REPORT ON 2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN RACQUETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
SINGLES
Grade
Men’s Open
Women’s Open
A
B
C
D
Winner
Cam White (VIC)
Sarah Fitz-Gerald (VIC)
Andrew Edwards (SA)
Chris Nicol (NSW)
Darren Faust (SA)
Cathy Hickman (SA)
Runner-Up
Justin Beard (SA)
Stephanie Wighton (SA)
Charlie Stevenson (VIC)
Michael Haythorpe (SA)
Shaun Quinn (VIC)
Lyn Ruddock (SA)
E
Su Davis (VIC)
Sharolyn Reed (SA)
F
Junior Boys
Dianne Mattsson (SA)
Philip Gerontzos (VIC)
Eloise Cooper (SA)
Spencer Gerontzos (VIC)
DOUBLES
Grade
Open
A
B
C
D
E
Winners
White/Margan (VIC/SA)
Abishara/Andrew (SA)
Winters/Cossens (SA)
Thomas/Broughton (SA)
Johnston/Jablonski (SA)
Yallup-Cross/Yallup-Cross (SA)
Runners-Up
Beard/Norman (SA)
Whan/Trevaskis (SA)
Gaard/Yallup-Cross (SA)
Bell/Hickman (VIC/SA)
Ruddock/Tugend (SA)
Gerontzos/Gerontzos (VIC)
The 32nd edition of Racquetball’s pinnacle event, superbly hosted by Squash SA, Racquetball SA and Tournament
Chief Sam Abishara, at the $16.5 million Barossa Aquatic and Fitness Centre located in the heart of the
magnificent Barossa Valley, was a resounding success, securing a grand total of 140 entries (including twenty one
Grand Prix Tournament Circuit debutants), from five of our six states, who spent two and half days jousting for
the fifteen national titles on offer. The nine Singles event winners comprised four each from South Australia and
Victoria, plus one from New South Wales, with the host state dominating the six doubles events; Cam White, who
partnered Luke Margan in their Open triumph, being the only outsider.
To underscore what Racquetball is all about – THE FUN FAMILY GAME, it was great pleasure to see the four
entrants from each of the Yallup-Cross (2 adults and 2 juniors), and Gerontzos( 1 adult and 3 juniors) families
participating, nearly equalling the record held by the Baines family with five players.
As predicted, the KING and QUEEN of Australian Racquetball Cameron White and Sarah Fitz-Gerald, once again
snared the lion’s share of the $12,000 booty on offer, which was in direct contrast to several of the top seeds in
the graded singles events.
SINGLES RESULTS
MEN’S OPEN
The Men’s Open final was an absolute corker, commencing at a frenetic pace with the flamboyant White exposing
his full repertoire of shots, whilst the speed and remarkable returning of Justin Beard ensured a long day at the
office for the Champion. In the end it was the preciseness of White’s short game and his impeccable width and
length that proved the difference taking the match 21/10, 21/14, to capture his fourteenth National title and
extend his unbeaten run to a remarkable fifteen years.
In the semi finals, White overpowered his Geelong stable mate Peter French, 21/10, 21/15, with Beard
outgunning fellow South Aussie Luke Margan, 21/9, 21/6.
INTERESTINGLY, WHITE IS ENTERING SIMILAR TERRITORY TOTHAT OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST EVER FEMALE
SQUASH PLAYER, AUSTRALIA’S HEATHER McKAY, WHO LOST JUST TWO MATCHES IN HER FIRST EIGHTEEN
MONTHS OF TOURNAMENT PLAY, THEN WAS UNDEFEATED FOR A STAGGERING EIGHTEEN YEARS PRIOR TO HER
RETIREMENT IN 1979.
THE QUESTION BEGS; IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN STOP THE GEELONG SUPERSTAR?
Men’s Open Winner Cam White
WOMEN’S OPEN
Although initially this event looked on paper a one horse affair, the large crowd were well and truly entertained
by the rest of the field’s endeavours to secure a final’s berth against the five times world open squash champion
and six times national racquetball champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald. South Australia’s number one female squash
player Stephanie Wighton eventually ended up with that honour after nailing SA’s third seeded Karin Gaard on
the line 21/18, 21/17 in their quarter final , then accounted for second seeded Sally White in the semi’s, 21/15,
21/6.
Meanwhile, Fitz-Gerald had put paid to fellow Victorian Nicci Rossouw, 21/5, 21/7, then South Aussie Corinne
Yallup-Cross, 21/7, 21/9 in their semi final, to set up a greatly anticipated final. From the outset Wighton clearly
showed that in no way was she going to be intimidated by the title holder, displaying remarkable speed and
recovery and matching her point for point. When the judge finally called a halt to proceedings, Fitz-Gerald
utilising her brilliant front court game to great advantage, had annexed another title over the courageous
Wighton, 21/13, 21/10, to claim her 7th national crown, and draw level with Judy Wright to be joint Australian
Women’s Open record holders.
Women’s Open Winner Sarah Fitz-Gerald with 5th placed Laura Sorensen.
A GRADE
The high quality field that the A Grade event attracted guaranteed a plethora of close matches, with some likely
upsets, which was the eventual outcome. In his quarter final, third seeded Dean Cross had succumbed to the
relentless pressure of fellow South Aussie and GP debutant Andrew Edwards, 21/17, 21/19. Edwards then
dispatched second seeded Victorian Chris Rollauer, 21/9, 21/7, to meet top seeded and 2014 National GP
Champion Charlie Stevenson, who had accounted for South Aussies Dylan Owen and Jordan Andrew in straight
games in his quarter and semi finals respectively. The final stanza was an epic struggle with Edwards coming from
one game down to eventually claim the marathon encounter, 18/21, 21/16, 21/10.
B GRADE
With 2014 National GP Champion Adam Lander confined to barracks, Albury’s Chris Nicol, who had narrowly
defeated Lander in the B Grade final of the recent ESRA Championships, was the player to take out if you wanted
the B Grade crown. Indeed, on two occasions Nicol was staring down the barrel, each time by a South Aussie, but
as we have come to learn, ‘It Is Never Over Until The Fat Lady Sings’, for the Alburyian . Nicol survived a
punishing semi final, 17/21, 21/16, 21/17 over SA’s Neil Riley, then at 19/17 down in the third, peeled off four
consecutive points to capture the title over second seeded South Aussie, Michael Haythorpe, 12/21, 21/15, 21/19
in an absolute cliff hanger. Haythorpe who had accounted for SA’s Johan Otto (who was making a welcome return
to the sport), 21/16, 21/15, in his semi, has a most deceptive game, which takes his opponents a lengthy time to
unravel.
Chris Nicol – B Grade Winner with Runner up Michael Haythorpe
C GRADE
The C Grade event contained our first ever GP Tournament Circuit players from Kangaroo Island, Amy Sorensen
and Damon Hagerstrom( who are a partnership off the court as well), a number of the usual ‘C Grade suspects’,
plus two other GP debutants, Darren Faust (SA) and Geoff Bayes (NSW).
Top seeded Jason Winters (SA), overcame the tenacious Bayes 21/14, 21/16, in his quarter final, but Faust was
unstoppable, overpowering Winters in the semi finals, 21/13, 20/22, 21/12, to secure a final’s berth .
In the bottom half of the draw, Shaun Quinn (VIC), put paid to Steve Broughton(SA), 21/18, 21/13, then outlasted
fellow Victorian Michael Bruce, 22/21, 21/12, to set up a Croweater versus Big ‘V’ final, in which Faust took
control from the beginning, surging to a 21/9, 21/10 victory.
There was a footnote to this event; as luck would have it, our loving partners were put to the acid test, or should I
say Damon was, when they met in the semi finals of the C Grade Plate event. Obviously Damon likes to live on the
edge, as he towelled up Amy, 15/13, 16/15, much to the chagrin of his partner.
C Grade Winner Darren Faust, in white shirt, with Runner up Shaun Quinn
D GRADE
If Cam White and Sarah Fitz-Gerald could win back to back Australian titles, SA’s Cathy Hickman decided she could
as well, cutting a swathe through the D Grade field and taking the crown over Lyn Ruddock (SA), 21/7, 21/13,
which was slightly easier than in last year’s final which went her way 21/19 in the third, over Tim Noack.
In the playoff for 3rd/4th, Adam Gilkes (SA) defeated Ben Bell (VIC), 18/21, 21/16, 21/18.
E GRADE
Six South Aussies, including the top four seeds, faced off against two Victorians for the E Grade spoils. In 2014
Victoria’s Su Davis, playing in her first GP tournament finished fifth in this event, but 2015 was to be a different
story for the newlywed, following some astute training from husband Greg. After surviving a torrid first round
encounter against fourth seeded Trudie Cain, 16/21, 21/15, 21/13, Davis then faced top seeded and 2014 runnerup, Sonja Kahl - Brown, where she triumphed 21/13, 21/15.
Meanwhile in the bottom half of the draw, second seeded Sharolyn Reed climbed off the canvas in her first
round to overcome Jamie Stevenson(VIC), 19/21, 21/13, 21/19, which then pitted her against the 2014 title
holder, Heidi Tugend. Reed had been denied a final’s berth in 2014 by Tugend, but this time Reed reversed the
roles with a 22/20, 21/18 victory. The final as expected was a last woman standing affair, with Davis eventually
taking the title after seventy five minutes, 18/21, 21/16, 21/13.
L to R – E Grade Plate Winner Trudie Cain, Event Winner Su Davis, and Runner up Sharolyn Reed
F GRADE
In an all female event, three talented youngsters aged eleven, thirteen and fourteen, faced three seasoned
campaigners (ages were out of bounds for the writer), which became a very entertaining array of matches. In the
end one of the tournament’s hard workers Dianne Mattson, annexed her first National GP title when downing
fellow South Aussie Eloise Cooper in the final stanza, 21/14, 21/13. In the playoff for 3rd/4th, fourteen year old
Chloe Yallup-Cross, retained the family bragging rights over her eleven year old sister Claire, winning 21/13,
21/18. In the playoff for 5th/6th, thirteen year old Calista Gerontzos defeated South Aussie Marta Tietzel, 15/9,
15/13.
F Grade Winner Dianne Mattsson and Runner up Lyn Ruddock
JUNIOR BOY’S UNDER 13 YEARS
This event has only been recently installed on to our GP Circuits and has certainly become the nursery for our
senior grades, in particular for many country players. Three Victorian’s and Sam Abishara Junior, the son of the
Tournament Head faced the starter, with only one having played in a previous event. In the end it was the
Gerontzos twins who stole the show, with Philip overcoming Spencer, 21/16, 13/21, 21/9, and Nelson Howard
capturing third place over Sam, 21/9, 21/19.
Under 13 Boys Runner up Spencer Gerontzos and Winner Philip Gerontzos
Paul Vear