Report courtesy of the Women’s Squash Association.

England’s Emma Beddoes celebrated the tenth—and biggest—WSA World Tour squash title of her career when she beat Egypt’s Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy in Sunday’s final of the Women’s Emerson RC Pro Series at the Racquet Club of St. Louis in Missouri.

The top seed arrived in Missouri in fine form, having defeated compatriot Laura Massaro, the world No. 3, for the first time at last week’s Windy City Open in Chicago en-route to her first WSA World Series quarterfinal for more than three years.

Beddoes blasted through the WSA Challenger 15 field at The St Louis Racquet Club to reach the final without dropping a game, downing Dane Line Hansen, the third seed, 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 in the semifinals.

Eighth seed El-Defrawy caused a couple of mighty upsets to reach the final against expectation. The twenty-year-old from Cairo beat Japan’s No. 4 seed Misaki Kobayashi in the quarterfinals, then survived a mammoth five-game semifinal battle with second-seeded Indian Joshana Chinappa to make the seventh Tour final of her career.

The young Egyptian, ranked fifty in the world, took an early 9-3 lead in the final—but the experienced world No. 16 Beddoes fought back to draw level. But after twenty minutes, it was El-Defrawy who drew first blood, taking a 13-11 lead after converting her second game-ball.

The opening game clearly took its toll on underdog El-Defrawy as the favorite extended the rallies to good effect to take the second game.

The Egyptian mounted a comeback in the third, keeping the game level until seven-all, at which point it was clear that fatigue was a factor as Beddoes moved ahead to take the game—before running away in a one-sided fourth to win the title 11-13, 11-5, 11-8, 11-2.

“I’m really happy to get my biggest tournament win to date—it was a tough final,” conceded the twenty-nine-year-old from Leeds after her fifty-eight-minute triumph.

“Kanzy was obviously feeling the effects of yesterday’s semifinal but she is a tough competitor and fought with all the energy she had.”

Australian Donna Urquhart, former world No. 13 who has been plagued by injuries for the past two years, marked her comeback in sensational style by winning the Women’s Stratos Seattle Open, a WSA Challenger 5 event at the Seattle Athletic Club. Germany’s Raphael Kandra found similar fortune by securing the men’s title over top-seeded Omar Abdel Meguid in three games.

Urquhart the twenty-eight-year-old from New South Wales, Competing in only her fourth WSA World Tour event since undergoing foot surgery in September, survived a five-game quarterfinal battle against England’s Fiona Moverley before overcoming Germany’s Sina Wall in four games in the semis to reach the fifteenth tour final of her career.

The top seed’s opponent in the final was second seeded Liu Tsz-Ling, the world No. 57 from Hong Kong making just her first tour appearance this year. The twenty-three-year-old Liu cruised through to the final without dropping a game, dispatching Norway’s No. 3 seed Lotte Eriksen in the semis to reach the ninth tour final of her career.

The final marked the pair’s third tour meeting since April 2011—and it took the Australian left-hander fifty minutes to extend her unbeaten record over Liu to win the title by an 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8 score line.

“It feels awesome to be in the final since my foot operation and to actually win the tournament,” said the jubilant Urquhart, currently No. 36 in the world rankings. “I’m so happy to be back on track and so much enjoying playing squash again.

“Liu played very well and put me under a lot of pressure today. Every time I was putting the ball loose she was putting it away, so I had to find the right game plan. I’m taking confidence from this and hopefully will keep playing well next week in Calgary.”

Urquhart is the fourth seed in the Calgary CFO Consulting Services WSA Women’s Squash Week championship that gets underway in Calgary, Alberta, on Thursday.

Immediately following Urquarhart’s win, Germany’s World No. 50, Raphael Kandra, celebrated his first PSA World Tour win over Omar Abdel Meguid when he defeated the Egyptian 3-0 in the final of the Stratos Seattle Open, PSA Challenger 10 tournament.

Kandra, the No. 2 seed, reached his sixteenth PSA World Tour final after surviving a close five-game semifinal battle with third-seeded Indian Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, while Meguid, the world No. 33, also prevailed in a marathon semi, seeing off England’s fourth seed, Declan James, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5 after 140-minutes to set up his 17th tour final.

Ranked seventeen places higher and having emerged victorious in their past two meetings, Meguid was the firm favorite to taste glory in the final, but Kandra leapt into action from the start to take the first game 11-6. Meguid, clearly tired after the effort he put in the day before, found it difficult to build any real momentum and Kandra took full advantage of that to take the second game by the same margin.

Kandra, twenty-four years old, kept up the assault in the third and powered his way through 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 to collect his second tour title of the year—an achievement only matched so far by Nick Matthew, the world No. 3 from England, who last week won his second title of the year at the PSA World Series Windy City Open in Chicago.

Women’s Squash Association (WSA) veteran and world No. 60 Latasha Khan, with world No. 78 Cece Cortes, take to St. Louis to compete in the second edition of the $15,000 Emerson RC Pro Series, hosted this week, March 4-8, by the St. Louis Racquet Club in Missouri.

The sixteen deep draw features players from twelve countries—including Argentina, India, and the Netherlands—and players ranked as high as world No. 15, and as low as 170. Three spaces are reserved for qualification players, however only two of four will be competing for a place in the main draw.

Khan faces Danish world No. 28 Line Hansen in the first round. Of their two previous match-ups,

Khan and Hansen have split wins. Hansen won most recently in the 2013 Orange County Open, besting the American in three games in thirty-seven minutes.

Update: Khan fell to Hansen in three progressively shorter games 11-8, 11-5, 11-3. Cortes will play Chinappa in one hour.

In their first career match-up, Cortes faces second seed and India’s world No. 21 Joshna Chinappa in the main draw. The two face off Friday at 5:30pm local time.

The sole qualifying match—as the other two players received byes—will be played this evening at 5:30pm local time between Mexico’s world No. 140 Reyna Pacheco and Kong Kong’s world No. 156 Georgina Stoker. Main draw play begins Friday, March 5, with the earliest matches at 1pm local time.

Top seed, England’s Emma Beddoes—who shocked world No. 3 Laura Massaro in the Windy City Open this week, capturing the biggest upset (thus far) of her career—will look to build on that confidence boost as she powers through the Emerson RC Pro Series, facing Pakistan’s Maria Toorpakai Wazir, world No. 58, for the second time in their careers.

For more information, see the official Emerson RC Pro Series tournament page.

Emerson RC Pro Series Main Draw: 
[1] Emma Beddoes (ENG) v Maria Toorpakai Wazir (PAK )
[6] Nadine Shahin (EGY) v Cataline Pelaez (COL)
[3] Line Hansen (DEN) v Latasha Khan (USA)
[5] Aisling Blake (IRL) v Antonella Falcione (ARG)
[8] Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy (EGY) v Ivonne Diaz (MEX)
[4] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) v  [Q]
[7] Milou van der Heijden (NED) v Anna Kimberley (ENG)
[2] Joshana Chinappa (IND) v Cecelia Cortes (USA)

Seattle, Washington, host city of the 2015 PSA World Championship in November, is warming up its professional circuit this weekend with the U.S. Pro Series men’s and women’s Stratos Seattle Open at the Seattle Athletic Club Downtown.

The men’s draw sees its prize money purse rise to $10,000, from a $5,000 draw in the inuagural men’s Stratos Seattle Open in 2014. The $5,000 women’s draw revitalized a competition that has laid dormant since 2005, when Rachael Grinham claimed the title.

Local qualifiers kicked off the first round of men’s qualifying  Tuesday night, but to no avail with Seattle’s finest falling in three games. Local fourteen-year-old Elena Wagenmans caused a stir in women’s qualifying Wednesday night, defeating Dartmouth graduate and world No. 127 Melina Turk 11-3, 11-5, 11-4. American Kelsey Engman also earned a spot in the main draw following a win against fellow Philadelphian Nabilla Ariffin.

American world No. 171 Faraz Khan lost out in the men’s qualifying finals Wednesday night against twenty-year-old Englishman Ashley Davies. Davies joins countryman Anthony Graham and George Parker in qualifying for the main draw, as well as Canadian world No. 196 Graeme Schnell, who won his maiden PSA title last week in Calgary, Canada.

Nine-time U.S. Champion Julian Illingworth weighs in as the sixth seed and takes on Davies in his opening match Thursday.

After reaching the Oregon Open final, and qualifying for the Windy City Open, Egyptian world No. 33 Omar Abdel Meguid returns to the pacific northwest as the men’s top seed. Meguid is seeded to face German world No. 50 Raphael Kandra, who has lost to the Egyptian in both of their previous encounters.

Seattle-based Pakistani Shahjahan Khan is the men’s wild card, and faces nineteen-year-old Englishman Richie Fallows.

Australian world No. 36 Donna Urquhart makes her return from an injury-induced hiatus as the women’s top seed. The former world No. 13 from Brisbane is seeded to meet Hong Kong’s world No. 57 Liu Tsz-Ling.

For more information, view the official men’s Stratos Seattle Open tournament page, and the official women’s Stratos Seattle Open tournament page.

Chris Hanson, American world No. 159, defeated Seattle-based world No. 108 Shahjahan Khan in Tuesday night’s Oregon Open qualifying finals to reach the main draw of the the seventh U.S. Pro Series tournament of 2015 at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland.

Hanson bested Khan in a near reversal of their first meeting—where Khan took the match in five close games—with a 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7 score line achieved in sixty-five minutes.

Nancy Keates, writing from the event, shared: “The young Khan put up a skillful fight, but Hanson was playing too well—volleying beautifully and making few errors. Spectators were very impressed by the exceptional level of play Hanson has displayed thus far in the tournament.”

Julian Illingworth, the hometown favorite and top seed in qualifying, fared less well than his American compatriot. Illingworth fell to seventh-seeded Englishman Nathan Lake, world No. 134, upsetting the higher-ranked Illingworth, at world No. 89.

Though the first two games, 13-11 and 12-10 respectively, were exceptionally close, Illingworth could not capture a game over his opponent, dropping the third and final set 11-6. Their match lasted forty-eight minutes, but Keates noted, “Julian didn’t win—but he also didn’t disappoint his numerous and multifarious fans, who ranged from the kids he coaches, to his wife, to his mother, and some of the Multnomah Athletic Club’s old-time squash octogenarians. It was a close match, and both played with class.”

Hanson joins countrymen world No. 57 and Queens-based Chris Gordon, the seventh seed, as well as Faraz Khan, world No.  200 and Wild Card selection, in the main draw.

Hanson is set to face fourth seed and Australian Ryan Cuskelly—one of the top three players in the 2014 U.S. Pro Series, recently recognized at the Tournament of Champions—in the first round. Hanson has met the world No. 45 once before, at the 2014 Phoenix Open, where Hanson fell in straight sets to the New York-based Aussie.

Gordon and Khan are set to square off in the first round, playing at 5pm local time today, for the third time. Gordon has won both previous meetings in three games.

Follow @OregonOpen2015 on twitter for updates throughout the tournament.

For more information, visit the official Portland Open tournament page.

Oregon Open Main Draw:
[1] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Peter Creed (WAL)
[Q] Nathan Lake (ENG) v [6] Greg Lobban (SCO)
[8] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) v [Q] Andrew Schnell (CAN)
[Q] Rodrigo Pezzota (ARG) v [3] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
[4] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [Q] Chris Hanson (USA)
[WC] Faraz Khan (USA) v [7] Chris Gordon (USA)
[5] Shawn Delierre (CAN) v Tayyab Aslam (PAK)
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v [2] Adrian Grant (ENG)

Four Americans, including Portland’s nine-time U.S. Champion Julian Illingworth and 2013 U.S. Champion Chris Gordon, are set to compete in the $15,000 U.S. Pro Series Oregon Open at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland this week.

Illingworth, who recently moved back to his home city of Portland, is the top seed in qualifying and faces Norwegian Adrian Ostbye Monday evening. Joining Illingworth in first round qualifying is world No. 159 Chris Hanson, who makes his third PSA appearance of 2015. The former Dartmouth No. 1 is in search of his first PSA victory of the year against Canadian world No. 106 Matthew Serediak. Three local Americans, Charlie Wagner, Matthew Bassist, and Phillip Carbajal will try to upset full-time professionals in qualifying.

At least one American is guaranteed to reach the last eight with Gordon, world No. 57, and twenty-one-year-old Faraz Khan, lined up against each other in the first round. Khan enters the main draw as the wild card, having reached his highest career world ranking of 200 this month. Gordon is seeded seventh, and aiming for his first PSA victory of 2015 after opening losses in the Tournament of Champions in January, and Pittsburgh Open earlier this month.

Indian world No. 21 Suarav Ghosal leads the draw as the top seed, and is seeded to meet English world No. 28 Adrian Grant in Saturday’s final. 2014 Oregon Open finalist Omar Abdel Meguid returns as the third seed.

The 2014 Oregon Open was the tournament’s third iteration and first since 2008. The 2015 Oregon Open continues the competition’s momentum with ticket sales rising and interest from the Portland squash community thriving according to tournament chairman Anders Giltvedt.

“The growing Portland squash community is eagerly looking forward to experiencing a showcase of world-class squash first hand,” Giltvedt said ahead of the tournament.

Ticket sales are up 25% over the 2014 Oregon Open according to Giltvedt, an indication of the growing squash community in Portland and the strong field of professionals from around the globe who have entered.

Follow @OregonOpen2015 on twitter for updates throughout the tournament.

For more information, visit the official Portland Open tournament page.

Article courtesy of the Professional Squash Association.

English World No.70 Ben Coleman saw off unseeded Zac Alexander 3-1 to secure victory in the final of the Life Time Fitness Atlanta Open, PSA Challenger 10, in what is the biggest win of his career so far.

Coleman was in imperious form throughout the event, failing to drop a game en route to the final while Alexander, who hails from Brisbane, had to come through difficult games against number three seed Charles Sharpes and six seed Todd Harrity in the first round and quarterfinal, respectively, in his first appearance at the tournament.

Coleman was the favorite for the match and duly lived up to his billing as he opened up with an 11-8 win in the first game. Alexander though had shown a lot of nerve throughout the event and the Australian dug in to level things up in the second.

The third game was a tense affair with both players struggling to gain the upper hand. It was Coleman though who raised his game to take it 11-9 and the twenty-three-year-old followed that up by winning the final game to earn his fifth PSA World Tour title.

“I’m happy with the win and I will be well prepared for the British Nationals in Manchester. I want to thank all the sponsors and I’m looking forward to playing the Life Time Houston Open in April,” said Coleman.

Alexander though will take heart from his performances throughout the tournament. Not only did he see off the aforementioned Sharpes and Harrity, he also shocked number five seed Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi in the semifinal. The Qatari knocked out number one seed Karim Ali Fathi in the previous round but found it hard to handle Alexander’s blistering start which saw him take all three games without reply to make it to the final against Coleman.

Article courtesy of the Women’s Squash Association.

Canada’s Samantha Cornett claimed the biggest WSA World Tour title of her life when she beat Pakistan’s Maria Toorpakai Wazir in the final of the CSC Delaware Open, the WSA Challenger 10 squash event in its fifth year at Vicmead Hunt Club in Wilmington, Delaware.

Second seed Cornett, the world No. 32 from Ottawa, secured her anticipated in the final without dropping a game—overcoming third-seeded New Zealander Amanda Landers-Murphy in the semifinals to reach the eleventh Tour final of her career, and her third in Delaware.

By contrast, Toronto-based Wazir battled through the qualifiers before beginning a sensational giant-killing run through the event after scalping Tesni Evans, the top seed from Wales, in the opening round.

The powerful twenty-four-year-old from Peshawar went on to take out Egypt’s fifth seed Nouran El Torky, then Welsh opponent Deon Saffery, the No. 4 seed, to earn her second shock appearance in a WSA Tour final this year.

After Cornett took the first game, Wazir quickly opened up an 8-2 lead in the second before closing out the game to draw level.

Twenty-four-year-old Cornett reclaimed the lead after taking a hard-fought third game.

“In the fourth, Cornett looked like a woman possessed,” said tournament promoter Ray Chan-A-Sue. “She came out and kept the pressure up from the previous game, really moving Toorpakai and pouncing on anything loose.

“A tiring Toorpakai had finally run out of tricks and was done and dusted. Cornett closed out the game and clinched her first Delaware title on her third try.”

Cornett was delighted with her fifth and biggest WSA Tour title: “I really enjoyed the match today, and felt quite calm and in control of myself. This helped me a lot especially as points started rolling away from me and toward her.

“I was able to focus on what was important in the moment, which was a combination of strategy and managing my energy levels,” continued the Canadian number one.

“In the second game she made me do a lot of work, and I knew that was not how I would win the match, so I turned around in the third and fourth and did that right back to her—an adjustment I’m proud of!

“Maria and I both had a big week of squash and I’m pleased to have finished the week on such a solid note.

“This whole week has been so enjoyable, from the Vicmead Hunt Club atmosphere, to my beautiful billet family, the Wards, to the great squash I’ve played. One of my very favorite tournaments!! Right up there with Cayman Islands, even though it’s the dead of winter here, it’s that good!!”

Malaysia’s world number one Nicol David celebrated her fifth successive appearance in the final of the Women’s Cleveland Classic by dispatching world No. 2 Raneem El Welily in straight games to win the WSA International 50 squash event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland, Ohio, for the third time.

It was an impressive return to form by the 31-year-old from Penang who suffered a shock quarter-final exit in last month’s JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York. It was an opening of which Egyptian El Welily took full advantage – going on to claim the WSA International 100 event trophy for the first time.

While David reached the Cleveland climax after a 3/0 semifinal win over unseeded Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy, El Welily was taken the full distance in the other semi before clinching her place in the final with a 12-10 win in the decider against former champion Laura Massaro, the No. 2 seed from England.

In the final, defending champion David comfortably took the opening game – but El Welily (pictured above, left, in action with David) came back strongly in the second, opening up 5-2 and 8-4 leads.

But error-free play by the top seed saw David claw back to nine-all before taking the next two points to extend her lead to 2/0.

From three-all in the third, El Welily only managed a further point as the majestic Malaysian powered through to her 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 victory.

It was David’s first WSA World Tour title triumph of the year – but the 79th of her career!

“She had a big long tourney win at the ToC and then a tough five-setter yesterday,” said the three-time Cleveland Classic champion of her opponent. “I hoped maybe to get the lead and take it to the end.”