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CSC Delaware Open 2023
Women's Draw
23 - 26 Feb
Delaware, USA, $12k |
ROUND One
23 Feb |
QUARTERS
24 Feb |
SEMIS
25 Feb |
FINAL
26 Feb |
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[1] Ka Yi Lee (HKG)
11-6, 11-4, 11-5
Menna Nasser (EGY) |
Ka Yi Lee
11-9, 11-8, 11-8 (21m)
Chan Yiwen |
Ka Yi Lee
8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (38m)
Kaitlyn Watts |
Ka Yi Lee
13-11, 11-8, 7-11,
11-4 (37m)
Kenzy Ayman |
[6] Chan Yiwen (MAS)
11-9, 11-7, 11-2
[WC] Catalina Pelaez (COL) |
Low Wee Wern (MAS)
11-6, 11-9, 11-6
[7] Karina Tyma (POL) |
Low Wee Wern
11-7, 11-2, 11-6 (30m)
Kaitlyn Watts |
Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)
11-8, 11-7, 11-6
[4] Rana Ismail (EGY) |
Wen Li Lai (MAS)
11-8, 11-7, 11-3
[3] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) |
Wen Li Lai
11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6 (48m)
Xin Ying Yee |
Xin Ying Yee
11-6, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10 (32m)
Kenzy Ayman |
[8] Xin Ying Yee (MAS)
11-8, 11-8, 11-7
Alex Haydon (AUS) |
[5] Akanksha Salunkhe (IND)
11-3, 12-10, 7-11, 11-8
Diana Garcia (MEX) |
Akanksha Salunkhe
11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (26m)
Kenzy Ayman |
Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP)
11-3, 11-8, 11-6
[2] Kenzy Ayman (EGY) |
Final
Ayman Downs Top Seed Lee In Final
Kenzy Ayman took the title at the CSC Delaware Open
this week
Egypt’s Kenzy Ayman claimed her second Challenger 10 level crown of the
season, beating Hong Kong’s Ka Yi Lee to win the CSC Delaware Open
title.
Ayman was victorious at the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg
earlier in the campaign, when she defeated home favourite Sunayna
Kuruvilla in the final. She then came into the tournament as the No.2
seed, and had a pretty comfortable run through to the final.
The Egyptian won her opening round match in straight games, getting the
better of Singaporean No.1 Au Yeong Wai Yhann. She then defeated India’s
Akanksha Salunkhe, the draw’s No.5 seed, also in straight games to
advance to the last four of the competition.
The semis was where Ayman dropped her first game, but she was already
two games to the good at that point. She came up against Malaysian Xin
Ying Yee, and regrouped after dropping the third game to win the fourth
on a tie-break 12-10.
In the final, the World No.59 took on Hong Kong’s Ka Yi Lee, the
tournament’s top seed. The Hongkonger was ranked 15 places higher at the
start of the week, but thanks to a 13-11 tie-break win in the first, it
was Ayman who held the early advantage. She doubled that after winning
the second 11-8, but then saw Lee fight back to win the third game. Once
again, Ayman regrouped to win the fourth, and to claim her second title
of the campaign.
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Quarter Finals
Unseeded Watts Makes Last Four
Kaitlyn Watts
New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts is into the semi-finals of the CSC Delaware
Open, after beating former World No.5 Low Wee Wern in the last eight.
Watts made her way into the quarters after getting the better of Egypt’s
No.4 seed Rana Ismail in straight games, while the Malaysian downed
Polish No.1 Karina Tyma to make it through to the last eight.
Those results guaranteed an unseeded player in the semi-finals, and
Watts was the one to take that spot. A close first game went the way of
the Kiwi 11-7, and from there, she was in complete control. The World
No.77 dropped just eight points over the next two games to secure a
straight games victory.
Watts will now take on the tournament’s top seed, Ka Yi Lee, in the
semis on Saturday. The Hongkonger also overcame a Malaysian, in No.6
seed Chan Yiwen, in straight games. Lee took a very tight 11-9, 11-8,
11-8 win in just 21 minutes to make the last four.
The pair have only met once in the past, with Watts getting the better
of this week’s top seed on that occasion. That 3-1 win for the Kiwi came
at the Pacific Toyota Cairns Squash International back in 2017, and Lee
will be looking to avenge that defeat in the last four.
The other semi-final at the Vicmead Hunt Club on Saturday evening will
see the Egypt’s Kenzy Ayman and Malaysia’s Xin Ying Yee go head-to-head.
The Egyptian, who is the No.2 seed, got the better of India’s Akanksha
Salunkhe in straight games, while Yee had to got the distance in her
quarter final. She survived a comeback from compatriot Wen Li Lai,
eventually winning 11-6 in the fifth game.
The semis of the CSC Delaware Open will take place on Saturday, February
25 at the Vicmead Hunt Club in Wilmington, DE, United States.
For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or follow
on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
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Round 1
Malaysia’s Wern and Lai Among Surprise Winners
Low Wee Wern
The Malaysian duo of Low Wee Wern and Wen Li Lai were among the three
unseeded players to secure wins on the opening day of the CSC Delaware
Open.
Wern, a former World No.5, is continuing her comeback to the Tour after
a lengthy absence through injury. The Malaysian took on No.7 seed Karina
Tyma in the first round of the Challenger 10 women’s event, and she got
the better of the Polish No.1 in straight games.
She will be joined in the quarter finals by compatriot Wen Li Lai, who
defeated the No.3 seed, also in straight games. Lai downed Australia’s
Sarah Cardwell, the World No.69, in three to book her spot in the last
eight of the competition.
The other surprise winner in terms of seeding on day one in Delaware was
New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts. The Kiwi No.2 overcame the challenge of
Egypt’s Rana Ismail, the draw’s No.4 seed. Watts, like the two
Malaysians, won in straight games to book her spot in the next round,
and she will now take on Wern to guarantee an unseeded player in the
semi-finals.
Elsewhere, Chan Yiwen and Xin Ying Yee made it four Malaysians to move
into the quarter finals. Yiwen will now take on top seed Ka Yi Lee after
beating the returning Catalina Pelaez, who was featuring on Tour for the
first time since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or follow
on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
|
Preview
Pelaez Returns After Three Years
Catalina Pelaez will feature on Tour for the first time
since March 2020
The CSC Delaware Open is one of two tournaments on the Challenger Tour
this week, and Colombia’s Catalina Pelaez will be returning after three
years.
The Challenger 10 level competition will see 16 women battle it out for
the title at the Vicmead Hunt Club in Wilmington, DE, United States from
Thursday, February 23 to Sunday, February 26.
Pelaez will be the tournament’s wildcard, with the Colombian making her
first appearance on Tour in almost three years, playing for the first
time since the Tour’s COVID-19 enforced suspension in March 2020.
Unsurprisingly, she is looking forward to getting back out on to court
competitively once more.
“I am very excited to finally be back on tour. I am really looking
forward to play competitive squash again, feel the adrenaline and
hopefully be able to play without pain. I have missed so much the life
of a pro squash player and I want to get back to it,” she explained.
“I am grateful with Ray Chan-A-Sue, who contacted me to see if I wanted
to wildcard for his tournament. I have played his tournament in Delaware
four times in the past, so I am happy that this will be my first
tournament back. It’s a small club with great people and host families
that brings back a lot of good memories.
“I am really just hoping to be able to play good squash, enjoy it and
see what happens. I know I am at my 100% level yet, but I think this is
a good start and it will give me confidence and strength to start over.”
The last time the Colombian featured on Tour was at the Queen City Open
in March 2020, one of the very last events held prior to the Tour’s
enforced six-month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obviously, that changed things for Pelaez, as it did for a lot of other
players on Tour. Since then, the 31-year-old has got engaged, and will
get married this year, but it also gave her a bit more time to deal with
a long-term injury problem.
“At the end of 2015, my left knee started to bother me. It wasn’t all
the time, but then with the years it kept getting worse. After a tough
match, I wasn’t able to go up or down the stairs normal and then I
wasn’t able to train the next day,” she admitted.
“In 2017, it was pretty bad, so I took 4 months off to do physiotherapy,
but it wasn’t helping much. Eventually it got a bit better and at the
end of 2018 I started working on my mind a lot with the help of Maxim
Weithers.
“2019 was a great year. I was able to push myself in training, play
tournaments and do well. I was feeling well and started 2020 training in
Prague and playing a tournament in Finland. And when pandemic hit, I was
in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada at a PSA event [the aforementioned Queen
City Open].
“During COVID-19, I trained a lot in my mom’s apartment and outside when
the government started to let people work out outside, but it was not
the same as moving inside a squash court.
“In 2021 when finally I started running outside more with my coach and
some teammates, my knee started to bother again a bit, so I started to
bike instead of run. Then on court my knee didn’t feel normal and it was
hurting again. Since the Tour had not started fully yet for all
countries, I decided to take some time off court, do physiotherapy and
strengthening so I could start 2022 healthy.
“[At the] beginning of 2022, I had to play a qualifying event for Team
Colombia, but my knee did not respond well. It became very swollen and
it hurt so after that I decided to take another MRI and see the doctor.
The cartilage under my patella was very worn out.
“From December 2021 to February 2022 it had worn from 10mm to 17mm. So I
ended up having surgery on March 12, 2022. During surgery, apart from
the cartilage being worn out, there was an area that had no cartilage at
all, so the doctor made two perforations to create a bleeding and to
create a scar tissue to help with the pain.”
With all those injury issues hopefully behind her, the Colombian can now
try and focus on becoming her country’s leading player once more. That
won’t be easy, though, with Laura Tovar now a solid member of the
world’s top 100. Making it back to her career-high of Wold No.56 is one
of Pelaez’s goals for the future.
“I am looking forward to training hard, being able to get back and
hopefully achieve a better ranking than my best one yet of World No.56.
I am also working hard to get back to Colombian No.1 and to represent my
country again.”
Pelaez will face off against Malaysia’s Chan Yiwen in the opening round
of the tournament, facing off against the draw’s No.6 seed for the first
time in their careers.
World No.44 Ka Yi Lee will be the leading woman in the draw, with the
Egyptian duo of Kenzy Ayman and Rana Ismail and Australia’s Sarah
Cardwell, the runner-up at this event in 2017, among the top four seeds.
A second Malaysian, in Xin Ying Yee, along with India’s Akanksha
Salunkhe and Polish No.1 Karina Tyma, who will feature on Tour for the
first time in four months, will be in the top eight seeds.
Mexico’s Diana Garcia, fresh off winning the Expression Networks BVAC
Women’s Open last week in Calgary, will be aiming for her third win of
the year already. Former World No.5 Low Wee Wern will also feature,
along with Singaporean No.1 Au Yeong Wai Yhann and New Zealand’s Kaitlyn
Watts.
For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or follow
on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
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