Spectacular display of squash
PARKVIEW – Players show fantastic sportsmanship and professionalism at squash tournament.
It was five days of spectacular talent on show in Parkview.
Parkview Squash Centre hosted the fourth Balwin Assore Gauteng Open Professional Squash Players (PSA) tournament.
According to Craig van der Wath, who is the club manager for the centre, participants came from all over the world including Argentina, Austria, Egypt, England, Iraq, Korea, Kuwait, Namibia and Nigeria.
In the women’s event, the crowd was enthralled by 15-year-old Rowan Elaraby from Egypt who played in her first PSA event. “She was like a butterfly who floated around the court and did not drop a game leading up to the final,” said Van der Wath.
Elaraby played against South African, Milnay Louw, who said after losing to the youngster, “Rowan was just more consistent than me and I made too many mistakes instead of waiting out the rally.”
Elaraby was thrilled to win her first PSA event and was happy with her performance on the day. “The game was not easy and I felt it was very quick. I am very happy that I won and am looking forward to my next event in Cape Town,” she said.
The men’s final between Aqeel Reham from Austria and Argentinian Leandro Romiglio was a spectacular display of squash with the game see-sawing between the two players. After the first game, Reham looked fatigued and the crowd seemed to think that it was going to sway towards Romiglio as he won the second fairly convincingly.
But Reham was not going to lie down so easily and found a hidden source of energy to, once again, put Romiglio under pressure to go 2–1 ahead. After a pressured start to the fourth, Romiglio hit some tight lengths and great nick shots to even the match at 2–2.
“If anyone had placed money on this match, they would have been sitting on the edge of their seats right until the last point,” said Van der Wath.
Both players had five match balls each with the advantage going backwards and forwards. They also both made crucial mistakes at the last minute, giving away their hard-earned advantage. Eventually after a crowd-pleasing performance, Romiglio won the match 20–18 in the fifth.
