LATEST NEWS
25 May 2008
Jesse falls just short
Jesse could not win the South African National Title. Jesse had to play Steve Coppinger once again in a matter of weeks and the results were reversed this time around. Jesse received a walk over from semi-finalist Adrian Hansen who had damaged his knee during his previous match. This meant Jesse had 3 days without a match going into the final. This affected Jesse as Steve had had 2 tough wins the days before and had some great momentum. Jesse raced to a 2-0 game lead in the match, but he took his foot off the gas half way through the thrid game and Steve began to sense it. All the momentum shifted Steve's way and he closed the match out 3-2 to take the title for the second year running. Jesse was visably dissapointed with this result as this is the end of a long season on the tour and he wanted to finish on a high.
Jesse's next PSA event will be in September for the Dutch Open. Jesse is going to Washington to coach for a few weeks and also to put in a big summer training with a few top professionals based over there during July and August. Jesse is back to South Africa in mid July for the Gauteng Open and then he travels down to Cape Town to defend the Jarvis Cup with the Gauteng Team.
22 May 2008
Jesse in the South African Nationals Semis
Jesse has secured his place in the semi-finals of the South African nationals. He overcame Craig Vd Wath in the quarter-finals 3-0. It was an edgy match with both players standing their ground. Jesse's pace and speed were too quick for the accurate and solid Vd Wath. Jesse now does battle against fellow Springbok Adrian Hansen. It currently stands at 1 match a piece between the two players.
7 May 2008
Jesse qualifies for British Open
Jesse managed to stick to his seeding and reach the first round of the British Open, which is classed at the Wimbledon of squash. Jesse had to overcome fellow South African Steve Coppinger in a hard fought 5 set match. Jesse had to save 1 match ball in the fourth game but looked solid after to close the match out 11-3 in the final game.
Jesse then had to play Dutch number 1 and world number 17 Laurence Anjema who is going to be fellow Gauteng team mate for the Jarvis Cup this year being held in Cape Town. Jesse had a tough battle on his hands. At 1-1 in games and 6-6 in points it could have swung either way but unfortunately the experience of LJ on the big points was too much for Jesse to handle losing the third game 7-11. Jesse got off to a bad start in the fourth and lost the final game 5-11 but a solid performance by the South African who now trvels back to his home to contest the nationals.
Jesse on his way to a tough victory vs Steve Coppinger in the Dunlop British Open 2008
21 April 2008
Tough start in Kuwait
Jesse was drawn against number 3 seed qualifier Davide Bianchetti, the Italian number 1. Jesse has played Davide a handfull of times in the past and had little success. Today was no different. Jesse struggled to find his rhythm early on and Davide pinned him deep in the back corners. Jesse's usual fluent movement was not there today as he was carrying a slight injury in his foot that he picked up in qualifying in Cairo. Half way through the first game his foot began to really hinder his movement and it was an uphill struggle from there on in. Jesse lost the first two games 8-11 8-11. Jesse then got off to a terrible start in the third and managed to do a little more damage to his foot during this game. Davide was the better player on the day and controlled the game too well for Jesse to cause him any major problems.
Jesse now has the British Open coming up but he is likely to withdraw due to his injured foot and focus on the South African nationals during May.
14 April 2008
Promising patches
Jesse could only last 20 minutes on court with world number 2 Ramy Ashour, which was not a true reflection of the match. There were moments from Jesse which had Ramy wrong footed and chasing down tight lenghts and drop shots. Ramy's speed and shot selection were outstanding. It was not only that but the pace at which he places the ball as far away from his opponent as possible that had Jesse rushing. Jesse's usual deft touch in the front was replaced with a few snatched shots trying to put in that perfect winner. "This is what the top players casue you to do, rush your shots at crucial times." commented Jesse on the match report after. Jesse took a 4-2 lead in the first game but looked like he got startled and faded out 5-11, the second was a battle from the word go as Ramy started displaying his tradiotal nick shots from ridiculous angles, Jesse losing the game 4-11. The third was a much closer contest with the score being level at 7-7 but the amount of work Jesse had to put in to reach this point started to tell and with a combination of 2 errors from Jesse and a blasting nick from Ramy the match was over 8-11 in the third.
Jesse can take away a huge amount of positives from this match and experience and knows what he now has to work on to be able to tussle with the top guys. Jesse received some good points for this tournament and should see him crack into the 50's in next months rankings. Jesse jets off to Kuwait on Friday 18 March to play in the massive $200 000 event. Jesse's goal is to win 2 matches here and be in the main draw of the second biggest tournament on the PSA calender.
13 April 2008
Jesse qualifies in Cairo
Jesse continued his good run off form by reaching the main draw of the Hurghada International event being held in Cairo. This is a $61 250 event and Jesse was seeded 6 in the qualification. He caused an upset yesterday by overcoming Egyptian Yasser El Halaby 14-12 in the fifth set. It was a roller coaster of a match with Jesse taking the first quite comfortably. Jesse then lost his way in the next two games and managed a huge fight back to win the fourth game 11-9. It was nip and tuck the whole way through the fifth and Jesse managed to convert his fourth match ball to take a big win and some big points in the midst of some very harsh referee decisions.
Jesse now has to play wonder kid Ramy Ashour the world number 2 tomorrow. Jesse is feeling excited for the match and is going to take it all to him. The match report will follow...
29 March 2008
One match too far...
Jesse had one of his best wins of his career so far this afternoon defeating world top 20 player Adrian Grant in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon Cup. Adrian was slightly hampered by a cold but did not affect his mobility too much. Jesse was playing with confidence and was showing some good recent form. Jesse managed to beat Adrian 3-0 in just under an hour. The final game went all the way to the wire with Jesse saving 3 game balls to close the match out 14-12 in the third game. Jesse only had a few hours left before taking to court again with another top 20 player in the form of Joey Barrington. Jesse was physically worn down from his good win earleir and Joey really applied the pressure. Jesse had to struggle through the first two games losing them 8-11 and 6-11 respectively. Jesse then changed his game and managed to get 10-9 up in the third and looking in a good position until an easy stroke awarded to Joey put the game on level terms. Jesse just did not quite have what it took and lost the final game 10-12 to be put out in the semi-final stage. This was a great tournament for Jesse as he was seeded outside of the top 8. Jesse now goes to Croydon on Friday to contest the Surrey Health and Rackets BSPA and is seeded in the 5/8 position.
28 March 2008
Success in Wimbledon
Jesse had to face old rival Stacey Ross again tonight in the Wimbledon Cup BSPA event. This was not a ranking tournament but a good prize money event. Stacey was seeded 5/8 whiole Jesse was outsdie the top 8. Jesse got off to a shaky start going 0-6 down in a matter of minutes. With par to 11 scoring a comback from this position is unlikely and the first game slipped by. Jesse then got his running shoes on and chased down every ball as he was not strinking the ball as cleanly as usual. Stacey was showing signs of fatigue late on in the second game and this spurred Jesse to pick the pace up even more. Jesse managed to sneak the remaining 3 games but it was close the whole way to the finish line. Jesse now faces world top 20 player Adrian Grant the, number 2 seed, in the quarter-finals. Lets hope for another good upset from Jesse here.
19 March 2008
Hectic April for Jesse
Jesse has a busy 2 weeks during April. He first jets off to Cairo to compete in the $61 250 Hurghada Open in Egypt from 12-20 April. He then keeps it desert like when he travels to Kuwait for a massive $200 000 event, The Sheikha Al-Saad, one of the largest pots on offer for the PSA. Jesse is looking to pick up a few scalps along the way and is in good training mode for these events. He has 2 smaller BSPA events on the horizon, firstly The Wimbledon Cup from 27-30 March and secondly The Surrey Open in Croydon from 3-6 March before he starts his travels. Keep watching for updates and results...
Canary Wharf Classic 2008 vs Renan Lavigne
13 March 2008
So close.....
Last night was Jesse's first round match at The Canary Wharf Squash Classic. He was drawn against number 8 seed from France, Renan Lavigne (they both play for the Gauteng team at Jarvis in South Africa). It was a packed house at the event and easily the best court that Jesse has played in. Jesse got off to an edgy start trying to get used to the court and the different bounce on the glass. The first game ran away from Jesse losing it 5-11. The second was much more constructive. Jesse began to find his range and his length started to force Renan into some lose squash and Jesse capitalised. Jesse went up 10-8 but failed to cloe it out and lost the game 10-12, this was a hugely important game for the match and if Jesse had clinched this he would have been in with a good shout of winning the tie. Jesse came out confident in the third and closed the game out 11-8 with a big fist pump and a huge roar from the crowd Jesse was ready to take on the next game. Unfortunately he got off to a bad start and soon found himself 1-6 down. With a huge shout from a fan "C'mon you SAFFA" Jesse started to claw his way back into the match point by point. Renan started getting frustrated and there was not much he could do to stop the flow of Jesse's shots. He got the score back to 8-8 and unbelievebaly Jesse served out. A huge sigh from the crowd showed the dissapointment and frustration. Renan did not look back and closed the match out 11-8 in the forth. The match score was 5-11, 10-12, 11-8, 8-11 in 53 minutes.
Afterwards Renan commented "He's improved a lot over the last year, and once he got going he was causing me problems - he doesn't swing he just goes ching ching and its in the nick, a bit like Rodney Eyles, and I always seemed to be on the backfoot."
Jesse can take a lot of positives out of this experience but there were a few crucial basic errors that need to be worked on. There is a slight break now for 2 weeks before Jesse's next event and a lot of court time and fitness is on the cards but keep checking the latest news for other things going on.
Canary Wharf Classic 2008 vs Renan Lavigne
11 March 2008
Jesse in main draw at Canary Wharf Classic
Jesse managed to overcome Surrey rival and team mate Stacey Ross in the final round of qualification for The Canary Wharf Squash Classic on Sunday 9 March. Stacey was sporting a calf strain but he was playing like a wounded buffalo. He managed to put up a strong fight in the first two games but when Jesse picked the pace up in the third stacey was left struggling with the injury. Jesse now plays against Renan Lavigne the number 8 seed tonight at the glamourous Canary Wharf centre. This is probably one of the best draws Jesse could have got and is looking to once again cause a notable upset.
Jesse on his way to victory agaisnt Johnny Harford in The Canary Wharf Squash Classic.
8 March 2008
Big win for Jesse
Jesse caused a notable upset today at The Canary Wharf Classic qualification rounds being held in Wimbledon. He was drawn againt Johnny Harford, a big, tough, hard hitting Englishman. Jesse got good control of the match from the word off and secured a 2 game lead after a tough battle in the second. Johnny then changed the pace of his game and forced Jesse to snatch at a few shots and try and force the play. Quicky Jesse found him self at 2-2 and feeling a deep burn. He managed to consolidate a good lead in the fifth and from 5-1 up Jesse was on the home straight closing the match out 11-3 in the fifth. Jesse is now up against Stacey Ross tomorrow who is carrying a slight calf injury, but Stacey is as dangerous as a wounded buffalo in these situations and there is a lot at stake to try and play on the main glass court in the heart of Canary Wharf.
4 March 2008
Canary Wharf Squash Classic
Jesse is competing in one of the largest tournaments in Europe, a £50 000 pot is on offer. The event takes place from the 8-15 March and most of the worlds top players will be competing in this event. He is in the qualification which takes place on 8 March at Wimbledon Squash and Badminton. More news and results to follow shortly...