S A National Squash Championships
Wanderers Club, Johannesburg
Finals: Men: 1- Steve Coppinger (Kzn) bt 2- Clinton Leeuw (WP) 11-5 11-5 11-8.
Women: 1-Siyoli Waters (WP)bt 5/8- Alexandra Fuller (WP) 11-4 11-3 11-7
Plates: Men : Main Plate: Jason Kershaw(N) bt Dylan Groenewald (E) 9- 11 11-7 11-6 12-10, Qualifying : 1st Plate : Richard Middleton(CG) bt Kevin de Lange (E) 11-7 14-12 11-9, 2nd Plate : Marko Fourie (N) bt Devon Savage (E) 11-9 11-8 11-9, Consolation Plate: S Ncube (CG) nt M Cross (CG) 6-11 11-3 11-6 11-4
Women : 1st Plate: Emily Mennie (Midlands ) bt Mariska Wiese (CG) 12-14 12-10 11-7 4-11 11-8, 2nd Plate:Lume Landman (EP) bt Michelle Kohne (N) 11-6 13-11 11-6
Top seeds Steve Coppinger and Siyoli Waters lifted the respective men’s and women’s titles at the S A National Squash Championships when the finals were played at the wanderers Club, Johannesburg.
Ranked 16 in the world, Coppinger needed 32 minutes to subdue second seeded Clinton Leeuw 11-5 11-5 11-8 and clearly showing the huge stride he has made in the past year moving in to the world’s top 20 players. No matter how hard Cape Town’s Leeuw tried to dictate play, Coppinger answered with tighter, deeper drives or energy sapping placings to which the Capetonan could find no answers.
Coppinger has now won 6 out of 7 finals pulling ahead of both Craig van der Wath’s and Glenn Whittaker’s four wins apiece.
In a similar fashion Siyoli Waters, ranked 34 in the world, captured her first senior national title when she outgunned her 19 year old Western Province teammate, Alexandra Fuller 11-5 11-3 11-7. Fuller may have been showing the effects of her lengthy well merited five game victory over second seeded Cheyna Tucker in the semi finals but she could not penetrate Water’s all round court craft fading out in 25 minutes.
[…] with tighter, deeper drives or energy sapping placings to which the Capetonan could find no answers. Coppinger has now won 6 out of 7 finals pulling ahead of both Craig van der Wath’s and Glenn […]