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Women's
Icelandair Group Squash Classic, Reykjavik, Iceland
29-Sep-07, Final:
[3] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG)
bt [4] Sarah Kippax (ENG) 2-9, 9-6, 9-6, 9-5 (59m)
Lloyd-Walter Wins Inaugural Reykjavik Title
Third seed Dominique
Lloyd-Walter prevailed in an all-English final of the
inaugural Women's Icelandair Group Classic to win the
first ever WISPA Premiere Series squash event at
Veggsport Squash Club in the Iceland capital Reykjavik.
Nursing an ankle injury,
Lloyd-Walter had been unable to train before landing in
Iceland - and thus her expectations were low.
However, her defeat of top seed
Jaclyn Hawkes in the semi-finals had taken her through
to an unexpected final - where she faced compatriot Sarah
Kippax, the No4 seed.
Kippax started brightly and took
the opening game. But Lloyd-Walter, the 26-year-old world
No22 from Harrow, fought back to clinch a notable 2-9, 9-6,
9-6, 9-5 victory in a minute short of an hour.
 Having
come through the disappointment of pulling out of the
British Open earlier in the month, Lloyd-Walter was elated
with her Reykjavik win: "I have never won a tournament this
big so I am really, really pleased. I put in a lot of work
this summer with Steve Townsend, Steve Evans and Jenny
Tranfield. All three have given me so much support and I am
glad that I have now given something back to them."
Asked about her foot issue, the
new champion explained: "It wasn't so much the blister but
the taping restricting my movement a little and it was
slipping until I fixed it. I was thinking more about that
than my game early on."
Lloyd-Walter maintains a
distinctive record - having won all three WISPA World Tour
final in which she has competed!
Kippax had mixed emotions: "I am
delighted to have got to the final but disappointed to have
lost. I started well and felt I was playing decisively. But
once I had taken the first and was up in the second I seemed
to lose some momentum and she picked up the pace.
"But I gave it my best shot and I
am happy as I have picked up some things to go away and work
on," added the 24-year-old from Chester.
28-Sep-07, Semi-finals:
[3] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt [1] Jaclyn Hawkes
(NZL) 3-9, 3-9, 9-0, 9-6, 9-4 (89m)
[4] Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt [5] Tenille Swartz (RSA)
9-5, 10-8, 10-9 (47m)
English Pair To Contest Reykjavik Final
The inaugural Women's Icelandair Group Squash Classic, the
first ever WISPA Premiere Series event, will climax in an
all-English final after Dominique Lloyd-Walter and Sarah
Kippax overcame their semi-final opponents in contrasting
styles at Veggsport Squash Club in the Iceland capital
Reykjavik.
In their third clash this year, third seed Dominique
Lloyd-Walter faced New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes, the top seed.
Hawkes sped to a 2/0 lead, but the 26-year-old from Harrow
fought back to clinch an impressive upset 3-9, 3-9, 9-0, 9-6,
9-4 after 89 minutes.
"Even in the fifth, I didn't think I had a chance," said a
delighted Lloyd-Walter afterwards. "I hadn't trained for a
week because of my ankle and I wasn't confident at all. It was
only at 7/4 in the decider that I began to believe I might
win."
Now in her third WISPA World Tour final - though her first for
more than two years - Lloyd-Walter will face Sarah Kippax, the
24-year-old from Chester who is celebrating her sixth final.
The fourth seed faced surprise opponent Tenille Swartz, the
fifth seed from South Africa who defeated second seed Sharon
Wee in a major first round upset.
Kippax took the first two games and soon reached match-ball at
8-4 in the third. But the gritty 20-year-old from Parys
bravely fought back to move to 9/8 in a single hand to claim
an unlikely game-ball.
Kippax regained the advantage and, after 47 minutes, secured
her 9-5, 10-8, 10-9 victory.
"I thought I played pretty well, trying to keep the pace up as
I thought she may be a little bit tired from her match
yesterday," said Kippax.
Rising star Swartz was not too downhearted: "My legs felt
quite heavy and Sarah is such a physical player and I couldn't
keep up. She took me short and I struggled a bit. But I'm
happy as my squash was good and coming to Iceland was a great
experience."
27-Sep-07:
1st round:
[1] Jaclyn Hawkes
(NZL) bt Soraya Renai (FRA) 9-4, 9-3, 9-0 (25m)
[6] Orla Noom (NED) bt Celia Allamargot (FRA) 4-9, 9-7, 9-7, 6-9,
9-3 (63m)
[3] Dominique
Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt Kerri Shields (IRL) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1 (23m)
[8] Kirsty McPhee
(ENG) bt Milou van der Heijden (NED) 9-2, 8-10, 9-5, 9-3 (52m)
Camille Serme
(FRA) bt [7] Georgina Stoker (ENG) 9-2, 2-9, 9-4, 9-0 (36m)
[4] Sarah Kippax
(ENG) bt Rosa Jonsdottir (ISL) 9-1, 9-1, 9-3 (19m)
[5] Tenille
Swartz (RSA) bt Victoria Lust (ENG) 9-5, 9-2, 9-1 (26m)
[2] Isabelle
Stoehr (FRA) bt Deon Saffery (ENG) 9-3, 9-1, 9-7 (25m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Jaclyn Hawkes
(NZL) bt [6] Orla Noom (NED) 9-4, 9-2, 9-3 (35m)
[3] Dominique
Lloyd-Walter (ENG) bt [8] Kirsty McPhee (ENG) 9-6, 9-1, 9-2
(35m)
[4] Sarah Kippax (ENG) bt Camille
Serme (FRA) 9-5, 9-6, 9-7 (38m)
[5] Tenille
Swartz (RSA) bt [2] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-7, 9-7, 1-9, 6-9,
9-7 (72m)
Swartz Swats Stoehr In Reykjavik Upset
Avenging her loss
just a week ago in the British Open, South Africa's
Tenille Swartz secured one of the biggest wins of her
career when she upset second seed Isabelle Stoehr
in a five-game marathon in the quarter-finals of the
Women's Icelandair Group Squash Classic, the first ever
WISPA Premiere Series event, at Veggsport Squash Club
in the Iceland capital Reykjavik.
Swartz, a
20-year-old from Parys who made her WISPA World Tour
debut less than a year ago, took the opening two games, before
the world number 18 from France fought back to force the match
into a fifth-game decider.
Fifth seed Swartz
raced 4-0 ahead, but Stoehr again fought back to take the lead
- then saved the first match-ball against the South African at
8-7. But, after one of the longest rallies of the clash, Swartz
finally clinched her confidence-boosting 9-7, 9-7, 1-9, 6-9,
9-7 victory after 72 minutes.
 "I
played her a week ago. It gave me an idea of what I needed to
do to beat her. I knew it would be hard but I had a game
plan," said the ebullient Swartz later.
"When I was down
in the fifth, I did start panicking a bit but then I thought
that I had got this far so I wasn't ever going to give up.
"Thank goodness I
got here," added the surprise semi-finalist, referring to her
difficulty in acquiring a visa to enter the country.
Swartz will now
face Sarah Kippax after the fourth seed from England
beat France's unseeded Camille Serme 9-5, 9-6, 9-7.
The other semi-final will also
feature English interest after third seed Dominique
Lloyd-Walter beat compatriot Kirsty McPhee 9-6,
9-1, 9-2 to set up a clash with New Zealand favourite
Jaclyn Hawkes, a 9-4, 9-2, 9-3 winner over Dutch opponent
Orla Noom.
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