The winners and runner-ups are joined by the generous owner of sponsor Cannon Kirk Homes

World number 11 Madeline Perry played her best Squash of the week in the final of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open 2013 to beat Guayana’s Nicolette Fernandes by three games to one. Nicolette was uncharacteristically slightly slow out of the blocks, but was on the verge of taking the second game when she squandered a 9:5 lead. She fought back in game three, recuperating from a 5:1 deficit, but was steamrolled 11:2 in game four. “I don’t think I did much wrong in game four”, said the world number 31, “but Madeline was flying in that game and was just too good.” Madeline was content with her performance, especially playing well in front of a home crowd. “This is not my home court, but this is as home as it gets to me, and winning in Ireland obviously means a lot to me.” The former world number three feels that this was good preparation for the European Team Championships happening next week: “there are some strong teams out there but if Aisling Blake and I are playing well, we are within a chance. Also, our number three player has gained some good experience and should make things hard for whoever she faces.”

The two happy winners of the Irish Open 2013 - Madeline Perry and Mohamed Nafiizwan Adnan

Mohamed Nafiizwan Adnan was over the moon with his win in the men’s final over big Omar Abdel Meguid of Egypt. It was a fiercely contested match in the first two games, but Mohamed was just that much fresher in the last two games and ran out a 3:1 victory. Omar, who delighted the crowd with some incredible winner, but also frustrated them by not always clearing the ball perfectly, was gracious in defeat: “it’s been a long week for me and I think it could have gone to five if I had been a bit fresher. But Mohamed was the better player on the day and deservedly won.” For Mohamed victory here meant a lot, and he is eager to return next year. “I will relax now after a long week. Ireland has been good to me, it’s a great tournament for me, and lets hope that Cannon Kirk Homes, the sponsors, can support the event again next year.”

In a first for the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open, the event was streamed live on the aertv.ie website, and commentary was provided by a number of players. For the finals Dan Zilic was joined by none other than Derek Ryan, who came fresh off court after beating top European junior David Ryan. Thousands of internet users followed the action online, and remarkably the viewership was truly international: “We saw a real spike in traffic from Mexico during Samantha Teran’s match”, said Mark Burke, senior producer at aertv.ie. And the players were impressed too: “I had some top ten players watch me yesterday, and they said I played well! This wouldn’t have been possible years ago”, the finalist Omar Abdel Meguid said, proving that also players benefit from the wider exposure. Finally, Alex Gough, CEO of the Professional Squash Association, also alluded how this type of coverage is a real boost for Squash’s bid for the inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games. “We have always had the players, but we haven’t always had the exposure. We are getting this right this time, and coverage such as this is fantastic for the game”, the CEO said in an interview.

Which concludes this year’s Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open 2013, an event that will be remembered for great Squash, spectacular online coverage, and a fifth title for home favourite Madeline Perry. Replays will be available online at aertv.ie during the course of next week. Dan Zilic

Nicolette Fernandes of Guyana - will she be smiling after tomorrow's final?

Madeline Perry made sure that Ireland is represented in tomorrow’s finals of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open. The Irish top player made the final of the Irish Open for a record tenth time and will face Nicolette Fernandes, the Guyanese player who powered into the finals after an impressive win over Emily Whitlock. The final promises to be Madeline’s toughest test yet, but the world number eleven was tested by Deon Saffery in today’s semi-final. The Welsh number two took game two in a tie-break, which marked Madeline’s first dropped game of the tournament, but Perry recovered to take the next two games easily, and the match 3:1.

Following the women’s final will be a clash between Egyptian Omar Abdel Meguid and Malaysia’s Mohamed Nafiizwan Adnan. Both top 50 players were tested in the semis by their opposition: Meguid took out the top seed Chris Simpson in four hotly contested games, while Adnan beat the US number one Christopher Gordon by the same scoreline.

Tomorrow's finalist Adnan of Malaysia - celebrated his twenty-seventh birthday here in Dublin three days ago

Tomorrow’s matches again will be live-streamed by aertv.ie – coverage beginning at 3pm. However, aertv.ie will also be streaming tomorrow’s the Premier League Cup final between Sutton and Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club from 10:30am onwards. Also here there’ll be some fantastic matches on who between the likes of Irish Squash legend Derek Ryan and Ireland’s top junior player David Ryan, as well as Nigel Peyton and Eoin Ryan.

Madeline Perry - through to another final

Entry to Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club is completely free, just like aertv.ie’s excellent live streaming! Dan Zilic

Gaskin, on the right, suffered a narrow yet highly entertaining defeat against Chris Gordon

Watchers throughout the world were treated to some high-energy Squash live on aertv.ie – with Chris Collins, Damian O’Reilly and Dan Zilic reporting live on the action.

Madeline Perry - never in danger of losing today

The night ended with Deon Saffery continuing her run beating Colin Aumard in three impressive games, and Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan, whose birthday it was yesterday, came back from 5:10 down in the first game against Shaun Le Roux, took the game 12:10 and the subsequent games too to win 3:0 – treating the crowd to some rarely seen pick-ups and shots.

Aertv.ie providing coverage of our Irish Open!

There’s a real buzz around this year’s Irish Open with everyone being excited about today’s live streaming by Aertv. If you are planning to tune in – visit this link or look for the LIVE channel).

We are hoping to provide live commentary throughout, featuring a mix of Irish Squash players from Chris Collins, Derek Ryan, Dan Zilic and Damian O’Reilly. Also, we have two cameras – one back-court camera and one camera in the front of the tin!

You can find the schedule for today below, but the two matches everyone will be looking out for are 6pm and 7pm matches of Irish heroes Arthur Gaskin and Madeline Perry. Both reached the quarter-finals in contrasting styles: Arthur upsets the seedings with a heroic straight game victory over world number 39 Mohamed Ali Anwar Reda, while Madeline Perry dealt with Mariam Metwally’s threat quite comfortably. Today’s opposition promises to be even tougher: Gaskin is taking on the recently-crowned and in-form US champion Christoper Gordon, while Perry faces the Toronto-based Japanese number one Misaki Kobayashi.

Aertv.ie's back-court camera set-up

Around these two matches there’ll be plenty of other action, ranging from world number 29 Chris Simpson taking on Jens Schoor of Germany, to Mexico’s number one Samantha Teran playing Guyana’s Nicolette Fernandes.

So tune in to aertv.ie and support our top Irish players, or even better, turn up to Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club and enjoy the action live form 2pm.

Gaskin Gets Irish Eyes Smiling

25 April 2013

RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open, Dublin, Ireland

1st round: [1] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [Q] Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 (66m) [Q] Jens Schoor (GER) bt Charles Sharpes (ENG) 12-10, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7 (64m) [Q] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 11-13, 11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 11-3 (63m) [3] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt Steven Finitsis (AUS) 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 (57m) Christopher Gordon (USA) bt [4] Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-2, 11-8, 13-11 (65m) [WC] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (51m) Shaun le Roux (RSA) bt [Q] Zahed Mohamed (EGY) 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 14-12 (61m) [2] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt [LL] Johan Bouquet (FRA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-13, 11-7 (48m)

Wild card Arthur Gaskin produced unexpected home interest in the quarter-finals of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open after ousting higher-ranked Egyptian Mohd Ali Anwar Reda in the opening round of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.

Dublin-born Gaskin, ranked 96 in the world, reached more than 50 places above him to topple the highest-ranked non-seed in the draw 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 in 51 minutes.

“I knew what to expect,” said the delighted 28-year-old afterwards.  “He plays a good tempo, has a good rhythm and length.  My plan was to stay in front of him and be positive, after all I had nothing much to lose. I believed in myself – I knew I had a chance if I played well, although facing such opposition you also know you can lose just as easily.

“I had a game-plan from the start and, what should I say, it worked out to perfection.  There was a crucial period in the third when I was 5-3 up.  We had about seven or eight lets in a row and I knew if I won that point and went up 6-3, it would give me a mental boost.  At that point I was starting to hurt, so that point really was important, and luckily I got it.

“This is a great result for me, really good, and hopefully this marks a bit of a bounce-back.  I haven’t had a great season so far, so I’m just over the moon.

“Up next is Chris Gordon, who is playing really well at the moment.  I played him in Ecuador, I think, eight years ago, so that’s not much to go by, but I’ll just go in the court, with my game plan, and play my best in front of a great home crowd!”

American Christopher Gordon continued his stunning run of form of late by causing the event’s first seeding casualty.  The newly-crowned US National champion, ranked 54 in the world, despatched experienced Canadian Shahier Razik, the fourth seed, 11-2, 11-8, 13-11 in 65 minutes.

A pair of qualifiers also survived the first round:  German qualifier Jens Schoor, the 25-year-old world No82 from Koblenz, beat England’s Charles Sharpes, ranked 16 places higher, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7 in 64 minutes.

“Well that was an awful performance, so flat and lethargic on there,” tweeted a despondent Sharpes later.  “My inconsistency is ridiculous at the moment.”

It took Frenchman Lucas Serme 63 minutes to become the second qualifier through to the last eight following an 11-13, 11-7, 11-13, 11-3, 11-3 win over Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal.

Quarter-final line-up: [1] Chris Simpson (ENG) v [Q] Jens Schoor (GER) [3] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v [Q] Lucas Serme (FRA) Christopher Gordon (USA) v [WC] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) [2] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) v Shaun le Roux (RSA)

Gaskin's scream of joy after beating Anwar Reda 3:0!

Madeline Perry kept Irish interest alive in the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open 2013. Facing a tricky and talented Egyptian Mariam Metwally, Perry steadied herself after winning a shaky first game in the tie-break, and ran out a comfortable 3:0 win in the end. “The first game was a bit bouncy and I hadn’t quite found my range,” said Perry, “but once I did I think I was able to break her down quite nicely. Everyone has been telling me all day that she is really good, so I was definitely on my toes.”

Aisling Blake, who was in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club yesterday to support Squash’s bid for inclusion into the 2020 Olympics together with Senator and former Olympian Eamonn Coghlan, was off the pace today and was duly beaten by Welsh number two Deon Saffrey in 30 minutes. The Dublin-born Irish Champion was seeded three in this tournament, and there was talk of a re-match of the Irish Championships finals between Perry and Blake in the semis. Alas, it was not to be. But Perry sees her win as an ideal preparation for the tournament: “Today, mid-way through the third I began thinking that this is a really good opening match for me. I don’t like if it’s too easy, I think a good tough first round match helps me for the rest of the tournament.” Reason enough to remain optimistic that Irish interests remain in the women’s draw until the final day!

After five exciting men’s first round matches, Arthur Gaskin took to the court at 8pm, facing the world number 39 Mohamed Ali Anwar Reda of Egypt. Gaskin, who has a career-high ranking of 80 and is currently “only” number 96, started confidently and was matching his opponents pace comfortably. Utilising his backhand drop to good effect, Gaskin took the first game  11:8. Whoever thought that the Egyptian was still warming up in game one was corrected quickly: Gaskin continued to match his opponent’s pace and ran out a phenomenal 3:0 win after 51 minutes.

“I had a gameplan from the start, and what should I say: it worked out to perfection,” said Gaskin, who now faces Christopher Gordon, the current US champion who upset Shahier Razik in three games. “I played him in Equador I think eight years ago, so that’s not much to go by, but I’ll just go in the court, with my game plan, and play my best in front of a great home crowd!“

Lets hope we see Arthur celebrating as he did today:

PSA UPDATED DRAW HERE

WSA UPDATED DRAW HERE

More Squash tomorrow from 2pm at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, as well as the premier for live online streaming via aertv.ie from 2pm onwards! Dan Zilic

Aisling Blake and Eamonn Coghlan - stern supporters of Squash's 2020 Olympic bid

Eamonn Coghlan, the three time Irish Olympian and former World Champion over 5000 metres, took time out of his busy schedule as Irish Senator, to back Squash’s bid for inclusion into the 2020 Olympics. Coghlan was supported by no-one other than Aisling Blake, the current world number 23, reigning Irish champion and President of the Women’s Squash Association.

And while there were no Irish players in action today, the outcome of two matches was to determine who both Madeline Perry and Aisling Blake were to face tomorrow when the main draw begins. Perry will be facing Mariam Metwally, the young Egyptian who caused the upset of the day by beating top qualifying seed Gaby Huber 3:0 in 38 minutes. While Madeline Perry is 65 positions ahead of Metwally in the current world ranking, the impressive result gives Madeline reason to be cautious. Aisling Blake on the other hand will face Deon Saffrey, after the Welsh number two beat Austrian number one Birgit Coufal.

There were no upsets in the men’s qualifying today, but plenty of close calls. Malaysian Ivan Yuen took five sets to overcome Alejandro Garbi Caro of Spain, while Lucas Serme took two minutes longer to beat Joel Hinds by three games to two. Serme found himself two games down, and after winning the third 11:9, took control of the match. At 9:10 down in the fifth Jens Schoor of Germany endured some nervous moments when his talented opponent Alex Phillips was hitting winner after winner, but Schoor strung together three points to take the match 3:2. The evening ended with style when young Zahed Mohamed took to the court against Johan Bouquet, giving the crowd and his opponent a lesson in Egyptian Squash. Bouquet will not have minded losing as he drew the lucky loser spot, after Mark Krajcsakpulled out of the main draw.

Blake and Coghlan amongst the Irish Open 2013 players

The main draw begins tomorrow at 2pm at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club. Entry to all matches is free, just aertv.ie’s free online streaming (from Thursday).

Oisin Logan and David Ryan - two of Ireland's top juniors in action today

It was a busy day at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club on the opening day of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open 2013, with plenty of Irish interest in both events.

While touring Irish professionals Madeline Perry, Aisling Blake, and Arthur Gaskin aren’t called into action until the main draws begin on Wednesday, today seven Irish hopefuls had the opportunity to test their mettle against international competition. In the ladies’ event, both Griffin Gillanders and Fiona Power were outclassed by their Dutch and French opposition. And neither Irish under 15s champion Stephanie Ryan nor national team player Ciara Moloney were able to get a prestigious game off their opponents.

In the men’s draw young Sean Conroy kicked off proceedings against in-form Lucas Serme, but the Frenchman proved too hot to handle. Serme comes off winning three PSA tournaments this year, and certainly one of the most dangerous looking qualifiers. It wasn’t looking good for young David Ryan – one of Europe’s top U17 players – when he went down 2:11 and 6:11 to Englishman and world number 141 Alex Phillips. But in game three David put up a fantastic display of high-energy Squash, matching his more experienced opponent rally for rally. But at this level David learnt that you have to use your chances, and after squandering two gameballs in the tie-breaker of the third, he lost 14:16 and therewith the match 0:3.

Here’s what David had to say after his epic third game: “In the beginning he just blew me away, the pace was just so high and I was rushing things a bit. The pace is just so much higher than what I am used to at junior level, and it took me a game and a half to find my rhythm, but once I started finding my length, I also gradually grew in confidence. Particularly in the third game I got tighter on my backhand and just dug in. A few good volleys helped me to get two gameballs and  I really thought I’d sneak one, but he also hit some outrageous winners. It was a real eye opener for me because it’s the first time I played a current PSA player. And I learned that I need far more of these type matches – I wish I could play these matches every week! And on the other hand, I am also not as far off from this standard as I might have thought. Of course my legs were burning like crazy in the third game, but I was really happy to stick with him in that third game.

My plans for the short-term now are to hopefully play more local PSA tournaments in Ireland, and to establish myself in the Irish Premier circuit – there are some great players here in Ireland, too: Derek Ryan, Stevie Richardson, Arthur Gaskin… In the longer term I’d like to also play the professional circuit for a few years, but that’ll be after college!“

With that it was left to david’s Sutton team mate Oisin Logan to win that elusive game for Ireland, but unfortunately Frenchman Johan Bouquet was too good on the day. In other men’s results Joel Hinds beat fellow Englishman Ben Coleman in a gruelling 81 minutes encounter. And while Joel may have beaten a higher ranked player, he is only coming back from injury and Coleman would have known of Hinds’ ability. Spanish interest also remains in the tournament with Alejandro Garbi Caro beating Scotsman Kevin Moran in a close 3:0. especially the small but boisterous contingent of Spanish fans were especially happy.

The number one seed in the female qualifying draw Gaby Huber of Switzerland squeezed past Chloe Mesic (FRA) in a close 3:1 and faces Mariam Metwally of Egypt tomorrow. Huber quite remarkably came back form a 5:10 deficit in the third and secured a 2:1 lead, which was ultimately enough to overome her French opposition. Huber is a former world 29 and is just recovering from an achilles injury and is looking to qualify for the main draw tomorrow. In the last match of the day number two seed Dion Saffrey beat Hariett Ingham 3:0 – Ingham was a late replacement due to a late withdrawal and just about made it in time for her match.

The final qualifying matches will begin tomorrow at 2pm, in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club. Entry to all matches is free, and our free online streaming via aertv.ie begins on Thursday. – Dan Zilic 

Scott Gillanders wins the Luxembourg Junior Open U13 event having beaten Peter Devald 11-1, 9-11, 11-2, 11-7 in the final. Scott won his 3 previous rounds in straight sets in a very convincing manner.

Nikita Gileveskiy was runner up in U17 event losing to Noam Peer 11-5, 11-5, 11-6. Nikita was the number 3 seed, beating the number 2 seed Kristof Konecsni 11-3, 11-6, 11-4 in the semi final which was asuperb result for Nikita.

For full details on the Luxembourg Open see here

http://esf.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=F93C9182-44C8-4FF0-8CAC-96938B47DD08

World Squash Federation President N Ramachandran has praised the Xodus 7 Continent Challenge as an initiative of ‘epic proportions’ and one which has given the sport’s Olympic bid a great boost.

Peter Nicol MBE and fellow former professional Tim Garner launched the Xodus 7 Continent Challenge in Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands on the edge of Antarctica just over a week ago – then traversed the globe via Santiago in Chile; Sydney in Australia; Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia; Cairo in Egypt; and London in England before reaching the climax of their bid to contest 7 Squash Matches in 7 Days on 7 Continents to raise the profile of Squash’s campaign to join the programme of the 2020 Olympic Games in Connecticut in the USA on Saturday.

“DONE!” tweeted Garner after the intrepid pair rounded off their mission at the new 12-court Chelsea Piers Club in Stamford, where Nicol edged to a 4/3 series victory in the squash challenge – after seven matches, 32 games and more than six hours of playing time!

“70 hours on airplanes, 40,000 miles of travelling and seven matches completed.  It’s been an incredible week!”

President Ramachandran is full of admiration of the pair’s efforts:  “Both Peter and Tim have already made significant contributions to the sport – Peter as a former world champion and world number one and Tim as director of major events like the British Open, World Series Finals and Canary Wharf Classic.

“But this went beyond the call of duty – it was an extraordinary pioneering mission of epic proportions which has caught the imagination of sports enthusiasts the world over and has done much to boost our Olympic bid.”

Garner, a former world No26, later commented:  “We set out on Xodus 7 Continent Challenge to help highlight the profile of the 2020 bid and raise some money for two worthy causes.  I think it did just that – and more, as each and every venue had pushed the boat to make their event special and in doing so did much for squash in their community.

“It has been a tough challenge, but I am pleased that we both managed to come through it relatively unscathed, though it may take a few days to recover as the muscles and bones are feeling a little weary!

“It was great to spend a week with one of my best friends – who, fittingly, I met through squash – though it was annoying to lose to him in the decider!”

On the journey back to London, Nicol added:  “As we set off on this incredible journey, I was apprehensive for several reasons but also hugely excited. From landing in the Falklands all the way through to Stamford, CT, we were wonderfully surprised with the reaction from local squash players, the media and, to be perfectly honest, by our bodies to playing.  We both expected to find the squash the hardest aspect of the tour but were delighted to find out that we were still capable of playing to a decent standard over the course of seven days.

“Tim and I both feel squash deserves a chance to be in the Olympics and if our Challenge helps in any way, then it’s been very worthwhile.  We are also proud to have raised significant funds for both our official charities and for each of the local venue charities as well.

“Personally I would like to thank Tim for conceptualising, planning and executing the Xodus 7 Continent Challenge. He has served squash tremendously well now for 20 years in all different capacities and deserves great credit for what he does for the sport, most of which goes unnoticed.  I also really enjoyed spending time with one of my best friends on an unforgettable journey.  To win the deciding match was rather pleasing as well!!”

As well as profiling the Olympic Bid, the Xodus 7 Continent Challenge has raised monies for two squash causes: The first the LV= SOS Kit Aid Scheme, and the second Natasha’s Steps, a trust set up help young squash player Natasha Drake who is recovering from an idiopathic bleed on her brain.

Follow Squash’s 2020 Olympic campaign on Twitter at @Vote4Squash and Like the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BackTheBid2020

Read Garner’s daily Xodus 7 Continent Challenge blogs on http://squash2020.com/