[3] Ho Tze Lok (Hkg) 3-2 Chan Sin Yuk (Hkg) 14-16, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3 (66m)
Chan Sin Yuk held her own all the way from Round One on Wednesday to Sunday’s Final against 3rd seed Tze Lok Ho. Playing matches five days in a row – at this level – is no small feat, and she still managed to show up strong in the last match, and pose significant threat to her higher-seeded compatriot Ho Tze Lok.
Chan Sin’s strength looked to be her short game, which won her most of her rallies. She hit super tight drops, and fast and low mid-court boasts.
Tze Lok Ho’s impeccable footwork seemed to stretch her far across the court with minimal effort. She is extremely efficient and it pays off. It’s truly remarkable what she can pull off under pressure. She seems to be able to return amazing shots even in the toughest positions.
They both put on a great show tonight, playing an intense five games. Tze Lok finished off the match with a perfect, unretrievable forehand drive, earning her the tournament victory in five games (14-16, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3).
Thanks so much to all of the sponsors, volunteers and refs. You all have made this week yet another huge success. Your commitment and support in this event are greatly appreciated, and we couldn’t put it on without you. We look forward to hosting our full Pro-Am in 2023!
Thanks to all of the PSA players who have joined us this year, it’s been another fantastic week of high-level squash, and we hope to see you back again next year!
Streaming & Replays on WSW Facebook
Semis : It’s all Hong Kong in Calgary
Unseeded Chan Sin Yuk pulled off a 3-0 win in her semi final match against fellow Hong Kong opponent Lee Ka Yi Lee, who had taken out second seed Donna Lobban in Friday’s match. So for Chan to deliver such a strong win against Lee in the semis, it says a lot about her performance. As long as she has some steam left to carry into the final match, she may just be on the road to Victory.
With that said, she will face another compatriot in the final after Ho Tze Lok managed to beat top seed and defending champion Danielle Letourneau 3-2, while looking fatigued the whole time!
In between games she would move around slowly, but perhaps only to conserve energy for their long rallies. Tze Lok’s pace and timing on the ball still seemed to dominate the match, forcing Danielle into making errors and often times losing concentration. Tze Lok’s focus during play was hardly ever phased, and that significantly contributed to her win.
Chan Sin Yuk and Tze Lok Ho will meet in Sunday’s Final. It will be interesting to see which one of them will take control of this match – Hong Kong has gone undefeated in this event, the only matches that the players have lost were to each other!
Quarters : HK trio join top deed Danielle in the semis
Ho Tze Lok Ho (HKG) delivered a strong match against Tong Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG). Although the second and third games could have gone either way, Tze Lok successfully pulled it off 3-0.
Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) has consistently put on a great show for us this week … and tonight was no exception. Beating out the 4th seed Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) in four long and exciting games.
Chan Sin played low to the tin, delivering incredible drops. Her length was perfect, with her drives and cross courts often dying out in the back.
Although Chan Sin took the win, it wasn’t easy. Liu never gave up the fight. Liu made tight shots to the back, crisp back hand drives and winning boasts. She also went into full splits to make a shot that won her a point and impressed the crowd. To top off the match, Liu landed in the splits in her final attempt to retrieve a ball in the last rally. Quite an impressive end to a very intense match.
Chan Sin Yuk is set to play Lee Ka Yi in the semi final.
However, the performance of the night would have to go to Lee Ka Yi (HKG), who beat 2nd seed Donna Lobban (AUS) 3-2. She played incredible squash, and her shots were unstoppable. Pulling her leg in the third game, seemed to be the only thing that set her back, but only temporarily. Donna upped her intensity in the third and fourth games. She was able to dominate the court with her great reach and precision shots. But then Ka Yi just crushed it in the fifth (11-1), taking everything early and not giving Donna any reaction time whatsoever.
Danielle Letourneau (CAN) also came out strong against Marie Stephan (FRA) in the final match of the evening. She looked determined to win in three and kept her intensity high. She will advance to play Ho Tze Lok in Saturday’s semi final, and that will hopefully be another show stopping match.
Round TWO :
Things have heated up in Thursday’s Round 2, competition was strong with longer game times and 4 of the 8 matches going to 5!
In the first two matches of the afternoon, 8th seed Lee Ka Yi Lee (HKG) beat opponent Tessa ter Sluis (NED) 3-1, and 7th seed Marie Stephan took the win against Lily Taylor (ENG) 3-2.
Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) came out really strong against 5th seed Milou van der Heijden (NED). It started out as a battle, with Milou stealing the first game 13-11, but Chan Sin dominated the remainder of the match, taking the win 3-1. She was quick to the ball, played deceptively, hit a few incredible nicks up front, and killer drops from mid court. Milou played well, but she wasn’t given as much reaction time to put away her shots.
6th seed Tong Tsz-Wing (HKG) and Millie Tomlinson (ENG) fought over the court in their match. There were lots of discussions with the refs as both players struggled to clear each other’s path. Tsz-Wing took the first two games, but Millie played more aggressively in the third, forcing Tsz-Wing to readjust her strategy. Tsz-Wing picked it up just enough to finish the match in 4.
Diana Garcia (MEX) put on another great performance, this time against 3rd seed Ho Tze Lok (HKG). Overall solid movement around the court. Both made a decent effort to clear, but also dug for a few strokes when the opportunity arose. Diana came out determined in the first two games. She just wouldn’t quit, as she continued to scramble for every shot, carrying her pace from Round 1. Although she lost her momentum in the third game, she still kept the pressure on her opponent. Tze Lok looked pretty tired by the fifth game, but held it together. Her overall precision and consistency won her the match 3-2.
The 7th match of the day was a stressful one to watch. Winning the first two games 11-1 and 11-6, Lucy Beecroft (ENG) had a rather surprising lead against 2nd seed Donna Lobban (AUS). Lucy did take charge and she definitely earned her rallies. As everyone braced for what was looking to be the upset of the tournament, Donna finally managed to find her rhythm – taking the third game 11-3, barely squeezing out the fourth game 12-10, and owning the fifth 11-3. Her next level skills, and ability to play under pressure, ultimately shone through in this match. We look forward to her performance in Friday’s quarter final against Lee.
Also advancing to the quarter finals are 4th seed Liu Tsz Ling (HKG) – who beat out Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 3-0 – as well as our Calgary born player and top seed Danielle Letourneau. Danielle played a lengthy match against Georgia Adderley (SCO). Georgia made some incredible dives and she also held her own through all of the games, but Danielle pushed through 3-2.
Round ONE :
Happy to be back at the courts for our 8th annual Calgary CFO Consulting Services Women’s Squash Week! It is great to be reunited once again, and nice to see so many familiar faces.
Wednesday’s first round matches were short and sweet, with most of the higher ranked players breezing through their matches in three.
The only exception was Diana Garcia who managed to beat her higher ranked opponent, Grace Gear, 3-1 (7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7). Diana showed slightly more focus and determination in each rally – was quick to the T, hit her shots early and scrambled to retrieve every ball.
Advancing to Thursday’s Round two are Jessica Turnbull, Lucy Beecroft, Diana Garcia, Millie Tomlinson, Tessa ter Sluis, Chan Sin Yuk, Lily Taylor, and Georgia Adderley.
We look forward to seeing what these ladies can pull off as the pressure builds and competition gets stronger.
We’re Back !!!
The Calgary CFO Consulting Services Women’s Squash Week is back at the Calgary Winter Club from 2nd to 6th March 2022.
We are thrilled to have our Canadian local star Danielle Letourneau as our top seed for 2022. Seeded fourth back in 2020, Danielle managed to win the title, and since then her world ranking has moved from #39 to now #20.
Not far behind is second seed Donna Lobban from Australia, currently ranked 29.
Extending a warm welcome to all of the new and returning pro players. We look forward to having you battle it out on court in another exciting week of Squash!
Due to club capacity constraints and everchanging Covid guidelines, our 2022 focus will be all about the PSA event. The amateur participants bring a lot to Women’s Squash Week, and their presence will be missed this year, but we do expect to host our full Pro-Am in 2023!
