Turnbull, Cardwell through to Day Two

Two local players are through to the second round of the 2024 City Tattersalls Group Squash Australian Open following the opening day of play in Sydney.

Australia’s number one ranked women’s player Jess Turnbull (QLD) was the first player to progress after defeating Queensland’s Madison Lyon in the opening match of the tournament.

Turnbull was dominant throughout, conceding just 12 points in the entire match en route to a 3-0 win.

Following the match, Turnbull reflected on the what a fabulous opportunity there is for Australian squash with the event returning to PSA World Tour status. 

“It’s amazing to have a tournament of this level here at home,” she said. “I think we’ve been lacking one of these [a PSA World Tour event] for a long time and I’m very happy that it’s happened during my career.

“Hopefully it’s something everyone at home is remembering: this is a World Tour event!

“It’s awesome to see so many Aussies in the field, most of whom have got in on their rankings alone.

“We’re clawing our way back to the top, so hopefully it’s an indication of great things to come.”

In the evening session, Turnbull was back courtside for good friend Sarah Cardwell’s showdown with South Australia’s Alex Haydon.

The Victorian was out of the blocks quickly and twice led by a game only for Haydon to wrest back momentum.

When the match seemed over deep in the fifth, Cardwell dug deep to save three match balls before going to claim an emotional 3-2 win.

“That was a really great match, great fight from both of us,” said Cardwell. “This is a really good one for me mentally. I know that my skills are there and the last few months have just been trying to get my fitness back up.

“The last couple of months in America with Dave Palmer has been really, really useful. Knowing you’ve done so much work day in, day out, you know you have to be fitter than you were and it gives you that bit of confidence when you go to five.”

Turnbull will now meet Egypt’s Dana Ibrahim in the second round on Thursday (3pm AEDT) while Cardwell is up against France’s Marie Stephan (8pm AEDT).

All matches will be shown LIVE on SquashTV.

Click here for all results.

2024 CITY TATTERSALLS GROUP SQUASH AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 1 | WEDNESDAY 20 MARCH 2024
Australian Results

Men
Abhay Singh (IND) d Joseph White (NT) 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-3)
Spencer Lovejoy (USA) d Rhys Dowling (NT) 3-1 (12-10, 8-11, 11-2, 11-3)
Poor Zaman (PAK) d Dylan Molinaro (VIC) 3-0 ()

Women
Jess Turnbull (QLD) d Madison Lyon (QLD) 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-6)
Yawed Chan (MAS) d Erin Classen (WA) 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-2)
Haya Ali (EGY) d Rachael Grinham (QLD) 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-4)
Sarah Cardwell (VIC) d Alex Haydon (SA) 3-2 (14-12, 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 14-12)