Finals Set For Matamata Open and ILT Community Trust NZ Southern Invercargill Open

Greg Lobban of Scotland will take on Ivan Yuen of Malaysia in the ILT Community Trust NZ Southern Invercargill Open Final whilst Amanda Landers-Murphy of New Zealand will take on Lisa Aitken of Scotland in the Matamata Open Final.

The quarter finals of the Matamata Open saw the semi-finalists move through with strong wins in 3 over their opponents. Kiwis Amanda Landers-Murphy and Megan Craig took out Jemyca Aribado of the Phillipines and Zoe Foo Yuk Han of Malaysia respectively in 19minutes to set up the third matchup for the two players in three weeks. Emma Millar of New Zealand was too strong for Samantha Foyle of Australia whilst Lisa Aitken of Scotland showed her worth against Aika Azman of Malaysia both claiming their wins in 18minutes setting up a repeat of the Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers NZ International Classic the previous week.

The semi-finals proved to be a tough affair with Kiwis Amanda Landers-Murphy and Megan Craig taking to the court against each other for the third time in three weeks. Today’s battle saw both players having to find their shots and length on warm courts. With long rallies and games see sawing back and forth it was Landers-Murphy that took the win for the third time claiming the match 3-2. Lisa Aitken of Scotland looked set to keep her strong form against Emma Millar of New Zealand having won the previous week at the Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers NZ International Classic final. Aitken just proved to be too strong in today’s match claiming the win in 3 and seeking her second title in two weeks.

Finals are on Sunday and matches will be livestreamed from 3pm here.

Check out the schedule of play for the livestreaming of the Matamata Open below.

Full details on the event can be found here and the full first round matchups can be found below.

Yuen looked completely comfortable and in control in his first set against Peter Creed, however Creed was able to step up the intensity in the second, hunting down the ball and forcing Yuen into making errors. The third set saw Creed even more focused and determined and he was able to take this one with relative ease 11-5. The fourth set looked like it could go to either player, however Yuen pulled back two game-balls from Creed and then took the set 13-11, booking his spot in the final.

Greg Lobban and Rex Hedrick were next up and Lobban started dominant on the Tee and making Hedrick cover all four corners of the court. Hedrick looked to be struggling with a troublesome ankle as Lobban placed the ball with pinpoint accuracy for winning shots. Hedrick left nothing out on the court as he battled to book a finals berth but tonight Lobban was just too good, taking the match in three.

Livestreaming of the final matches start 3:30pm Sunday afternoon, links to the courts can be found here Court 4. The schedule of play for the Livestreaming of the 2017 ILT Community Trust NZ Southern Invercargill Open can be found below.

Full details on the event, previous articles and where to watch previous streamed matches can be found here.

If you wish to commentate or listen to some alternative commentary over the weekend jump over to SPALK here.

Matamata Open Quarter Finals

Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) beat Jemyca Aribado (PHI) 11-8, 11-2, 11-6 (19 mins)
Megan Craig (NZL) beat Zoe Foo Yuk Han (MAS) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (19 mins)
Emma Millar (NZL) beat Samantha Foyle (AUS) 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 (18 mins)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) beat Aika Azman (MAS) 11-7, 11-1, 11-2 (18 mins)

Semi Finals

Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) beat Megan Craig (NZL) 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 4-11, 11-7 (56mins)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) beat Emma Millar (NZL) 11-1, 11-4, 11-7 (16mins)

2017 ILT Community Trust NZ Southern Invercargill Open Semi Finals

(1) Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt (3) Peter Creed (WAL) 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11 (62 minutes)
(5) Greg Lobban (SCO) bt (2) Rex Hedrick (AUS) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (36 minutes)

Finals

(1) Ivan Yuen (MAS) vs (5) Greg Lobban (SCO)