Cardwell and Hedrick win Australia Day Challenge
22-Jan-2012 - Squash Australia
The top seeded Cardwell downed Hong Kong's Liu Tsz-Ling in four games 6-11, 11-5, 11-4, 12-10 before Hedrick accounted for Queenslander Nathan Stevenson 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 in the men's decider.
Cardwell, the daughter of Australian squash legend Vicki Cardwell, was playing in her third final on the women's tour.
The 20-year-old, who was beaten by Liu the last time they played, said she was glad to have got her revenge on home soil.
"I wanted to win my first title before I was 21 and I made it," she said.
"This was my third final and I've been in a lot of semi-finals on the Australian tour so I was really glad to get the win."
Cardwell will lead the Australian team at the inaugural Under 21 World Cup next month and said playing in Brisbane in January was an ideal way to prepare for Chennai.
"It's the perfect preparation for India, it was so hot at the courts today," she said.
"I lost 2.5 kilograms in my quarter-final against Sam Davies, and that was only three games."
Cardwell has been training in Melbourne with her mother and has also been getting coaching from a team that includes former great Sarah Fitz-Gerald.
She said she would use her win in Brisbane as a springboard to more success, much as fellow Victorian Melody Francis did last year.
After winning the Australia Day Challenge in 2011, Francis went on to win another four titles and take her world ranking to 34.
In the men's event, Hedrick broke through for his first win after finishing runner-up six times previously.
The 23-year-old upset top seeded Malaysian Asyraf Azan 11-3, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5 in the semi-finals before beating Stevenson to take the title.
He said beating Azan in the semi-finals was one of the best wins of his career.
"I just hung in there and started frustrating him, and he started to get fired up with the referees, so I tried to keep my concentration," he said.
Hedrick said the semi-final win had taken its toll and he was on the verge of cramping during the final.
"I had some electrolyte drink which helped, but thank goodness the final only went to three, if it had gone longer I would have been in trouble."
Hedrick returns to his training base in Melbourne before returing to Brisbane in February for the Hibiscus Gardens Open in February.
