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Cleveland Classic 2023
Women's Draw
01 Jan- 05 Feb
Detroit, USA, $80k |
ROUND TWO
02 Feb |
QUARTERS
03 Feb |
SEMIS
04 Feb |
FINAL
05 Feb |
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[1] Joelle King (NZL)
11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (33m)
[9/16] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) |
Joelle King
11-8, 6-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-7 (52m)
Olivia Fiechter |
Olivia Fiechter
11-8, 11-9, 14-12 (41m)
Olivia Clyne |
Olivia Clyne
13-11, 11-8, 7-11,
11-6 (45m)
Georgina Kennedy |
[6] Olivia Fiechter (USA)
6-11, 11-3, 11-2, 5-11, 11-8 (47m)
[9/16] Hollie Naughton (CAN) |
[9/16] Olivia Clyne (USA)
11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5 (43m)
[5] Nele Gilis (BEL) |
Olivia Clyne
8-11, 8-4 retired (27m)
Nour El Tayeb |
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8 (58m)
[9/16] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) |
Tomato Ho (HKG)
11-3, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 (51m)
[4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) |
Tomato Ho
11-9, 11-6, 11-2 (36m)
Tesni Evans |
Tomato Ho
11-3, 11-2, 11-3 (24m)
Georgina Kennedy |
[7] Tesni Evans (WAL)
3-11, 14-12, 11-7, 15-13 (53m)
[9/16] Alexandra Fuller (RSA) |
[8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG)
11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 (44m)
[9/16] Mélissa Alves (FRA) |
Georgina Kennedy
11-7, 10-8 retired (18m)
Amanda Sobhy |
[9/16] Emily Whitlock (WAL)
11-9, 11-1, 4-11, 10-12, 11-5 (45m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) |
[1] Joelle King (NZL) bye
[9/16] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 (28m)
[9/16] Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 11-8, 12-14, 11-8,
11-8 (42m)
[6] Olivia Fiechter (USA) bye
[5] Nele Gilis (BEL) bye
[9/16] Olivia Clyne (USA) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (23m)
[9/16] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Joshna Chinappa (IND) 11-2, 12-10, 11-3
(30m)
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bye
[4] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bye
Tomato Ho (HKG) bt [9/16] Hana Ramadan (EGY) 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8
(47m)
[9/16] Alexandra Fuller (RSA) bt Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-7, 15-13, 11-0
(28m)
[7] Tesni Evans (WAL) bye
[8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bye
[9/16] Mélissa Alves (FRA) bt Aifa Azman (MAS) 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 11-6,
11-7 (56m)
[9/16] Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 12-10, 6-11, 11-3,
11-13, 11-9 (63m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bye |
Final
Kennedy Retains Cleveland Classic Title
England's Georgina Kennedy has retained her Cleveland Classic crown
after defeating Olivia Clyne of America 3-1 in the 2023 decider.
Kennedy, who defeated her compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry at last year's
event, continued her rich vein of form to land the Cleveland Classic
title in successive years after reaching the quarter-finals at the
Tournament of Champions and scooping the Carol Weymuller Open trophy.
The pair had only met twice on the PSA World Tour going into the final,
with Kennedy winning both previous encounters. Both players made a
strong start to the opening game as the pace turned up a few notches at
the tail-end.
Kennedy landed four successive points to go 9-7 up, but Clyne saved two
game balls to force a tiebreaker. Kennedy was able to eventually pull
away from Clyne to clinch the opener 13-11.
It was neck and neck in the second with the scores locked at 7-7, but
Kennedy established some crucial breathing space to nudge 10-8 in front,
and the World No.14 converted game ball at the first attempt to go 2-0
up.
Kennedy came firing out of the blocks in the third as she looked to seal
the title in straight games but Clyne, making her first appearance in a
final since 2019, responded superbly as she halved the deficit after
winning 11-7.
Losing the third fired the defending champion up, moving into a 6-2
lead, but Clyne surged back to reduce the arrears to two points.
However Kennedy was able to hold off the fightback from Clyne to convert
Championship ball at the first time of asking and make it back-to-back
titles in Cleveland.
Afterwards Kennedy said: "I’m thrilled to have retained the title. I’ve
said it a few times this week but I definitely did not expect it.
“Coming into this event with the strength of the draw, the fact that I
made it to the final is a huge achievement for me and I knew it would be
an extremely good battle with Liv (Clyne).
“She’s been playing amazing squash - I watched her match yesterday and I
was definitely worried.
"She’s so attacking and puts you under so much pressure, so I’m really
proud of myself for coming through that because that really could have
gone either way.”
Kennedy and Clyne head to Detroit next for the DAC Pro Squash Classic, a
silver-level event, which takes place between February 7-11 at the
Detroit Athletic Club. All the action will be streamed live on PSA
channels.
Visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
TikTok and YouTube to keep up with the upcoming women's DAC Pro Squash
Classic and the men's Pittsburgh Open, which is taking place at the
Rivers Club, 8-12 February.
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Semi Fiinals
Reigning Champion Kennedy Into Final While Clyne Downs
Fiechter
Georgina Kennedy
Defending Cleveland Classic champion Georgina Kennedy moved a step
closer to defending her title after dispatching Tomato Ho 3-0.
Kennedy, who's been in excellent form after overcoming some health
issues earlier this season, was relentless throughout in her pursuit of
reaching the final against Ho, who impressively claimed two scalps on
route to the last four.
The Englishwoman came firing out of the blocks in the first game, racing
into a 7-1 lead, and was stepping up to the front of the court well and
finding her targets excellently as she won 11-3 in just seven minutes.
The unrelenting Kennedy continued her blistering start in the second,
making the pace difficult to handle for her opponent as she doubled her
lead with a comfortable 11-2 win.
Kennedy's range of shots were causing problems for Ho in the third, as
the reigning champion eased her way into the final after triumphing
11-3.
Afterwards Kennedy said: "I'm really happy. The preparations were tough
for Tomato (Ho) - she's been playing so well all tournament and I knew
she would be full of confidence, but I also knew it was her first time
in the semi-final of a big tournament and, sometimes, you're so content
with that it can be hard to mentally get up for that.
"I tried my best to keep the tempo high and get on top of her as quickly
as possible and never let off. I was happy with my performance today and
I'm absolutely chuffed to be in the final.
"Coming in, with the strength of the draw, I didn't expect it but
there's been a few retirements and I'm really happy and I'm looking
forward to it tomorrow."
Kennedy meets America's Olivia Clyne in the final, who produced a
terrific performance to overcome her compatriot Olivia Fiechter in
straight games.
Unseeded Clyne, who's into her first final this season, took control of
the first game superbly as she had Fiechter chasing round the court with
her excellent shot selection as she claimed the first 11-8.
Olivia Clyne
Nothing much separated the two Americans in the second game, in what was
just their third-ever meeting on Tour, but Clyne strengthened her grip
on the match when she took an 11-9 win.
Fiechter produced the ideal response to going two games down as she
convincingly moved 10-4 up and looked to have found a foothold back in
the contest.
However Clyne dug deep to deny her fellow American the chance of halving
the deficit, saving six game balls with some extraordinary play before
going on to edge the battle 14-12 and book a place in the final.
"I'm a bit in shock!" said Clyne post-match.
"I'm also not shocked as I was just saying to my husband that I said to
everyone around me that maybe all this work I'm putting in, I may not
reap the dividends for six months and I have to be okay with that.
"It might take until next season to start seeing the rewards of all the
hard work that I've been doing, but it's great that we're in the second
tournament of the start of this year and I'm in the final!
"It's surreal but I think it's testament to the village of people that I
have who care about me who put so much effort and time into me."
The Cleveland Classic final takes place tomorrow (Sunday February 5) at
16:30 (GMT-5), with the match from the Cleveland Racquet Club available
to watch live on the PSA website and
SQUASHTV.
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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Quarter Finals
Ho Claims Another Scalp To Reach Last Four
Tomato Ho continued her impressive streak at the Cleveland Classic as
she claimed another scalp, defeating Wales' No.1 Tesni Evans to reach
the semi-finals for the first time at a Silver-level event.
Ho, who knocked World No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry out of the tournament
yesterday, continued her rich vein of form against Evans as she battled
back from an early deficit to take the first game 11-9.
The Hong Kong No.1, who sits 22 places behind Evans in the World
Rankings, produced high quality squash throughout as she clinched the
second 11-6, finding her targets superbly to strengthen her grip on the
match, before capping off an excellent performance with a comfortable
11-2 win.
Afterwards, Ho said: "It feels amazing! I've been through to a Bronze
event quarter-final before, but this is the first time at a Silver event
I've reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals so I feel so amazing!
"I'm surprised with the result because I didn't think it would be 3-0. I
just played point by point and didn't think much because the first game
I was losing by four or five points so I didn't think about it and just
played my game."
Ho will face defending champion Georgina Kennedy in the semi-finals
tomorrow, who sealed a last four spot in circumstances she wouldn't have
wanted - as Amanda Sobhy retired from the match at the end of the second
game due to injury.
The reigning champion took the first game 11-7, converting game ball at
the first attempt with a terrific shot, and Kennedy managed to hold off
a fightback from Sobhy in the second to go 2-0 up. However a troubling
back injury for the US No.1 led to her ending the match early through
retirement.
“It’s so sad to see Amanda (Sobhy) in pain like that. I knew from the
first game that she was struggling and when it got to the second game,
when I went 6-2 up, I thought it was inevitable at that point," said
Kennedy.
“I could see she was really struggling. She’s a joke skill-wise and I
lost my concentration a little bit because I was feeling bad for her, I
could see how much pain she was in and she rattled so many quick points!
“I had to lock in for a couple more points but I knew she wasn’t up for
it today, which is a shame because the last time we played at World Tour
finals she absolutely thrashed me and I was excited to see what I could
do today against her. Me and Amanda get on really well and I wish her
the speediest of recoveries.”
Meanwhile, USA's Olivia Fiechter downed the tournament's top seed Joelle
King in five games for a place in the semi-finals.
Fiechter, who defeated King in their last meeting at the CIB Egyptian
Open, responded well to trailing to the Kiwi by taking the first game
11-8.
However King, who's been in sublime form this season, was in determined
mood after falling behind, taking the second 11-6 before a comprehensive
11-3 triumph in the third nudged her ahead.
But Fiechter produced the perfect riposte, a commanding 11-3 win in the
fourth was followed up by edging a closely-fought battle in the decider
to advance to the last four.
“It was such a battle. Joelle (King) has been in incredible form this
year, she’s had an incredible season with some huge wins and she just
came off a semi-final at ToC (Tournament of Champions)," Fiechter
explained.
“It was really falling away from me after the second and third – she was
just controlling the match. I just told myself to do something different
to throw her off her game and inject myself back into the match and
fortunately doing that, picking the pace back up, I worked my way back
in.
“The fifth game was back and forth and I told myself to be positive and
to take some risks, and beating a player like Joelle is one of the
biggest wins of my career and it means so much.”
Fiechter will meet her American compatriot Olivia Clyne for a place in
the final, whose semi-final clash with Nour El Tayeb was cut short after
she retired through injury in the second game.
El Tayeb went 1-0 up after winning 11-8, but a heel injury sustained
midway through the second game halted play for a few minutes.
The Egyptian attempted to carry on, however she was unable to continue
and retired from the contest.
“I wish Nour (El Tayeb) the speediest of recoveries. I had a panic
attack when it happened as when you see someone get injured when you’re
playing it’s one of the worst feelings," Clyne said.
"No matter how much you want to win or make a semi-final, no one wishes
to win that way. It's terrible and bad things happen sometimes, but
you've got to make the best of the situation and I'm looking forward to
getting back on court tomorrow."
The semi-finals of the Cleveland Classic 2023 will be played on Saturday
February 4 at the Cleveland Racquet Club.
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.
|
Round 2
Ho Knocks World No.8 Perry Out To Book Quarter-Finals
Spot
World No.36 Tomato Ho produced the biggest shock of round two of the
Cleveland Classic as she dispatched World No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry to
progress to the quarter-finals, claiming a 3-2 victory at the Cleveland
Racquet Club.
Meanwhile, No.2 seed Amanda Sobhy avoided an early exit from the
tournament as she managed to overcome a spirited fightback from Emily
Whitlock to win 3-2.
The quarter-finals of the Cleveland Classic 2023 will be played on
Friday February 3 at the Cleveland Racquet Club, with the action
streamed live on psaworldtour.com
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.
|
Round 1
To Follow |
Preview
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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