Quarter-Finals

Three upsets in FourQuarter-finals of the Workforce Canada Cup witness three seeding upsets out of four as Abdulla Al Tamimi, Max Lee, Campbell Grayson and Ryan Cuskelly advanced to the semi-finals …

Abdulla Punches Above his Weight vs Top Ten Diego Elias (11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 11-3: 3-1 Abdo)
The Qatar #34 came out to a strong start wrong footing Diego and not letting him settle in early in the match resulting in a quick early game too El Tamimi, also known as “Abdo”. Diego responds early in game two and shows the maturity beyond his years, hitting a quality ball and not giving Abdo an inch. 
Abdo pushes back in the 3rd forcing Diego to hit 5 winners a rally and somehow sneaking out the tough points and making Diego work. Glimpses of flaring pain from Diego and the Peruvian plays through it like a warrior, but Abdo proves to strong and closes the door in the 4th 11-3. 3-1 match to Abdo. 

Cuskelly Proves Too Strong for Arturo (8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-4: 3-1 Cuskelly)
Arturo comes out of the gates hitting a crisp ball and leaving Cuskelly scratching his head early. Salazar jumps to a quick 8-3 lead with lot’s of pressure and limiting Cuskelly’s sniping options. Cuskelly begins to find his groove late in the first, but is too late to salvage it. The second brought out some real fight in the players both vying to advace in the Canadian Workforce Cup. 
Ryan’s variety and experience begins to take over and Arturo quickly runs out of answers although his quality defense was not making it easy for the Aussie. Cuskelly executing volley lobs, tight angle nicks and Aussie boast had him running away with the rest of the match with his sights set on the semis. Cuskelly took a step out of Arturo and found him booking his ticket to the next round, 3-1 Cuskelly

Alan Clyne vs Campbell Grayson  (Score: Campbell wins 11-4, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, Time: 60 min)
Game 1
Campbell gets out to a great start and a 3-0 lead with a few signature volley drop winners.  The match started with some long rallies and I expect the rallies to stay that way throughout the match with these two.  Campbell continues his run and wins 3 more successive points to go up 6-0.  Alan get his first point on the board with his own signature backhand counter drop.  The following rally has some ridiculous gets and Campbell wins it to go up 7-1.  The first error from Campbell give Alan a point back 2-7.  Campbell wins the backhand drop battle in the next rally to go up 8-2.  They each trade unforced error to advance the score to 9-3.  Campbell takes it to 10-4 game ball with a cross court nick winner.  He finishes it with style with a forehand drop winner.
Game 2
Alan obviously will fight back after losing the first and take a 4-1 lead with solid some consistent pressure.  Campbell may be starting to feel the legs a bit.  An unforced error from Alan brings Campbell one point closer to 2-4.  Clyne is definitely taking the T more than Campbell in this game and being rewarded.  He wins the next rally to go up 5-2.  Clyne is continuing his run of pressure and goes up 7-3.  Campbell keeps the lead within three though with a nice forehand winner.  But Clyne is having nothing of it and take a 4 point lead again with a stroke.  Campbell with a beautiful hold in the front backhand wins the next point 5-8.  Campbell is doing anything he can to slow the pace but the bull dog is relentless and takes the next point to go up 9-5.  An tired error from Campbell give Alan game ball.  Alan finishes the game one the first attempt to win it 11-5.

Game 3
A long rally to start game 3.  Campbell takes it with a nice volley drop winner followed by a tin by Alan to go up 2-0.  A few great rallies and Campbell extends his lead to 4-1.  Three sharp and dynamic rallies follow and Clyne take all three of them to tie the match.  Campbell is starting to show his fatigue but still playing great squash.  He takes the next rally to go up 5-4.  Alan’s constant pressure is starting to take its toll as Campbell gives Alan 3 errors in a row to go up 7-5.   Campbell is tenaciously staying in there and claws back to 7-7.  Two great rallies from Campbell takes him to 9-7.  A tough rally to follow is won by Alan to bring it to 8-9.  An impressive backhand volley kill gives Campbell game ball at 10-8.  Campbell takes is on the next point and wins it 11-8.  

Game 4
Alan takes the first point with a classic backhand drop.  A very long second rally finishes with a tin by Alan. 1-1.  Some very accurate squash Campbell takes him to 3-1.  Beautiful hold in the front right from Campbell and hits a winning drop to go 4-1.  One error and a terrible loose crosscourt from Campbell gives Alan two points back.  3-4.  After a let, Alan wins a quick one to tie it up.  Campbell follows it up well though with two great rallies to take the lead to 6-4.  Backhand drop winner from Alan keeps the lead to one point.  A great cross drop flick fools Alan and Campbell is back up by two points. 7-5.  
Campbell squeezes an error out of Alan to go up 8-5.  Campbell is smelling the finish line and hits a backhand drop winner follow by a perfect lob to go to 10-5 match ball.  A tin from Campbell gives Alan one more back.  6-10.  And a ridiculous backhand cross flick from Alan takes him one point closer.  Campbell takes the next point though to finish off the match.  This was a superb tactical showcase by Campbell tonight.

Max Lee v Cesar Salazar
Max was able to get out to early leads in each of the first two games. Max was having success hitting quality length, short and long then taking advantage of any of Caesar’s short balls forcing him to retrieve quality attacking shots, winning both games 1 and 2.  
Going into the 3rd Caesar went out to a 4-0 lead only to have Max scrabble, making some terrific digs and options with lose balls to tie the match up. Once Max was able to catch Caesar he continued to punish the ball deep and short, attacking off of the volley given the opportunity.  
Max wins 3-0. 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (47min)

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