French ace faces Tarek Momen in last 16
By NATHAN CLARKE
French World No.42 Lucas Serme bridged a huge gap in the world rankings to dispatch talented Egyptian Fares Dessouki in the first round of the 2016 UCS Swedish Open in Linköping.
It was Dessouki who had the better of the early exchanges with his dynamism and attacking artistry in full flow in front of enraptured crowd but a superb fightback from Serme saw the young Frenchman take three games without reply to complete an 8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-2 triumph.
“I’m ecstatic, I’m over the moon,” enthused Serme, who will meet Tarek Momen in the next round.
“I was just really happy to qualify, that was my goal in this tournament. I wasn’t expecting this much. I knew I could beat him but he’s really dangerous.
“He has beaten so many good players but I went out there quite free and quite relaxed. I knew he had the pressure on him and maybe that’s what made the difference in the end.”
Hong Kong’s Max Lee is also through after prevailing in a brutal encounter with Scotland’s Alan Clyne.
The World No.15 looked to be easing through to the last eight of the PSA M70 event after claiming a commanding two-game lead but Clyne wrestled back momentum of the match to level things up.
Lee held his nerve though and recovered to complete an 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8 triumph to move through to his first ever Swedish Open quarter-final where he will face England’s Daryl Selby.
“That wasn’t fun at all,” said Lee. “I was 2-0 up but it took me some time to break him down a little bit. Hopefully my next match is a bit quicker than this one. If I can play 30-40 minutes then I would be very happy.
“I will go back, stretch out and recover. I’m struggling with jet-lag so hopefully I can get some sleep now.”
Meanwhile, Egyptian World No.9 Karim Abdel Gawad ended Swedish hopes of having a local hero take the crown by dispatching wildcard Rasmus Hult in straight games.
Gawad put on a flamboyant performance that was full of flair as he hit a number of sumptuous winners in a sterling 27-minute display that yielded a victory by an 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 scoreline.
“I’m really happy to win today in three,” said Gawad. “It was my first time playing against him and I enjoyed it so much. He is a great player and it was a great match with a great atmosphere in the venue.”
Gawad will go head-to-head with Chris Simpson for a place in the semi-final.
2016 UCS Swedish Open.
Quarter-Finals:
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [8] Chris Simpson (ENG)
[5] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [4] Max Lee (HKG)
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Lucas Serme (FRA)
[7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [1] Simon Rösner (GER)
First Round:
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [WC] Rasmus Hult (SWE) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (27m)
[8] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (46m)
[5] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (41m)
[4] Max Lee (HKG) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-2: 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8 (69m)
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-2 (55m)
[Q] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [6] Fares Dessouki (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-2 (68m)
[7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 3-1: 11-4, 3-11, 11-8, 11-9 (66m)
[1] Simon Rösner (GER) bt [Q] Ben Coleman (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (42m)
Qualifying finals:
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Eddie Charlton (ENG) 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (41m)
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (47m)
Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (79m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (25m)
1st qualifying round:
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 (44m)
Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt Charles Sharpes (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (43m)
Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt Tom Ford (ENG) 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (65m)
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Viktor Hogberg (SWE) 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (23m)
Joe Lee (ENG) bt Bjorn Angtoft (SWE) 11-2, 11-1, 11-0 (21m)
Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Peter Creed (WAL) 5-11, 11-6, 11-13, 12-10, 11-7 (88m)
Henrik Mustonen (FIN) bt Miko Äijänen (FIN) 11-2, 11-3, 11-5 (19m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Carl Remle (SWE) 11-6, 11-1, 11-1 (22m)
Pictures by Mikael Dunder