Blatchford Upsets Urquhart to Reach Cleveland Classic Main Draw

Blatchford (L) won gold and silver medals in the 2015 Pan American Games. (image: Paige Stewart)
Blatchford (L) won gold and silver medals in the 2015 Pan American Games. (image: Paige Stewart)

[jbutton size=”large” color=”blue” link=”http://ipcamlive.com/56aa8b921cf98″ newpage=”yes”]Live Stream[/jbutton]

[jbutton size=”large” color=”blue” link=”http://usprosquashseries.ussquash.com/live/” newpage=”yes”]U.S. Pro Series Live[/jbutton]

Team USA’s Olivia Blatchford reached her first $50, 000 Cleveland Classic main draw in her fourth tournament appearance Friday night, upsetting Australia’s world No. 22 Donna Urquhart in a five-game qualifying final at Cleveland Racquet Club in Ohio.

The American world No. 37 cruised through her opening qualifier in less than twenty minutes Thursday night to set up just her second career match against the Australian former world No. 13, who was the two seed in qualifying and enjoyed a first-round bye.

Blatchford started the match with the momentum, winning the first two games 13-11, 11-8. The twenty-nine-year-old from Brisbane then clawed back to win the third and fourth games 11-5, 11-8. Blatchford recovered in the fifth, earning an early 3-0 lead, and extending her lead to 8-4. Urquhart rattle off three points to reach 8-7, but Blatchford responded again to win four straight points and the match 11-7.

Blatchford now faces England’s world No. 14 Jenny Duncalf in the main draw at 3:15pm local time.

Team USA’s four seed and world No. 8 Amanda Sobhy is in first-round action Saturday afternoon against England’s world No. 19 Victoria Lust.

All matches are streaming live here, and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live.

Newspaper WordPress Theme

Latest news

Purposeful Progress: Marina Stefanoni on Training With Intent

From Squash MagazineInterview by Tor Gray Now in her second full season on the professional squash tour, Marina Stefanoni continues to evolve—not just in results,...

Five Americans Reach British Junior Open Semifinals

For the third time in program history and third consecutive year, five Americans reached the semifinals of the British Junior Open following the quarterfinals...

Team USA Produces Fourteen British Junior Open Quarterfinalists

Fourteen Americans will represent Team USA in the British Junior Open quarterfinals, Saturday, January 3, in Birmingham. The U.S. contingent has enjoyed a strong...

Brownell and Spizzirri Reach Career High Rankings

Team USA's Timmy Brownell and Nicholas Spizzirri both marked the mid-point of the PSA season with career high rankings of world No. 27 and...

Rejuvenated Sabrina Sobhy Hits Mid-Season High Mark

Team USA's Sabrina Sobhy has put an injury-laden 2024-2025 season behind her with a strong first half to the 2025-2026 season, fighting her way...