British U23 Open : Malliff and Singh take the titles

Finals Day

Women’s Final : Katie Malliff 3-0 Kiera Marshall  11/7, 20/18, 11/7 (37mins)

Katie got off to a fast start in the first opening up a 7/3 lead as Kiera took her time to find her length. Although Kiera started to use her deceptive backhand volley more Katie kept the pressure on to win the first game 11/7.

The second was a battle of physical and mental skill as the game saw points exchanged back and forth. Kiera went 10/7 up but failed to convert her first 3 game ball points as Katies court coverage as deft drops kept her in the game. At 10 all both players had chances to take the game yet 4 more games balls were missed by Kiera as Katie eventually won 20/18 in a tough second game.

The third Katie again got off to a fast start with a 5/2 lead and although Kiera was now playing some lovely squash she could not string together a run of 2 or more points. Perhaps the effects of the 2nd game had taken their toll as both players gave everything with a few more errors now creeping in. Katie managed to stay focused winning 11/7 and with it the Women’s Prince U23 British Open title.

Men’s Final : Abhay Singh 3-0 Ben Smith 11/3, 15/13, 11/9.(37mins)

The score line in the first game does not reflect on either how well both players were playing or the effort put in. With fine margins costing Ben on numerous occasions as he clipped the top of the tin from a winning position. These

Mistakes were too many in the first and Abhay’s relentless pressure proved too strong winning 11/3.

Second game was a complete change from the 1st, Ben increased the pace of his hitting with greater effect and at 7/7 Abhay managed to force errors to go 10/8 up. Ben then started to use his attacking volley wisely to get back to 10/10. Some world class squash over the next points mixed with some clumsy movement from both saw Abhay take the game 15/13.

The third game looked like a repeat of the women’s final before with the lose of the tough second game hurting Ben more. Abhay opened up a 4/2 then 8/5 lead but Ben never gave up. Some great court coverage and once again great use of his attacking volley saw Ben close to 9/10. Abhay stayed strong and won the game 11/9 and took the Men’s Prince U23 British Open title.

The players thanked hosts Roehampton Club and sponsors Prince for putting on the event.

Women’s Semis
Kiera Marshall w/o Asia Harris
Katie Maliff 3-0 Sophie O’Rourke  11/3, 11/7, 12/10.

Men’s Semis
Abhay Singh 3-0 Perry Malik  11/4, 11/5, 11/5
Ben Smith 3-0 Noah Meredith 3-0. 11/3, 11/8, 11/5

British U23 Open – Day One

Lots of closely fought battles throughout the days play in both draws.

Abhay Singh was forced to work extremely hard for a 3-0 victory over Hassan Khalil, who at 16 years young, impressed the watching crowd.

Sophie O’Rourke dug deep in a close match against Torrie Malik winning 13/11 in the 5th, while Torrie’s brother, Perry, in the Men’s ¼ draw let s 2-0 lead slip against Ben Sockett but recovered his focus and accuracy to win 3-2

British U23 Open 2020 : Day ONE

Men’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Abhay Singh 3-0 Hassan Khalil                                      11/7, 11/9, 11/8
[3/4] Perry Malik 3-0 Ben Sockett                   11/4, 11/4, 5/11, 8/11, 11/3
Noah Meredith 3-2 [3/4] Jordan Warne     4/11, 12/10, 10/12, 11/7, 11/6
[2] Ben Smith 3-0 Jack Mitterer                                          11/6, 11/9, 11/8

Women’s Quarter-Finals
[5/8]  Asia Harris w/o [1] Kace Bartley                                                walkover
[3/4] Kiera Marshall 3-1 Lucy Green                           11/4, 9/11, 14/12, 11/9
[5/8] Sophie O’Rourke 3-2 [3/4] Torrie Malik  11/6, 4/11, 10/12, 11/6, 13/11
[2] Katie Maliff 3-0 [5/8] Jasmin Kalar                                     11/9, 11/7, 11/3

Women’s Round One
Lucy Green 3-2 Taylor Mounter  11/9, 4/11, 6/11, 11/8, 11/2
Asia Harris 3-2 Katie Cox  11/8, 9/11, 11/6, 6/11, 11/5
Sophie O’Rourke 3-0 Phoebe Colman  11/5, 11/1, 11/2
Jasmin Kalar 3-2 Brieanna Burki  13/11, 8/11, 11/8, 10/12, 11/9.

Men’s Round One
Ben Sockett 3-2 Alisdair Shapcott  11/2, 11/8, 10/12, 7/11, 11/7
Hassan Khalil 3-1 Jack Webster 11/6, 10/12, 11/6, 11/4
Perry Malik 3-0 Muhammad Azhan Khan 3-0. 11/9, 11/4, 11/5
Noah Meredith 3-2 Aaron Allpress  11/5, 7/11, 11/6, 13/15, 11/9
Jordan Warne 3-0 Abdul Muqaddam Khan  11/6, 11/8, 11/5
Ben Smith 3-0 Matt Gregory  11/3, 11/8, 11/7
Jack Mitterer 3-0 Nathan Mead  11/7, 11/8, 11/