Nele Gilis (Photo PSA)
Malaysia’s Azman sisters – Aira and Aifa – are both out in the quarter-finals of the Squash Australian Open championships ensuring a mouth watering semi-final clash between top seed Sivasangari Subramaniam and Nele Gilis.
World No.22 Aira was due to face top seed and fellow countrywoman Sivasangari in the quarter-finals, but was forced to withdraw from the event due to a hamstring injury.
No.4 seed Nele Gilis delivered an impressive display to defeat Aifa in three games. The World No.12, a runner-up at the New Zealand Open last week, continued her fine form thanks to the 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 win.
Gilis’ high tempo and aggressive style of play pushed Azman to the extreme in the sweltering conditions in Brisbane, with the Belgian No.2 jumping on the volley whenever possible and playing into the front two corners with pinpoint accuracy.
After the match, Gilis said: “It’s so hot. Nothing can prepare you for this. It’s my first time on this glass court. I’ve played in hot conditions, but nothing like this, to be honest. It was brutal out there.
“We train on this court in the morning, which is ten times harder, so I guess that prepared me for it tonight.”
In the men’s quarter-finals, World No.2 Paul Coll continued his blemish-free start to the tournament thanks to a straight games win over France’s Auguste Dussourd.
Top seed Coll, a former champion at the Australian Open back in 2015, ended the impressive run of World No.35 Dussourd by an 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 scoreline.
Picking up where he left off from his second-round win over Henry Leung, Coll looked in top form on the all-glass court at South Bank Piazza.
Despite the hot court conditions ensuring shots into the front two corners were less effective, Kiwi No.1 Coll continually moved his opponent around all four corners to great effect, pouncing whenever an opportunity presented itself.
The 33-year-old needed just 40 minutes to book his spot in the last four of the Gold-level event, where one of Melvil Scianimanico or Jonah Bryant awaits.
After the match, Coll said: “Very happy with today, and I think I played a few hours later, but it was a warmer day.
“It was hot out there today and it was hard and the ball was bouncing a little bit more – it was tough to get it to sit in the corners and I lost confidence and had to fizz it in there quickly. I think overall though I dealt with the conditions well.
“I felt physically it was the hottest day we were going to get, so I dealt with it well. I had a lot more gears to go through, so it gives me confidence for the rest of the week.”
He will take on World No.11 Jonah Bryant, who battled past fellow rising star Melvil Scianimanico in four games to book his spot in the semi-finals.
The Englishman, who lost to old junior rival Scianimanico from 2-0 up at the Irish Open last May, avenged his defeat from that day with a gutsy 11-1, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 victory.
Bryant flew out of the blocks in a rapid eight-minute first game, putting an out-of-sorts Scianimanico under considerable pressure right from the outset. The 20-year-old Englishman blitzed through the opener to the loss of just one point.
The expected Scianimanico response came in the second game, with the Frenchman getting himself into the contest with a series of tougher minute-plus exchanges. The pair moved to the latter stages of the second level-pegging, but it was Scianimanico who claimed two consecutive points from 9-9 to level the match.
The see-saw nature of the match saw momentum swing back in Bryant’s favour in the third game, with Scianimanico getting increasingly agitated after a series of altercations with the match referee. Bryant took full advantage of this lapse in concentration to move away from 7-7 to move within a game of the semi-finals.
Bryant produced some gutsy squash when he most needed it in the subsequent fourth, surviving some heavy pressure when down and out of a number of rallies. Again, it was the Englishman who dealt best with the sweltering late-night humidity, claiming four straight points from 7-7 to seal victory after 66 minutes of play.
“I’m really glad to get over the line today,” Bryant said after the match. “It’s going to always be tough in those conditions, even if you’re leading by a long way – you’re always going to have to dig in physically.
“I was really pleased with the way I was able to stick in rallies and when my chances arrived to take them. There’s some days, when you’re not at your best, and it’s just about bouncing back the next time out!”
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Women’s: [4] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt [8] Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (40m); [1] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt [6] Aira Azman (MAS) walkover
Men’s: [1] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (40m); [4] Jonah Bryant (ENG) bt Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) 3-1: 11-1, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (66m)
