V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa: Former SA No 1 Siyoli Waters made the most of her entry into the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships when she put out fourth-seeded Hayley Ward in three games at the V & Waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday.
In another notable result on the opening day, Pretoria player Ruan Olivier eliminated 2019 champion JP Brits (SA Country Districts) in a hard-fought encounter, advancing to the semi-finals with a 3-1 victory.
The tournament runs until Sunday and features the top eight women and men in the country, fighting for the glory of being crowned South African champion.
Cape Town’s Waters, a former professional who rose to 28 in the world a decade ago, lost in the final of the Western Province regional event to current professional Alex Fuller, but came in as a lucky loser after another regional winner, Cheyna Wood, was unable to play this week.
The 39-year-old star recently earned a bronze medal in the World Masters Championships in Poland and said that experience had opened her eyes to the intensity she had to try to achieve.
“Hayley is a fantastic player who will attack if you give her any space, so I knew I had to take that away from her and not allow her to play her game,” Waters said.
“Having come into the tournament as a lucky loser, it is basically one step at a time and any success I regard as a bonus.”
After taking the first game, Waters used her attacking instincts, pouncing on any opportunity to kill the ball and that allowed her to lead 10-6 in the second.
But Ward (Eastern Province) showed exemplary courage under pressure and saw off four game points to draw level. However, Waters was able to fashion one more game point and finished it off with a crosscourt winner.
She rode the momentum from that 2-0 lead to comfortably take the third, setting up a rematch in Friday’s semi-finals against Fuller.
In the feature men’s match, Olivier, runner-up in 2020, won a crucial first game against Brits after trailing 10-8, capitalising on some uncharacteristic errors by his opponent to take it 13-11.
The match was soon on level terms as Brits swept through the second game, but Olivier matched his all-round skills with an impressive level of consistency that allowed him to get his nose ahead despite his opponent’s best efforts.
He showed a sense of maturity under pressure in the fourth when Brits came from 6-3 down to level the game at 7-7. Keeping his composure, it was Brits who eventually failed to make some crucial shots and two errors gave Olivier the win on his first match point.
In the tournament’s opening match, Alexa Pienaar (SACD) overcame a sluggish start when she lost the first game to defeat provincial colleague Shelomi Truter 3-1, reaching the semi-finals for the second year in a row.
She will face second seed and defending champion Lizelle Muller (SACD), who also dropped a game, but had enough in the tank to outgun Helena Coetzee of Northerns 3-1.
The top-seeded Fuller (WP) had no trouble seeing off the challenge of young Joburg Squash player Teagan Roux, while men’s No 1 Dewald van Niekerk (SACD) dropped the second game against KwaZulu-Natal’s Matthew Boote, but then knuckled down to his task to comfortably outlast his game opponent 3-1.
Thursday’s results were:
Women: 1-Alex Fuller (WP) bt 8-Teagan Roux (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-5 11-3 11-2), 2-Lizelle Muller (SACD) bt 7-Helena Coetzee (Northerns) 3-1 (5-11 11-7 11-8 11-6) 3-Alexa Pienaar (SACD) bt 6-Shelomi Truter (SACD) 3-1, (7-11 11-6 11-9 11-4), 5-Siyoli Waters (WP) bt 4-Hayley Ward (EP) 3-0 (11-8 12-10 11-5)
Men: 1-Dewald van Niekerk (SACD) bt 8-Matthew Boote (KZN) 3-1 (11-3 9-11 11-3 11-2), 2-Tristen Worth (SACD) bt 7-Thoboki Mohohlo (Joburg Squash) 3-0 (11-7 11-5 11-4), 3-Christo Potgieter (Joburg Squash) bt 6-Rodney Durbach (WP) 3-0 (11-4 11-6 11-3), 5-Ruan Olivier (Northerns) bt 4-JP Brits (SACD) 3-1 (13-11 4-11 11-7 11-7)
Friday’s programme in the main event is:
Women: 2.20pm: 2-Lizelle Muller (SACD) v 3-Alexa Pienaar (SACD), 3.40pm: 1-Alex Fuller (WP) v 5-Siyoli Waters (WP)
Men: 3pm: 2-Tristen Worth (SACD) v 3-Christo Potgieter (Joburg Squash), 4.20pm: 1-Rudi van Niekerk (SACD) v 5-Ruan Olivier (Northerns)
Ends
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Captions:
Lizelle Muller: Second women’s seed Lizelle Muller of SA Country District in action against Helena Coetzee Northens on day one of Growthpoint South Africa National Squash Championships being played at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Muller beat Helena Coetzee 3-1.
Matt Boote: Matthew Boote of Kwazulu-Natal in action against top seeded Dewald van Niekerk of SA Country Districts on the opening day of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday. Van Niekerk won 3-1
Thoboki Mohohlo: Thoboki Mohohlo of Joburg Squash during his match against second seed Tristen Worth of SA Country Districts on the opening day of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday. Worth won 3-0.
Siyoli Waters: Western Province’s Siyoli Waters plays a forearm during her match against Eastern Province’s Hayley Ward on the opening day of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday. Waters won 3-0.
JP Brits: SA Country Districts player JP Brits stretches for a forehand during his match against Ruan Olivier of Northerns on the opening day of the Growthpoint SA Nationals squash championships at the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday. Olivier upset Brits 3-1.
Picture credit: Carl Fourie
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