[4] Olivia Fiechter (Usa) 3-1 [8] Georgina Kennedy (Eng) 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 (44m)
Fiechter downs Kennedy to claim her biggest title
USA’s Olivia Fiechter produced a spectacular performance to beat England’s Georgina Kennedy in the final of the DAC Pro Squash Classic and win the biggest title of her career to date.
Fourth seed Fiechter, who had lost to Kennedy in the final of the Bronze-level Carol Weymuller Open in January, made an ideal start, opening up a 7-2 lead in the first game, closing it out 11-7 and doublinh her advantage as she took the second 11-5.
Kennedy, with a 3-0 lead in the H2H, reduced the deficit 11-6 and went 7-4 up in the fourth. Now it was Fiechter’s turn to fight back, and she did, edging ahead 10-9 and taking the title at the first attempt.
“I think it’s going to take a while for that to sink in!” Fiechter said afterwards. “It was such a tough battle, like every point you play against Gina. That’s the first win I have over her and throughout the match I was just focusing on playing my game and believing in myself.
“I had some gritty wins this week that helped me with my self-belief and told myself that I had to do it. The fact that I’m here now, as the champion, is crazy.”
[4] Olivia Fiechter (Usa) 3-1 Olivia Clyne (Usa) 7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 (47m)
[8] Georgina Kennedy (Eng) 3-0 [7] Salma Hany (Egy) 11-4, 11-5, 11-9 (30m)
Semis : Fiechter and Kennedy to contest second final in a Month
USA’s Olivia Fiechter and England’s Georgina Kennedy will contest their second final in the space of a month after overcoming Olivia Clyne and Salma Hany at the Detroit Athletic Club.
In the first match of the evening, fourth seed Fiechter avenged last week’s Cleveland Classic semi final defeat by coming from behind to beat compatriot Clyne.
Afterwards, Fiechter said: “I think today was less about revenge and more about the squash. To Liv’s credit, she’s been playing incredible squash, playing and moving extremely well and she made it really tough for me in Cleveland, but I felt I didn’t give my best performance and had more to give. So, tonight was simply about stepping up and bringing out a stronger physical and mental performance.”
Joining Fiechter in the final is English eighth seed Kennedy, who beat Fiechter in the final of January’s Carol Weymuller Open. Kennedy’s return to fitness and form was further underlined tonight in a convincing win over the Egyptian seventh seed.
“I’m really happy and pleased to get off in three. Salma’s such a tricky opponent; she’s so skilful and hits the ball as well as anyone in the game. She’s so dangerous and I knew I had to concentrate in every rally, because every rally was a mental battle as well. I knew, as soon as I missed my target the ball was going to be fired in short and it was probably going to be a winner,” Kennedy said after the match.
Quarters : Top three seeds crash out
The top three seeds crashed out in the quarter finals as top seed Joelle King fell to the USA’s Olivia Clyne, second seed Rowan Elaraby went down to England’s Georgina Kennedy and third seed Nele Gilis lost to Egypt’s Salma Hany.
In the day’s first match at the Detroit Athletic Club, 2019 champion Clyne continued her spectacular recent form in a brilliant performance that saw her reach her third DAC Pro semi final. The World No.17, who had never beaten the Kiwi in five previous attempts on the tour, played immaculately from the beginning, concluding her 350th match on the tour with a deserved four game win.
“This felt like my 350th match this week!” Clyne joked afterwards. “I feel fantastic. At this point, I wake up and do the same thing every day. It seems to be working, so hopefully match 351 is very similar to today!”
In a rematch of the Cleveland Classic semi final last week, the 30-year-old will face compatriot Olivia Fiechter, the highest remaining seed who was given a tough test by Nada Abbas.
In the bottom half of the draw, Kennedy continued to build on her impressive Cleveland Classic title win with a straight-games victory over Elaraby.
“Today was one of those days when I felt really good, even though the rallies were really tough in that and we were moving each other around, I felt like I had so much energy and I could have carried on forever at that fast pace!” Kennedy said.
Hany, Kennedy’s opponent tomorrow, also progressed in three games, getting the better of Gilis, who appeared to be lacking her usual relentless energy.
Round Two : Clyne and Abbas gatecrash the quarters
USA’s Olivia Clyne is through to the quarter finals of the DAC Pro Squash Classic after dispatching Belgian fifth seed Tinne Gilis in three games, while Egypt’s Nada Abbas came from behind to knock out Welsh sixthseed Tesni Evans.
Clyne, who last week reached the final of the Cleveland Classic as an unseeded player, went into the match having lost her previous two meetings against Gilis, but was buoyed by the knowledge that the Belgian was struggling with injury. Sure enough, the Belgian found Clyne’s pace and accuracy too much to handle, with the American racing into a 2-0 lead before converting the third game 11-7.
Abbas, meanwhile, looks to be growing in confidence after a gutsy performance saw her beat Evans 3-1 after losing the opening game. Elsewhere, top seed Joelle King of New Zealand survived a tough encounter with Egypt’s Yathreb Adel to safely progress.
Round One : Ibrahim downs Mohamed
Sana Ibrahim sprang the shock of the day as she downed compatriot Farida Mohamed in five games as the 2023 DAC Pro Squash Classic got underway.
Ibrahim went into the match at the Detroit Athletic Club with a 2-0 losing record against Mohamed but put in an inspired performance to win 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-4 in 47minutes.
There were two more rankings upsets on day one as Egypt’s Yathreb Adel won her 150th PSA World Tour match by defeating South Africa’s Alexandra Fuller and England’s Lucy Turmel beat Canada’s Hollie Naughton.
For the hosts, Olivia Clyne and Sabrina Sobhy progressed to the next round, where they will join American compatriot and fourth seed Olivia Fiechter after wins over Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk and Egypt’s Mariam Metwally.
Elsewhere, Egypt’s Nada Abbas marked her return to action by coming from behind to beat Scottish wildcard Alison Thomson to earn a 100th win on the tour.
