H. Savy Insurance-sponsored tournament - Thorington, Dupont collect cup wins |02 August 2016

Rod Thorington, Veronique Dupont, Adam Delport and Trisha Quatre are the winners of the H. Savy Insurance-sponsored tournament after claiming victories in Friday’s finals.

The tournament started on Monday July 25 and the players met each other during the whole of last week until the finalists were known and on Friday they crossed swords at the Mont Fleuri squash courts.

Rod Thorington beat Eva Alphonse 3-0 in the men’s cup final, Veronique Dupont won 3-1 over Nathalie Houareau in the women’s cup final, Adam Delport beat Stefan Houareau in the men’s plate final and Trisha Quatre won 3-0 against Aurore Arcambal in the women’s plate final.

For some time now, the only name that came up at the end of any tournament in squash was that of Klaus Pragassen who had won all the competitions. This time it was not the case as the Seychelles squash champion was beaten 3-0 in the semifinal by Thorington to the surprise of everyone. This was the first time Thorington had beaten the champion in any competition, better still on a 3-0 set score.

In the final, Thorington met Eva Alphonse, the only lady who competed in the men’s category. Alphonse made it to the final by beating Rene Durup 3-2 in the other semifinal.

The other prominent figure in squash Ridvan Prosper did not take part.

Apart from some individual mistakes, the men’s cup final was punctuated by a few long rallies, exciting plays and some nice shots. Alphonse looked as if she wanted to prove something through her aggressive moves before the match and she started strong when she took the first point in the first set. After leveling the score at 2-2, Thorington stepped up his play as Alphonse lost concentration and he won the first set 11-2.

Alphonse managed to improve her play in the second set after again getting the first point. She even led 6-3 and 9-8, but sensing danger Thorington fought back to level the score at 9-9 and took the second set win on a score of 11-9 to make it 2-0 on aggregate.

The third started on a slow pace as Alphonse looked tired and her many mistakes helped Thorington to a 6-0 advantage. At 9-2 and thinking of an easy third-set win Thorington let down his guard again and Alphonse took advantage to close the gap to 10-7 and 10-9. Thorington had to work hard before winning a long rally and the set 11-9 for a 3-0 victory.

“The final was an exciting game for the crowd. It was a very tough one and very enjoyable. I had a tough path to the final and it’s a relief to have beaten Klaus. It’s been a long time since someone had beaten him. For me, it’s the first time I beat him and I am very happy,” said a happy Thorington.

As for Alphonse, she was disappointed with the loss but happy to have reached the final. “I wanted to at least win a set. I can’t always let myself be beaten all the time by the guys, especially since I haven’t been in a final for a long time. But I am happy to have made it to the final,” she said.

The women’s cup final between Veronique Dupont and Nathalie Hoareau lacked a bit of action, but still the first set was closely fought with the score leveled at 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9 before Hoareau took the win at 11-9.

With Hoareau losing her momentum in the second set, Dupont took the advantage to easily win the second, third and fourth sets 11-5, 11-6 and 11-6 and the game 3-1 on aggregate score.

“It’s my first trophy in a final. Most of the time I lose, mostly to her but this time I beat her and I am very happy. It was a great match,” said a smiling Dupont.

In the men’s plate final, Adam Delport lost the first set 6-11 against Stefan Houareau before taking the next three 11-6, 11-6 and 11-6 to win 3-1 on set score.

“In the beginning I was struggling but in the other sets he made too many mistakes and that gave me a lot of points. I know it was not on purpose because I know his game. He was not playing at his best level but it was still a good match,” said Delport.

Trisha Quatre beat Aurore Arcambal 3-0 to be crowned the women’s plate champion. She won it in three sets – 11-7, 11-9 and 11-7.

“The match was a balanced affair even though I won 3-0. I think she has improved compared to the last time we met,” Quatre said.

All winners were presented with their prizes by H. Savy Insurance general manager Lambert Woodcock.

The next competition on the Seychelles Squash Association calendar is the Bravo restaurant tournament from September 19-23 at the Mont Fleuri courts.  

P. J.