Reigning champion Leo Au and 2010 champion Joey Chan won their respective Hong Kong Squash men’s and women’s crowns in the Crocodile Hong Kong Squash Championship finals last Saturday June 22.
The biggest upset of the tournament was world No.14 Annie Au losing 3-0 to 21-year-old Liu Tsz Ling (No.43) in the Semi-final. It was a good performance by Liu and one she is sure to remember for some time, taking the match 11-3, 11-8, 11-5.
Au made no comment after the game.
Another upset was Dick Lau losing in the second round to Wong Chi Him, but Lau was suffering from a recurring knee injury, which explains the easy wins by Wong in the second and third games.
Men’s Competition
Top seed Max Lee (1) cruised to the Semi-finals with straight game wins and, although he came up against more resistance in his Semi-final match against Yip Tsz Fung, won the encounter 12-10, 11-3, 11-4 to move into the Final.
No.2 seed Leo Au also had easy wins in the first two rounds against Alex Chu Kwok Kee and Henry Leung Chi Hing, winning these both comfortably 3-0. He dropped a game to Yeung Ho Wai in the third round, but pulled through 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-3.
Au’s opponent in the Semi-final, 19-year-old Tang Cheuk Yan, moved around the court well and produced a good range of shots to keep the match competitive and fairly evenly balanced in the first two games. But Au looked confident and relaxed and, with his international experience, moved Tang around the court and always had the capability to edge forward the points. Au won the first two games 11-7, 11-9 and although he was taken to eight points in the third, he had already done sufficient damage in the earlier games to take the third game 11-8.
Au and Lee have played many times and know each other’s games well. Au won two tight games (the first and third) and whilst Lee won the second game 11-3 it was Au that took the fourth game 11-3 to win the Final 3-1.
Women’s Competition
With a bye in the first round and although dropping a game to Tong Tsz Wing in the Semi-final, Joey Chan, the No.2 seed, had a straight-forward run to the Final.
No.3 seed, Liu Tsz Ling, had a testing match against Ho Ka Po in the third round, but a surprisingly easy Semi-final match against world No.14 Annie Au (11-3, 11-8, 11-5) to reach the Final.
In the Final, Joey Chan showed her superiority winning the match in three straight games 11-4, 11-9, 11-5.
