) 57m

Peter Barker ENG bt Stephane Galifi FRA 3-1 (11-9, 4-11, 11-5, 11-2) 49m
Ong Beng Hee MAS bt Davide Bianchetti ITA 3-2 (11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 5-11, 11-3) 64m

Nick Matthew ENG bt Chris Simpson ENG 3-0 (12-10, 11-2, 11-5) 41m
Cameron Pilley AUS bt Farhan Mehboob PAK 3-0 (13-11, 11-3, 11-9) 45m

Adrian Grant ENG bt Simon Rösner GER 3-0 (12-10, 12-10, 11-5) 42m
Daryl Selby ENG bt Aamir Atlas Khan PAK 3-0 (11-1, 9-4 rtd) 20m

Wael El Hindi EGY bt Joey Barrington ENG 3-1 (5-11, 12-10, 11-7, 12-10)
David Palmer AUS vs Tom Richards ENG

Alister Walker ENG bt Renagne Lavigne FRA 3-2 (11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10) 95m
Amr Shabana EGY vs Jens Schoor GER

Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS bt Yasir Butt PAK 3-1 (13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4) 57m
Thierry Lincou FRA vs Martin Knight NZ

James Willstrop ENG bt Campbell Grayson NZ 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-7) 39m
Karim Darwish EGY vs Jonathan Kemp ENG


Women’s qualifications


Dominique Lloyd-Walter ENG bt Alana Miller CAN 3-0 (11-9, 119, 11-6) 33m
Line Hansen DEN bt Fiona Moverley ENG 3-2 (11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 6-11, 11-2) 53m

Sarah Kippax ENG bt Aisling Blake IRE 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 11-13, 12-10) 39m
Donna Urquhart AUS bt Engy Kheirallah EGY 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-8) 31m


The Northern Squash Club in Didsbury

Tags: PSA

Because of a series of hamstring injuries (3) in July and August I decided to do proper warm-up to avoid a new injury. And luckily, the previous match on my court was cancelled and there was enough time for a good warm-up.

Pakistani players were not totally wrong yesterday when they said that I had good touch. Their comments in mind I started with confidence against Mark Hurd ENG winning the first 7 balls and going to 6-0 lead (old scoring). Soon after that it was 8-0 and gameball. First game 9-1. In the second game I continued with the same speed and the game came home 9-3.


Mark played well all the time but he was not able to challenge me due to the speed (IMHO) which gave me good opportunities to attack and nick the ball. Well, that’s true until the middle of 3^rd game when I started to feel first signs of problems with legs. Also three back court nicks helped Mark in the beginning of the 3^rd game. When I was not able to go to the balls as fast anymore Mark started to get more opportunities and he has a couple of excellent shots in his arsenal. Especially back hand drop shots to fore hand side nick were demonstrating his good touch excellently. In 8-7 I got matchball. Yes. Everything was in my control. Mark hit a drop shot (it was not too difficult) and I stretched to hit a winning shot to finnish the match. But just then my right hamstring failed

A couple of rallies later I got another opportunity. Mark lobbed cross court from back hand back corner and I took the ball early, steps did not fit well and I had to hit the fore hand volley with weight on the right foot, but the leg was not able to take the weight even for volley and that winning shot ended up to tin. That was the end. Two rallies later Mark took the game and I should have retired.

Now on the next day I do not know which makes me more sad. Is it loosing and not being able revenge Eamon Price knowing that with yesterday’s game I would have been able to really challenge him. Or is it that I know that it’s going to take 4-6 weeks before I can play again.

Tags: Masters

Men’s qualifications


Renan Lavigne FRA bt Robbie Temple ENG 3-1 (6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-5) 48m
Martin Knight ENG bt Amr Swelim EGY 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-4, 5-11, 12-10) 96m

Yasir Butt PAK bt Chris Ryder ENG 3-2 (12-10, 4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8) 71m
Chris Simpson ENG bt Steve Coppinger RSA 3-1 (2-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9) 55m

Campbell Grayson NZ bt Aaron Francomb AUS 3-2 (9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9) 132m
Kashif Shuya NZ bt Mansoor Zaman PAK 3-1 (11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5) 40m

Simon Rösner GER bt Alan Clyne SCO 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9) 78m
Stephane Galifi FRA bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda EGY 3-1 (18-16, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9) 74m


Women’s qualifications


Dominique Lloyd-Walter ENG bt Rebecca Botwright ENG 3-1 (4-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5) 48m
Alana Miller CAN bt Lauren Siddall ENG 3-0 (11-3, 7-0 RTD) 11m

Line Hansen DEN bt Emma Beddoes ENG 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6) 47m
Fiona Moverley ENG bt Joshna Chinappa IND 3-1 (12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9) 36 m

Aisling Blake IRE bt Lauren Selby ENG 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-5) 28m
Sarah Kippax ENG bt Kylie Lindsay NZ 3-0 (11-8, 11,4, 11-9) 26m

Donna Urquhart AUS bt Laura Hill ENG 3-1 (11-8, 15-13, 4-11, 11-1) 32m
Engy Kheirallah EGY bt Deon Saffery WAL 3-1 (11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9) 52m

Tags: PSA

British Open started with men’s main draw qualifications. Qualifications are played at The Northern Club in Didsbury, Manchester on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Northern facilitates also womens’ qualifications and masters, both starting on Wednesday.

In total 32 players fighting for 8 qualifier positions including for example Mansoor Zaman (PAK). Zaman’s highest ranking was 11 which has dropped because he could not participate into two major tournaments due to sickness, but as you can see from the results he is in good fit and needed only 25 mins to beat Alex Bowden (ENG). On Wednesday the toughest match will be Mansoor Zaman against Kashif Shuja (NZ) who also needed less than half an hour in his match against Adam Murrils (ENG).

Robbie Temple ENG bt Chris Fuller ENG 3-1 (11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7) 58m
Renan Lavigne FRA bt Khawaja Adil Maqbool PAK 3-0 (11-9, 13-11, 11-6) 41m
Martin Knight NZ bt Eddie Charlton ENG 3-2 (6-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5) 84m
Amr Swelim EGY bt Shaun Le Roux ENG 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9) 66m

Yasir Butt PAK bt Lewis Walters ENG 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-5) 31m
Chris Ryder ENG bt Arthur Gaskin IRE 3-2 (11-13, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3) 84m
Steve Coppinger RSA bt Clinton Leeuw RSA 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 12-10) 49m
Chris Simpson ENG bt Rob Sutherland WAL 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-6) 39m

Aaron Francomb AUS bt Ben Ford ENG 3-1(3-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4) 50m
Campell Grayson NZ bt Tom Pashley ENG 3-2 (3-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7) 68m
Kashif Shuja NZ bt Adam Murrils ENG 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-8) 27m
Mansoor Zaman PAK bt Alex Bowden ENG 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-3) 25m

Simon Rösner GER bt Anthony Graham ENG 3-0 (13-11, 11-5, 11-8) 30m
Alan Clyne SCO bt Julien Balbo FRA 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 13-11) 49m
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda EGY bt Peter Billson ENG 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-8) 34m
Stephane Galifi FRA bt John Rooney IRE (9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4) 69m

Tags: PSA

As two years ago I took KLM flight from Helsinki to Amsterdam and then another leg to Manchester. Flights were in time and as KLM has improved service it was a nice experience to fly. Luckily there was 2 hours stop over in Amsterdam giving enough time to dinner at the Schiphol airport.

Today’s lunch brought me back to the reality. I tried to eat in local pub, but the waiter ignored me completely and I walked out after checking emails. Free WiFi was the main reason to go there anyway. Sometime later I found a nice Italian restaurant and ordered spaghetti carbonara. That’s my favorite pasta and I have eaten it in 100+ restaurants all over the world. Spaghetti carbonara has always tasted good, except today. It will be tough week to find any decent food here even if I have lowered the expectations before traveling to UK.

At the Northern squash club everything have been well organized. I even succeeded to get a practice court right after arrival. It was nice to train volleys, drop shots and tricks on the glass backwall court when Amr Swelim (EGY) and Shaun Le Roux (ENG) played their PSA match on the next court. Court was good and my touch was excellent even if I have not been able to play properly in one month due to repeating hamstring injuries. After practicing I was talking with four Pakistani players. They had seen me on the court and asked my PSA ranking. I asked their opinion and they said that you have a nice touch, your ranking is 150!!! As they also estimated me 10 years younger I feel unbeatable in tomorrow’s match in men over 45 category. If the hamstring does not disagree.

Tags: Airlines, Experience, Masters

Now it is a good time to start to plan next international masters tournament. Are you going to play in one or more of these tournaments?

British Open Masters 2009 in Manchester, UK in 9-13 Sep 2009
International German Masters in Krefeld, Germany in 2-4 Oct 2009
1^st International Egypt Masters in Cairo, Egypt in 22-27 Oct 2009
Case Swedish Open Masters in Linköping, Sweden in 5-7 Feb 2010
Irish Masters Open in Dublin, Ireland in 12-14 Feb 2010
Hungarian Squash Masters Open in Szeged, Hungary in 18-20 June 2010
World Masters 2010 in Cologne, Germany in 23-28 Aug 2010

Tags: Masters

Finnish delegation arrived already yesterday in Die Turnhale the main venue of EMIC 2009 to find out that conditions are very hard at least what comes to the temperature. Outside it is around 30 C and inside several degrees warmer as there is no air-conditioning.

First thing that paid the attention when arriving was the Welcome poster with 9 languages including Hebrew, but missing Finnish even if the Finnish delegation is one of the biggest ones. For next tournament, please be informed that the missing word is “tervetuloa” (welcome in Finnish). Otherwise tournament organization has been working as a clock.

Eetu Tuominen (M55) played an excellent match against David Adams (ENG) by winning 3-2 (11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9). In the 5th game Eetu was loosing 5-9, but then he got his fight spirit and won 6 points in a row taking the the match home. Best fight of the day. Congratulations Eetu

For all draws and results click here.

Tags: Masters

EMIC 2009 draws have been published. From the Finnish players point of view the draws does not look too bad. In M35 Tatu Murronmaa (FIN) got bye on 1^st round and on the 2^nd he plays with Zsolt Kovacs (HUN). In quarterfinal Tatu must play his best game against the 1^st seed Stefan Leifels (GER).

In M40 5/8 seed Anssi Määttänen (FIN) meets first a qualifier and then possibly 9/16 seed Roberto Rodriques (ESP) whereas Jouko Puustinen (FIN) may have a chance against Andrea Monfardini (ITA) but is certainly in trouble with 3/4 seed Farman Khan on the 2^nd round.

In M45 Kari Lehtola (FIN) plays first with Istvan Dakai (HUN) and then probably with 3/4 seeded Martin Font Tous (ESP). In the same age group Teuvo Määttänen (FIN) meets first Henning Beckmann (GER), but on the 2^nd round he needs to beat 2^nd seeded Eamonn Price (ENG). Juha-Matti Parmonen (FIN) is 5/8 seeded and plays against Ferdinand Bullach (GER) on the first round, and then with the winner of Udo Sarge (GER) and 9/16 seeded Antonio Frias Peinado (ESP). From Finland point of view it would be nice to see a Finnish quarterfinal in M45 with Määttänen and Parmonen.

Tags: Masters

1^st European Masters Individual Championships (EMIC 2009) in Squash will gather over 200 players in Krefeld, Germany. Tournament will be played in two venues i.e. Die Turnhalle Krefeld (main venue and tournament office) and World of Sports.

Seedings have been published on tournament’s web page and according to Tournament Director Peter Köck the draws will be published on Tuesday 23 June 2009. Before tournament all players should get familiar to the player’s manual.

Tags: Masters

The main draw of Wilson Finnish Championships 2009 was also a PSA tournament with Closed Satellite status. This year Finnish Nationals gathered a century record number of players, in total 144 players, to Tampere to enjoy well arranged tournament and fight for the medals. Draws and results can be found here.

Main draw matches on the video court will be available on this site’s video page (Friday and Saturday) and here (Sunday). Following persons made the videos available: Jari Hämäläinen (recording stand), Olli Tuominen (hard drive transportation), Nalle Parmonen (camera, recording, and editing), and Antti Lind (editing). Thanks to everyone.

Tags: PSA, Video

It is pretty common to see a squash player to use a racket with damaged bumper strip or even to play with a racket that has a broken frame. Does it matter if the racket frame is broken or the bumper strip has sharp edges? Certainly it does. Think about how much bigger damage a broken racket may cause if one hits the other player.
All players should respects the opponent and not to play with a broken racket nor a racket with damaged bumper strip. An easy way would be to use protective tape on the bumper strip to prevent the bumper strip damage or to use tape to cover the damaged part until broken bumper strip until it is replaced with a new one. Naturally it would help if rackets are sold with a couple of extra bumper strips or it would be easier to buy replacement bumper strips.

In a tournament referee is responsible for the fairness and safety. Therefore referee should pay more attention to the rackets and especially to the bumper strips the players are using. Actually referee must not allow a player to enter the court with a broken or damaged racket. WSF rules (appendix 5c) say: “The bumper strip of squash racket must be made of a flexible material which cannot crease into sharp edges following abrasive contact with the floor or walls”.

In the case that an accident happens, it helps if the players use protective eye guards. “The WSF recommends that all Squash players should wear protective eye guards” (WSF rules, appendix 6)

Tags: Rules, Referee

One of the best squash players ever in Finland (PSA 25 in 1990), Pentti “Pena” Pekkanen, is sharing his wisdom by coaching at GoGo in Tampere. All five training sessions are fully booked, but if you want to meet Pena then you need to find your way to GoGo on Thursday evenings between 18:00 and 19:30. Pekkanen was persuaded to keep the trainings by Raoul Öhman and Angel Iglesias whereas Krister Koivula took care of all practical arrangements. Thanks to everyone.

In the first training session Pena emphasized ball control in several exercises. For example, in the normal drive-boast drill he asked players to variate the length of the drive by controlling the power and height of the shots whereas with boast Pena asked to make a clear difference with defense (3-wall “straight to nick” boast) and attack (2-wall “bounce to nick” boast).

In cross court volley exercise Pena reminded that in all racket games shots start from the legs meaning that it is important not only to move to the ball but also to use the legs when hitting the ball for better ball control and power. Third point related to ball control was an advise to “hit through” for perfect control of direction and power. See Pena in action here.

Tags: Coaching, Technique, PSA

Finnish Squash Association (SSqL) selected Leo Hatjasalo as a new president for a two years period. FSA board meeting was opened by resigning president Jari Mether who was the FSA president for total 6 years. Meeting chairman Lauri Tarasti, honorary president of FSA, conducted voting maybe the first time in the FSA board meetings’ history as there were more persons willing to join the board than there were open positions.

New board consists of 8 members: Naseem Ahmed (ESQ), Kyösti Mustonen (LahtiSq), Arttu Moisio (TSK), Tomi Niinimäki (TSK), Jukka Nummi (NääsSq), Pirjo Piekäinen (ESRC), Harri Valasma (OSK) and Lauri Valtola (MiSq), and 2 deputy members: Juhani Rautiainen (ESRC) and Mikael Rundman (HSK). Squashdevil.com wishes best luck for the new board.

Tags: SSqL

Everyone who has played squash knows the rules of the game. At least to the extent it is needed to play and to enjoy. But sometimes players or audience seems to disagree about the rules or in a tournament about the decision of referee. In the case disagreement is about the rules it is good to check WSF rules.

If disagreement is concerning interference rules, it is a good idea for both club and league players to educate oneselves about the interpretation of interference rules. For both players and referees it is a must not only to understand the rules but also to know how to interpret the rules in real situations. For this purpose World Squash Federation has made a refereeing DVD Calling The Shots.

This DVD should be part of every squash players’ own DVD collection. At least it should be found at every squash club. If not, talk to your club manager. As an introduction to Calling The Shots please watch the embedded video below.

Tags: Video, Rules, Referee, PSA, Club

Jean De Lierre has published great squash videos for already 30 years. Latest production from The Saudi International is now available at squashlive.com. It is not only the quality of games when world’s top players are competing for the biggest ever price money in squash (USD 250’000) that makes these matches special. It is also the excellent quality of recording and editing of the videos by Jean De Lierre that makes these DVDs stand out from other squash productions.
Organizers of international squash events should also consider of using the expertise of squashlive.com in getting the events broadcasted on TV channels. High quality promotional material is available here. Publicity is a way for squash to Olympics sports.

Tags: PSA, Video

Olli Tuominen retained his Finnish Open title in the most exciting squash tournament in Finland. For full report in English please check this link to squashsite.co.uk.

Final, semifinal and quarter final matches can be watched here as flash format videos. Photos and some slow motion video clips can be found here on squashdevil.com. Players may request photos and other materials by using the feedback form.

Tags: PSA

Finnish Masters Championships were played in Merihaka Sports Center in Helsinki. And again full results are in squash.fi

Photos © Nalle

Three video clips can be found in Movies page and more photos by Petteri “Fox” Repo are here.

Tags: Masters

Finnish Junior Championships 2009 were played in Lahti. Full results can be found on the excellent web pages of the Finnish Squash Rackets Association at squash.fi

Photo © Poku Salo

Junior training seminar
Two excellent seminars were arranged during the Junior Championships. First Ville Sistonen and Harri Valasma told about what does it require for a junior player to become a professional player. And later Heke Mustonen demonstrated dozens of technique and moving exercises when his coach Ville Sistonen explained the essentials of each exercise. Link to seminar photos.

Tags: Juniors

Savcor Finnish Open, the biggest international squash tournament in Finland, will be played in Mikkeli in 10-15 Feb 2009. The 25000 USD tournament with 2.5 PSA star status is gathering the biggest number forever of top 100 PSA players to Finland. Top seeds Stewart Boswell AUS (PSA #19) and Olli Tuominen FIN (#20) will be challenged by four Egyptians Hisham Mohd Ashour (#24), Omar Mosaad (#25), Mohamed El Shorbagy (#31), and Omar Abdel Aziz (#44) as well as Davide Bianchetti from Italy.

Great value tournament packages
Tournament organizers have compiled a great value tournament package. This package includes two hotel nights (Hotel Vaakuna in the center of Mikkeli), tickets to quarter finals on Friday, to semifinals on Saturday, and to final on Sunday, plus a rock banquet. With 135 Euros only it is a great value. For inquires and ticket, please contact kari.lehtola@luukku.com or juha.pekonen@sportforum.fi

Tags: PSA

This year Lahti Squash Open main draw got PSA Closed Satellite Tournament status.


Number 1 seeded Henrik “Heke” Mustonen (PSA rank 177) took his first PSA tournament victory in his home town beating #2 seeded Matias Tuomi (PSA rank 185) in straight games 11-4, 11-5, 11-5. See matchball in slow motion.

This victory takes Heke about 10 positions up in the world ranking in January. Next month it is very likely that Heke will improve world ranking another 10 positions as he has been positioned into the main draw of Savcor Finnish Open 2009 (USD 25000 tournament) in 10-15 February, in Mikkeli.

Tags: PSA

Olli Tuominen (PSA 22) and Peter Barker (PSA 9) played two promotion matches in Finland. First match was played in Merihaka Sports Center in 19-Dec-08 and the other one in Esport Center in Espoo in 20-Dec-08.

SquashDevil.com is proud to present the video production of Antti Lind (HSRC), Petteri Repo (HSRC), and Juha Saarentaus (ESRC). See the match in Esport Center here.

Tags: PSA

Squash league was played in Tampere. Both TSK (Tampere) and MiSq (Mikkeli) took 7 points. On Saturday many interesting games were played, but the biggest fights were Henri Kronlund TSK vs. Petri Laaksonen ESRC 1-3, Arttu Moisio TSK vs. Tatu Murronmaa ESRC 3-1, Markus Vanhanen MiSq vs. Petri Laaksonen 3-2, and Joonas Honkanen HSRC vs. Anssi Määttänen YlivSq 3-2. Follow these links for more results, photos, and video clips.

After three rounds MiSq leads with 21 points followed by YlivSq (Ylivieska) 16, TSK 12, HSRC (Helsinki) 11, ESRC (Espoo) 7, and OSK (Oulu) 5. Before play offs there are two more rounds to play. In practice MiSq is going to play offs, probably YlivSq too. But for the other two positions in the play offs there is going to be interesting fight between TSK, HSRC, and ESRC - especially when we remember that ESRC has not yet played all their best players including Olli Tuominen. Very interesting squash spring is coming.

Tags: League

Taco House Tampere Open collected more than 100 players to GoGo squash and fitness center in Tampere. After two days and 200+ matches the winners were

Men M1
1. Matias Tuomi ESRC
2. Heke Mustonen YlivSq
3. Henri Kronlund TSK
4. Aleksi Leskinen HSRC

Women N1
1. Tuula Minetti TSK
2. Pia Ojala ESRC
3. Saara Valtola MiSq
4. Hanna Rusila LahtiSq

Men M2
1. Matti Saarela YlivSq
2. Ville Sistonen KSQ
3. Hannu Jaskari SqJu
4. Olli Marjomaa Sq-88

Men M3
1. Kristjan Pettai ESQ
2. Lauri Tuominen TSK
3. Risto Rönn SqJu
4. Toni Rummukainen TSSq

Men M4
1. Heraclio Salaiz MiSq
2. Petri Luoma TSK
3. Erki Vall Estonia
4. Jari Kaartinen SqJu

Women N2
1. Kristiina Mustonen JSK
2. Eira Oinonen TSK
3. Helena Laine TSK

Girls
1. Vilja Vähätalo TSK
2. Lisa Forss TSK
3. Emilia Saarela YlivSq
4. Laura Ylikoski TSK

Small girls
1. Sakura Parmonen TSK
2. Lotta Niklas-Salminen TSK
3. Wivi Valtanen TSK
4. Linda Niklas-Salminen TSK

Follow these links for all results, some photos, and a video clip.

Finnish web site squash.nu has restarted the blog with completely refreshed look and feel. Nice touch

Squash.nu site follows squash in Finland and Finnish squash players on the road both in Finland and around the world. Site has special focus on Finnish PSA player Matias Tuomi, but covers also Finnish squash tournaments rather widely. Congratulations to Matias for good victories in Rotterdam Open PSA $3000 tournament last weekend.

The 9th World Masters Squash Championships in Christchurch has been finished.

Final Results - Day 6

The World Champions 2008: M35 Jason Mudge AUS, M40 Gary Duberly NZL, M45 Trevor Wilkinson RSA (not in photo), M50 Geoff Davenport AUS, M55 Michael Bester RSA, M60 Brian Cook AUS, M65 Rickhard Purser NZL, M70 Barry Gardiner NZL, and John Irving RSA.


The World Champions 2008: W35 Amanda Hopps AUS, W40 Sarah Nelson AUS, W45 Kay Newman NZL, W50 Julie Field ENG, W55 Gay Mitchell AUS, W60 Averil Murphy ENG, W65 Jean Grainger RSA, and W70 Averil Heath RSA.

Tournament draws and results are in tournamentsoftware.com.

Observations and comments
Comments from the Finnish team will be added here

Tags: Masters

Bertil Walli (M65) won his match and continues tomorrow playing for positions 9-10 in M65. Otherwise day’s highlight was the dinner and group photo.


Observations and comments
Three new movies added in Movies section.

Results - Day 5

Tournament organizers will update results in tournamentsoftware.com.

Tags: Masters

Lars Ekholm (M60) and Bertil Walli (M65) took convincing 3-0 victories today and continue to play for 9-12 positions. Nalle Parmonen (M40) hurt his buttock in the first game this morning. Jouko Puustinen (M40) and Tomi Tirkkonen (M40) won their matches.

Observations and comments


Results - Day 4

Tournament organizers will update results in tournamentsoftware.com.


PLATES ()

M65
Bertil Walli [9/16] - Tony Stoneman 3-0 (9-1, 9-4, 9-0)

M60
Lars Ekholm [9/16] - Stephen Creak 3-0 (9-6, 9-7, 9-0)

M40
Nalle Parmonen - Frank Skowronek 2-3 (7-9, 10-8, 8-10, 9-5, 9-5)
Jouko Puustinen - Michael Briggs (NZL) 3-0 (10-8, 9-2, 9-3)
Tomi Tirkkonen - Simon Chow (CAN) 3-0 (9-6, 9-1, 9-2)

M50
Jarkki Jaakkola - T.J. Mullins (IRL) 3-2 (7-9, 9-1, 9-4, 5-9, 9-6)
Juha Saarentaus - Robert Ian Allison (NZL) 3-0 (9-7, 10-9, 9-0)
Jammu Saari - Raymond Subritzky (NZL)
Aimo Lindberg - Gary Bunn (NZL)
Juha Pekonen - Soichi Igarashi (JPN) 0-3 w.o.

Tags: Masters

The best web site (squashsite.co.uk) related to squash has been closed or at least there are no updates. Why, continue reading here.

Only Bertil Walli (M65) and Lars Ekholm (M60) continue in the main draw. Risto Kumpulainen (M60) and Hannu Haanpää (M45) were kicked out from the main draws in three games by the kiwis. Nalle Parmonen (M40) had a good fight in a 70 mins match taking the fourth game 9-1 and leading the fifth 5-1, but then after a long rally Jonathan Leach (NZL) got again the control after a couple of risky and lucky shots. In M50 main draw plate there are four Finns playing on Wednesday.

Observations and comments
In the case that you wonder from what country does Tomi’s opponent come from (IMN), it is Isle of Man.

Results - Day 2

Tournament organizers will update results in tournamentsoftware.com.


MAIN DRAW

M40
Nalle Parmonen [9/16] - Jonathan Leach (NZL) 2-3 (9-7, 5-9, 4-9, 9-1, 5-9) [70 min]

M45
Hannu Haanpää - Scot Mortimor (NZL) 0-3 (2-9, 2-9, 4-9)

M60
Lars Ekholm [9/16] - Lindsay Laing (NZL) 3-0 (9-0, 9-2, 9-1)
Risto Kumpulainen - Ian Gunthorp [9/16] (NZL) 0-3 (1-9, 7-9, 2-9)

M65
Bertil Walli [9/16] - Paul Anderson (AUS) 3-0 (9-0, 9-0, 9-5)


PLATE

M40
Jouko Puustinen - Simon Chow (CAN) 2-3 ()
Tomi Tirkkonen - Lyndon Cheetham (IMN) 3-2 ()

M45
Juha Söderström - Ruffie Moola (RSA) 0-3 (0-9, 4-9, 6-9)

M50
Jarkki Jaakkola - Soichi Igarashi (JPN) 3-0 (9-0, 9-1, 9-0)
Aimo Lindberg - Geordie Grieve (NZL) 0-3 (0-9, 7-9, 6-9)
Jarmo Ojanperä - Gary Bunn (NZL) 3-0 (9-1, 9-0, 9-0)
Juha Pekonen - T.J. Mullins (IRL) 1-3 (4-9, 9-4, 3-9, 4-9)
Jammu Saari - John Wolyncewicz (NZL) 3-0 (9-4, 9-2, 9-5)
Juha Saarentaus - Kevin Wilkinson (NZL)

M55
Pertti Pöysä - Richard Jordan (NZL)
Jarmo Suokko - Graham Williams (NZL)

Tags: Masters

First tournament day morning was pretty cool (5-10 °C), but temperature has been raising quickly and lunch was enjoyed outside in a T-shirt.


Left: Nalle Parmonen and Hadfield Kutia (NZL) before the match at Richmond Squash Club.
Right: Juha Söderström and Mike Beresford (NZL) at the Christchurch SRC right after the match.

Observations and comments
First day started well for the Finns as Hannu Haanpää, Aimo Lindberg, Jarmo Ojanperä, Juha Pekonen, Jammu Saari, and Juha Saarentaus won their first matches. But then reality hit as Jouko Puustinen, Tomi Tirkkonen, Juha Söderström, Jarkki Jaakkola, Pertti Pöysä, and Jarmo Suokko lost their first matches. In the evening matches Juha Pekonen, Jammu Saari, Juha Saarentaus, Aimo Lindberg, and Jarmo Ojanperä had to leave the main draw in M50.

In M65 Risto Kumpulainen got a walk over and continues in the main draw. Hannu Haanpää in M45 played well and continues tomorrow as well as Nalle Parmonen in M40. Lars Ekholm (M60) and Bertil Walli (M65) will start tomorrow.

Hannu smashed his first opponent today with strong back court game. In the second game Hannu continued strong attacking games giving only 7 points in two games. Tomorrow Hannu will play against 5/8 seeded Mark Millar (NZL). Juha Söderström had an equal fight with Mike Beresford, but Juha should have avoided unforced errors especially at the end of games.

Tournament organizers will update results in tournamentsoftware.com.

Results - Day 1

M40
Nalle Parmonen - Hadfield Kutia 3-0 (9-3, 9-5, 9-1)
Jouko Puustinen - Vaughan Utteridge (NZL) 1-3 (6-9, 4-9, 9-6, 0-9)
Tomi Tirkkonen - Aaron Smail (NZL) 2-3 (9-5, 9-4, 1-9, 3-9, 0-9)

M45
Hannu Haanpää - Warren Laing (NZL) 3-0 (9-3, 9-0, 9-0)
Hannu Haanpää - Kevin Newton (NZL) 3-0 (9-0, 9-4, 9-0)
Juha Söderström - Mike Beresford (NZL) 0-3 (7-9, 6-9, 8-10)

M50
Jarkki Jaakkola - Steve McCarroll (NZL) 0-3 (2-9, 5-9, 6-9)
Aimo Lindberg - Bruce McEachen (NZL) 3-2 (9-6, 9-2, 7-9, 3-9, 10-8)
Aimo Lindberg - Alby King (NZL) 0-3 (1-9, 1-9, 1-9)
Jarmo Ojanperä - Warren Hall (NZL) 3-0 (9-1, 9-7, 9-0)
Jarmo Ojanperä - Michael Brown [9/16] (NZL) 0-3 (1-9, 4-9, 4-9)
Juha Pekonen - Dave Boreham (NZL) 3-0 (9-1, 9-1, 9-4)
Juha Pekonen - Gavin Rosie 0-3 (3-9, 2-9, 4-9)
Jammu Saari - Guy de Lacey (NZL) 3-0 (9-2, 9-0, 9-1)
Jammu Saari - Andre Luca (NZL) 0-3 (2-9, 4-9, 6-9)
Juha Saarentaus - John de Ruiter (NZL) 3-1 (9-6, 5-9, 9-6, 9-4)
Juha Saarentaus - Graeme Armishaw (NZL) 1-3 (6-9, 9-1, 4-9, 1-9)

M55
Pertti Pöysä - Colin Merrick (NZL) 0-3 (4-9, 5-9, 1-9)
Jarmo Suokko - Max Morrison (NZL) 0-3 (7-9, 3-9, 2-9)

M60
Lars Ekholm - Wayne St Johnston (NZL) on Tuesday at 18h10 (Football)

Risto Kumpulainen - Anthony Watson (NZL) 3-0 w.o.

M65
Bertil Walli - Paul Anderson (AUS) on Tuesday at 17h35 (Squash HQ)

Tags: Masters

The 9^th World Masters Squash Championships were opened in Christchurch (CHC), New Zealand. In the opening ceremony national teams were marching behind their countries’ flags and signs. Marching started from the Bridge of Remembrance, took place along Oxford Terrace following the picturesque Avon River, and ended up to the Victoria Square for the opening ceremony. Maori performance was exotic and impressing. After the obligatory welcome speeches the crowds moved to the CHC Town Hall for cocktail party. Link to photos.

New Zealand’s TV sports news had today three main topics: F1, tennis masters tournament (both Federer and Nadal lost), and World Masters Squash Championships.

Team Finland
From Finland there are 16 players in different age categories. Matches will be played from Monday to Saturday at six squash clubs: Christchurch Club, Richmond WMC, Christchurch Football, Burnside, Squash HQ, and Squashways. And here is a list of first matches of the Finnish players. After the matches results will be updated here in squashdevil.com with some comments from the Finnish players. Tournament organizers will update results in tournamentsoftware.com.

M40
Nalle Parmonen vs. Elk Pin Ng (SIN) / Hadfield Kutia (NZL) at 17h35 (Richmond)
Jouko Puustinen vs. Kieren Mallon (NZL) at 14h50 (Squashways)
Tomi Tirkkonen vs. Aaron Smail at 15h15 (Squashways)

M45
Hannu Haanpää vs. Warren Laing (NZL) at 10:35 (Christchurch)
Juha Söderström vs. Mike Beresford (NZL) at 11h10 (Christchurch)

M50
Jarkki Jaakkola vs. Steve McCarroll (NZL) at 13h30 (Burnside)
Aimo Lindberg vs. Bruce McEachen (NZL) at 11h10 (Football)
Jarmo Ojanperä vs. Warren Hall (NZL) at 11h10 (Football)
Juha Pekonen vs. Gavin Rosie (NZL) / Johann de Goede (RSA) at 12h20 (Burnside)
Jammu Saari vs. Guy de Lacey (NZL) at 10h00 (Burnside)
Juha Saarentaus vs. John de Ruiter (NZL) at 10h00 (Football)

M55
Pertti Pöysä vs. Colin Merrick (NZL) 10:35 (Squashways)
Jarmo Suokko vs. Max Morrison (NZL) at 17h00 (Squash HQ)

M60
Lars Ekholm vs. Wayne St Johnston (NZL) on Tuesday at 18h10 (Football)
Risto Kumpulainen vs. Anthony Watson (NZL) at 13h30 (Burnside)

M65
Bertil Walli vs. Paul Anderson (AUS) on Tuesday at 17h35 (Squash HQ)

Tags: Masters

On Thursday Finnish team played a friendly match at the British Club in Singapore. The British Club had been closed for 3 months due to renovation work. The Club got brand new bar and restaurant as well as a gym and massage. Also some maintenance work was done for the squash courts. Renewed club offered an excellent environment for a friendly matches between the British Club and Finnish team.

Results
Bertil Walli - Arron 3-2
Lars Ekholm - Sean 1-3
Jarmo Suokko - Graham 3-1
Jarkki Jaakkola - Philip 3-0
Jammu Saari - Andrew 3-0
Hannu Haanpää - Claire 1-3
Nalle Parmonen - Charlie 0-3

Finland - British Club 4-3 (14-12)

After math
Finnish team had adapted to the new time zone amazingly well, especially if previous day’s long hours were taken into account. Maybe the most interesting game was between Hannu who is still recovering from the flu and Claire who is 3/4 seeded in W4044 in the World Masters. Players who finished their match first had an opportunity to have a massage before the dinner. Chicken curry was enjoyed together with recovering sports drinks. This time there was no after games as everyone went to sleep early

Photos can be found under Photos / WorldMasters. Next days will be used for traveling to New Zealand and more news can be expected from the opening party of World Masters.

Tags: Club

Tanglin Club was hosting a friendly match between the Tanglin team and Finnish team on Wednesday evening at Tanglin Club in Singapore. The Finnish team is on the way to the World Masters Squash Championships starting next Monday (20-Oct-2008) in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Finnish team
The Finnish team consisted of 4 players from Espoo Squash Rackets Club (ESRC) and Bertil Walli from Espoo Squash Players (ESP), Jarmo Suokko from Seinäjoki Squash Jussit (SqJu), and Nalle Parmonen from Tampere Squash Club (TSK). ESRC players were Lars Ekholm, Jarkki Jaakkola, Jammu Saari, and Hannu Haanpää.

Results
Bertil Walli - Phua Swee Leng (SIN) 3-1
Lars Ekholm - Peter Rogers (ENG) 3-1
Lars Ekholm - Peter Von Selkey (HUN) 3-0
Jarmo Suokko - John Christophersen (AUS) 3-0
Jarkki Jaakkola - Ross Mackenzie (AUS) 3-1
Jammu Saari - Darzy McColl () 2-3
Hannu Haanpää - Bill Hickling (AUS) 0-2
Nalle Parmonen - Marc Nicholson (CAN) 2-3

Finland - Tanglin Club 5-3 (19-11)

Note: Lars played two matches and Hannu played best of three games due to flu.

After math
All matches were played using traditional scoring to 9 points (as that scoring is expected to be used in Word Masters). This had an effect to some matches e.g. Nalle and Mark had to play 9 balls before the first point and for 80 min for the whole match. Matches were quite tight and Finnish team played well - at least if considering that the team had arrived at 5:00 in the morning to Singapore after refreshing 1-3 hours sleep and that courts were much hotter than any courts in Finland.

After the matches the teams were enjoying an excellent dinner with refreshments at Tanglin Club restaurant. Standards were exchanged by Peter Rogers (the governor of Tanglin Club) and Bertil Walli (head of the Finnish delegation). Bertil handed out the standard of Finnish Squash Rackets Accociation (SSqL). After the dinner the organizers took the Finnish delegation for late evening sight seeing with even more refreshments. It was obvious that the hosts had made an extra effort in organizing this event. Really big thanks to everyone at Tanglin Club

Some photos can be found here (later on there will more photos added). On Thursday Finnish team will play a friend match at the British Club.

Tags: Club