CP Kent Open: Taylor and Malik Claim Victories

England’s Torrie Malik and Welshman Owain Taylor claimed the titles at the 501 Fun Colin Payne Kent Open in Tunbridge Wells on Saturday.

Taylor took on home favourite Noah Meredith, the tournament’s No.8 seed, in the final, and what a final it was. Meredith, who plays for host club Tunbridge Wells, played superbly but was unable to deliver another giant-killing act as the Welshman controlled the fifth game of a pulsating battle to clinch victory with a scoreline of 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5.

The two players are separated by more than 100 places in the World Rankings, but the 21-year-old from Brighton threatened another shock result as he hit back from 10-7 down to win the opening game on a tiebreak. Taylor dominated the second and won the crucial third game after being 6-4 down.

Meredith started the fourth game in positive fashion to lead 4-1 and after a titanic tussle he won another tiebreak to take the match into a fifth game. This time there was to be no fairytale finale as Taylor controlled proceedings with some precision squash to win it 11-5.

“Noah showed all week what a threat he can be, but I am very pleased to win the tournament,” Taylor said after the finals.

“It was a great match and it’s always good to play in a club which has been full of fans every day.”

In the women’s final, England’s Torrie Malik secured her third victory of the season with a win over Scotland’s Alison Thomson. The Englishwoman, who had already won the Czech Open and the Telsa Media David Lloyd Purley Open, came through to win in four in Tunbridge Wells over the Scot.

Malik powered through the first two games but Thomson hit back in the third with some intelligently structured rallies that moved her opponent around the court. Thomson threatened to take the match to a fifth game as she held game ball at 10-9 but Malik finished strongly to win it 12-10 to take the title.

“It’s lovely to win in a club that feels like home. It’s not far from where we live and I want to thank the crowd for supporting me all week,” Malik said.

Results: 501 Fun Colin Payne Kent Open
Men’s Final
[2] Owain Taylor (WAL) bt [8] Noah Meredith (ENG) 3-2: 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5 (67m)

Women’s Final
[1] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt [5] Alison Thomson (SCO) 3-1: 11-3, 11-4, 7-11, 12-10 (35m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[8] Noah Meredith (ENG) bt [1] Valentin Rapp (GER) 3-1: 10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (51m)
[2] Owain Taylor (WAL) bt [5] Perry Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (34m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt [4] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) 3-2: 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 10-12, 13-11 (42m)
[5] Alison Thomson (SCO) bt [3] Ali Loke (WAL) 3-0: 11-9, 1-2, 11-2 (20m)

Men’s Quarter Finals
[1] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Alex Smith (IRL) 3-1: 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3 (36m)
[8] Noah Meredith (ENG) bt [3] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-1: 11-8, 11-4, 3-11, 12-10 (32m)
[5] Perry Malik (ENG) bt [4] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 13-11 (37m)
[2] Owain Taylor (WAL) bt Will Salter (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-2 (44m)

Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt [8] Polly Clark (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-3 (27m)
[4] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt [6] Ella Galova (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 (23m)
[3] Ali Loke (WAL) bt [7] Katriona Allen (SCO) 3-0: 15-13, 11-9, 11-8 (29m)
[5] Alison Thomson (SCO) bt [2] Elise Romba (FRA) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9 (33m)

Men’s First Round
[1] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Dariusz Filipowski (POL) 3-0: 11-1, 11-3, 11-2 (24m)
Alex Smith (IRL) bt [6] Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-2: 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-8 (62m)
[8] Noah Meredith (ENG) bt Lowie Delbeke (BEL) 3-1: 11-5, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7 (32m)
[3] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt Filip Jarota (POL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (25m)
[4] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 (63m)
[5] Perry Malik (ENG) bt [WC] Bailey Malik (ENG) 3-1: 5-11, 11-4, 11-0, 11-8 (26m)
Will Salter (ENG) bt [7] David Zeman (CZE) 3-2: 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9 (72m)
[2] Owain Taylor (WAL) bt Jonah Bryant (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 17-15, 14-12 (54m)

Women’s First Round
[1] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt Isabel McCullough (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (32m)
[8] Polly Clark (ENG) bt Phoebe Colman (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 (15m)
[6] Ella Galova (FRA) bt Mariana Ventura Martins (POR) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (18m)
[4] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt Juliette Permentier (NED) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-2 (15m)
[3] Ali Loke (WAL) bt Sofia Aveiro Pita (POR) 3-2: 6-11, 11-7, 16-18, 11-6, 11-9 (43m)
[7] Katriona Allen (SCO) bt Sanne Veldkamp (NED) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (40m)
[5] Alison Thomson (SCO) bt Katie Wells (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (36m)
[2] Elise Romba (FRA) bt Leia Lee Zi Fang (SGP) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-8 (22m)