Atkinson bows out in style as Pilley wins the men
21st November 2010Home favorite Vanessa Atkinson played out of her skin today to claim the Dutch Open Squash 2010 title in Rotterdam, the 'capital of sports' in the Netherlands. The 34-year old Dutch player crowned a wonderful week with an impressive win over Madeline Perry, the event's second seed, in front of a packed and appreciative crowd at the renowned Victoria squash club.
Atkinson started off slowly, going 2-6 down in the opening game, but took charge from that moment onwards and totally dominated her higher ranked opponent. The 2004 World Champion displayed a level, which was simply too much for Perry to handle, and romped home to a 11-9, 11-3, 11-7 win.
The Dutch Open triumph, her second, marks Atkinson's 24th WISPA Tour title, and makes a perfect ending for the 12-time Dutch National champion, who announced her retirement for May 2011, therefore winning the last match and tournament she competed in on home soil.
In the men’s draw Cameron Pilley made it 'third time lucky' when he defeated local hero Laurens Jan Anjema in four close fought games in Sunday's climax. The tall Aussie made amends for losing out in the 2008 and 2009 Dutch Open finals, to England's Nick Matthew and Daryl Selby respectively, by upsetting the seeding and denying the large home crowd a double Dutch victory.
Pilley started the final in full swing, firing in blistering drives from the onset, forcing his opponent to not take control of the T-area. Anjema resisted heavily though and the crowd where in for a real treat. With the players matching each other in intensity and determination, it was always going to come down to a few points here and there, and Pilley ended up the one winning the most important ones. After 105 minutes the scoreboard showed a 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 14-12 score line in favour of the Australian, who is sure to rise in the world rankings due to his biggest tournament win ever.
Despite his loss in today's final against his regular practice partner, who moved to Holland almost three years ago, Anjema will find himself in the world's top-10 next month, for the first time ever, when the new PSA World Rankings are revealed.
[4] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) bt [2] Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/9, 11/3, 11/7 (36m)
[2] Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt [1] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
11/7, 11/9, 11/13, 14/12 (105m)