By JANE BALL (Squash Mad Reporter)
England’s Lucy Beecroft has reached the quarter-finals of the World Games, where she will meet the unseeded German Katerina Tycova in Birmingham, Alabama.
Beecroft, seeded 5/8, had a comfortable win over Hungary’s Hannah Chukwu, winning 11-4, 11-5 in just 11 minutes, and followed that by beating Hong Kong’s Cheng Nga Ching (seeded 9/16) 12-10, 11-7 in 18 minutes.
Tycova, meanwhile, gained an impressive victory over No.3 seed Anna Serme (Czech Republic) 8-11, 14-12, 11-3 in 34 minutes and continued her excellent run of form by beating Australia’s Alex Haydon (9/16) 11-6, 11-3 in just 15 minutes.
The host nation’s Marina Stefanoni, seeded 9/16, will be hoping to spring a shock when she faces top seed Tinne Gilis of Belgium, while two French players, No.2 seed Mélissa Alves and Coline Aumard (3/4) will be up against USA’s Haley Mendez (5/8)n and Germany‘s Saskia Beinhard (9/16).
The top four men’s seeds, Gregoire Marche, Miguel Rodriguez, Raphael Kandra and Victor Crouin, all made it through to the quarter-finals without dropping a game.
There was a rare appearance by German legend Simon Rösner, who came out of retirement to compete in the tournament.
He achieved an excellent win over Hungary’s Balázs Farkas in the first round before losing a tough second-round tie against Baptiste Masotti of France, who meets Rodriguez in the last eight.
Canada’s David Baillargeon (9/16) upset the seedings by beating America’s Faraz Khan (5/8) to win through to a quarter-final clash with top seed Marche.
Several important squash gatherings took place at the World Games, with WSF CEO William Louis-Marie welcoming a delegation from Ukraine.
WSF vice-president Pablo Serna received an award from the IWGA on behalf of the WSF.
World Games 2022, University of Alabama Recreation Center, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Men’s Quarter-finals:
[1] Grégoire Marche (FRA) v [9/16] David Baillargeon (CAN)
[3/4] Raphael Kandra (GER) v [5/8] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
[3/4] Victor Crouin (FRA) v [5/8] Shahjahan Khan (USA)
[2] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v [5/8] Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
Men’s second round:
[1] Grégoire Marche (FRA) bt Rhys Dowling (AUS) 11-7, 11-7 (23m)
[9/16] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [5/8] Faraz Khan (USA) 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 (46m)
[5/8] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt [9/16] Ronald Palomino (COL) 11-9, 13-15, 11-9 (52m)
[3/4] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [9/16] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 11-6, 11-2 (16m)
[3/4] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt [9/16] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 11-3, 11-2 (18m)
[5/8] Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt Joseph White (AUS) 11-9, 11-5 (24m)
[5/8] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Simon Rösner (GER) 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 (32m)
[2] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bt Jeremías Azaña (ARG) 11-3, 11-4 (20m)
Men’s first round:
[1] Grégoire Marche (FRA) bye
Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt [9/16] Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-5, 11-8 (23m)
[9/16] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Rafael Gálvez (PER) 11-6, 11-2 (22m)
[5/8] Faraz Khan (USA) bt Sergio Garcia Pollan (ESP) 11-7, 11-6 (31m)
[5/8] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Valeriy Fedoruk (UKR) 11-6, 11-9 (21m)
[9/16] Ronald Palomino (COL) bt Sean Conroy (IRL) 11-1, 11-3 (13m)
[9/16] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) bt Filip Jarota (POL) 11-6, 8-11, 11-4 (31m)
[3/4] Raphael Kandra (GER) bye
[3/4] Victor Crouin (FRA) bye
[9/16] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt Harley Lam (HKG) 9-11, 12-10, 11-3 (37m)
Joseph White (AUS) bt [9/16] Yannik Omlor (GER) 11-4, 8-11, 12-10 (38m)
[5/8] Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt Vini Rodrigues (BRA) 14-12, 11-8 (24m)
[5/8] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Dima Scherbakov (UKR) 11-2, 11-2 (13m)
Simon Rösner (GER) bt [9/16] Balázs Farkas (HUN) 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 (43m)
Jeremías Azaña (ARG) bt [9/16] Martin Svec (CZE) 11-5, 10-12, 11-9 (37m)
[2] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bye
Women’s Quarter-finals:
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v [9/16] Marina Stefanoni (USA)
[3/4] Coline Aumard (FRA) v [9/16] Saskia Beinhard (GER)
Katerina Tycova (GER) v [5/8] Lucy Beecroft (ENG)
[2] Mélissa Alves (FRA) v [5/8] Haley Mendez (USA)
Women’s second round:
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt [9/16] Nikki Todd (CAN) 11-7, 11-4 (12m)
[9/16] Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt [5/8] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 14-12, 11-7 (27m)
[9/16] Saskia Beinhard (GER) bt [5/8] Emilia Soini (FIN) 12-10, 11-6 (21m)
[3/4] Coline Aumard (FRA) bt [9/16] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 11-7, 12-10 (25m)
Katerina Tycova (GER) bt [9/16] Alex Haydon (AUS) 11-6, 11-3 (15m)
[5/8] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt [9/16] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) 12-10, 11-7 (18m)
[5/8] Haley Mendez (USA) bt [9/16] Karina Tyma (POL) 7-11, 11-3, 11-7 (22m)
[2] Mélissa Alves (FRA) bt [9/16] Nadia Pfister (SUI) 11-3, 11-4 (14m)
Women’s first round:
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bye
[9/16] Nikki Todd (CAN) bt Maria Moya (ECU) 11-5, 5-11, 11-1 (25m)
[9/16] Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt Laura Tovar (COL) 11-9, 11-3 (17m)
[5/8] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Nadiia Usenko (UKR) 11-3, 11-3 (11m)
[5/8] Emilia Soini (FIN) bt Ching Hei Fung (HKG) 11-4, 11-5 (16m)
[9/16] Saskia Beinhard (GER) bt Kincső Szász (HUN) 11-1, 11-1 (7m)
[9/16] Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bt Jia Liu (CHN) 11-1, 11-1 (9m)
[3/4] Coline Aumard (FRA) bt Celine Walser (SUI) 11-4, 11-2 (12m)
Katerina Tycova (GER) bt [3/4] Anna Serme (CZE) 8-11, 14-12, 11-3 (34m)
[9/16] Alex Haydon (AUS) bt Riina Koskinen (FIN) 11-5, 11-5 (11m)
[9/16] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) bt Anastasiia Kostiukova (UKR) 11-4, 11-4 (11m)
[5/8] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Hannah Chukwu (HUN) 11-4, 11-5 (11m)
[5/8] Haley Mendez (USA) bt Erisa Sano Herring (JPN) 11-2, 11-13, 11-6 (22m)
[9/16] Karina Tyma (POL) bt Lucia Bautista (COL) 11-7, 11-6 (18m)
[9/16] Nadia Pfister (SUI) bt Hannah Blatt (CAN) 9-11, 11-6, 12-10 (27m)
[2] Mélissa Alves (FRA) bye
Pictures courtesy of WSF