30 Jul 2009

Australian Open champion Stewart Boswell (Former AIS Scholarship holder)  will carry Australian hopes into the semi-finals of the squash tournament at the World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan after he beat Frenchman Julien Balbo in Wednesday’s quarter-finals.

Boswell beat the Frenchman in straight games 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 and will now play second seeded Briton James Willstrop for a place in Saturday’s Gold Medal playoff.

Australian Open runner-up Cameron Pilley (Former AIS Scholarship Holder) bowed out in the quarter-finals, beaten 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 by Malaysia’s Azlan Iskandar, as did Kasey Brown, (AIS Scholarship Holder)  who went down to Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands 11-8, 11-7, 11-4.

“Stewart played good steady squash and worked Julian well down the backhand wall and with drops,” Australian manager Sarah Fitz-Gerald said.

“Balbo soon began to struggle with his short game and the workload required.

“Cameron never got comfortable on the glass court and he was never able to settle.

“He tried to follow advice, but things just weren’t happening for him today.

“Kasey started slowly, but worked herself into match and played some great lobs and drives to push Grinham into the back then put in the short ball.

“But Natalie is so fast and has some good angles – she’s very difficult to play against and control.”

Quarter-final results (prefix denotes seeding):

Men

1-Nick Matthew (GBR) bt 8-Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-4, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6

3-Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt 6-Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5

5-Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt 13-Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4

2-James Willstrop (GBR) bt 7-Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 12-10

Women

1-Nicol David (MAS) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3

5-Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt 3-Jenny Duncalf (GBR) 6-11, 13-11, 14-12, 11-8

4-Alison Waters (GBR) bt 11-Samantha Teran (MEX) 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7

2-Natalie Grinham (NED) bt 9-Kasey Brown (AUS) 11-8, 11-7, 11-4