Thursday, April 25, 2024

Top seed Selby rides his luck in Edinburgh

Daryl Selby in action at Edinburgh
Daryl Selby in action at Edinburgh

Scots trio surge through to last eight of Edinburgh Open
By Squash Mad Reporter in Edinburgh

Defending Edinburgh Open champion Daryl Selby won in straight games for the second time, beating Darren Lewis in an entertaining match where the top seed once again had to save three game balls.

“I’m probably a bit lucky to have won 3-0, 3-0 today,” said Selby, “but I’ll take it!”

The second round of the BSPA Edinburgh Open event saw all eight seeds – including three Scotsmen – through to the quarter-finals, although as ever is was easier for some than others.

For the home players, all seeded 5/8, Greg Lobban beat fellow-Scot Rory Stewart comfortably enough, but Kevin Moran and Dougie Kempsell had to work hard for their wins over Danny Hockburn and Phil Nightingale, both winning in four games in just under and just over the hour mark.

The longest and toughest match of the day was between two recent European junior champions, Richie Fallows and Angus Gillams. It went the full distance and both had match ball opportunities before 5/8 seed Fallows finally clinched the decider 13/11 after 74 minutes.

“We play each other a lot and it’s always close,” admitted Gillams, “but that was a tough one.”

Rounding out the quarter-finals, Shaun Le Roux, Jaymie Haycocks and Eddie Charlton all won in straight games.

Dougie Kempsell plays a drop shot against Phil Nightingale
Dougie Kempsell plays a drop shot against Phil Nightingale

The women’s first round provided a mix of quick wins and tough battles, and some upsets thrown in too.

Top seeds Lucia Fialova and Birgit Coufal had contrasting three-nil wins, Fialova easing past local qualifier Lauren Gray while Coufal needed extra points in the first two games before seeing off France’s Enora Villard.

“That was hard for a three-nil,” admitted Coufal, “but a win’s a win!”

It was a similar story for the 3/4 seeds as Nele Gilis beat qualifier Ineta Mackevica – a training partner back in Belgium – with something to spare while Edinburgh-based Tamika Saxby had her work cut out to see off another qualifier, Alison Thomson, who took the first and pushed the Aussie all the way.

All four top seeds will face English opponents in the quarter-finals after Lucy Beecroft, playing in her first WSA event, upset Sina Wall, Fiona Moverley took out sixth seed Chloe Mesic, Georgina Kennedy won her all-English tussle with Jessica Davis, and a ‘not at my best” Leonie Holt came from a game down to beat Anna Klimundova.

Edinburgh Open, Edinburgh Sports Club, Scotland.

BSPA Round Two:

[1] Daryl Selby 3-0 Darren Lewis 12/10, 11/5, 12/10 (26m)
[5/8] Kevin Moran 3-1 Danny Hockburn 15/13, 9/11, 11/4, 11/6 (55m)
[5/8] Greg Lobban 3-0 Rory Stewart 11/4, 11/5, 11/5 (29m)
[3/4] Jaymie Haycocks 3-0 Bryan Byrne 11/2, 11/6, 11/8 (30m)
[3/4 Eddie Charlton 3-0 Jamie Henderson 11/9, 11/6, 11/8 (34m)
[5/8] Dougie Kempsell 3-1 Phil Nightingale 11/8, 9/11, 15/13, 11/8 (64m)
[5/8] Richie Fallows 3-2 Angus Gillams 3/11, 13/11, 11/4, 8/11, 13/11 (74m)
[2] Shaun Le Roux 3-0 Ben Grindrod 11/9, 11/5, 12/10 (31m)
BSPA Round One:

[1] Daryl Selby 3-0 Chris Leiper 11/6, 11/2, 13/11 (31m)
Darren Lewis 3-1 Chris Gray 7/11, 11/7, 11/6, 11/6 (36m)
Danny Hockburn 3-0 Siego Masuda 11/4, 11/7, 11/6 (24m)
[5/8] Kevin Moran 3-1 Iain Tennant 11/6, 11/8, 12/14, 11/9 (46m)
[5/8] Greg Lobban 3-1 Matt Sidaway 11/8, 11/5, 7/11, 11/9 (40m)
Rory Stewart 3-0 [LL] David Beaumont 11/3, 11/7, 11/6 (25m)
Bryan Byrne 3-0 Tom Bamford 11/5, 11/9, 11/1 (23m)
[3/4] Jaymie Haycocks 3-0 Allan Tasker 11/5, 11/7, 11/4 (23m)
[3/4 Eddie Charlton 3-0 Stuart George 11/3, 11/7, 11/6 (25m)
Jamie Henderson 3-0 Elliot Selby 11/8, 11/7, 11/6 (34m)
Phil Nightingale 3-1 Chris Shinnie 11/5, 9/11, 11/9, 11/3 (41m)
[5/8] Dougie Kempsell 3-0 Luke Parker 11/3, 11/3, 11/3 (24m)
[5/8] Richie Fallows 3-1 Adam Turner 11/9, 6/11, 11/8, 11/8 (46m)
Angus Gillams 3-2 Taminder Gata-Aura 11/3, 7/11, 8/11, 11/6, 11 /7 (47m)
Ben Grindrod 3-0 Simon Boughton 11/2, 11/9, 11/9 (22m)
[2] Shaun Le Roux 3-1 James Jacobsen 11/7, 11/3, 10/12, 11/8 (30m)

Men’s Preliminary Round:

Chris Leiper 3-0 Ewan Stewart 11/1, 11/4, 11/4 (17m)
Chris Gray w/o Tom Chitty
Seigo Masuda 3-0 Nick Forrest 11/4, 11/7, 11/7 (23m)
Iain Tennant 3-1 Fergus Richards 8/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/4 (34m)
Rory Stewart 3-1 Robert Dadds 11/8, 11/4, 8/11, 11/8 (43m)
Tom Bamford 3-0 Gareth Brown 11/4, 11/4, 11/6 (16m)
Alan Tasker 3-0 Dan McGinn 11/7, 15/13, 11/6 (43m)
Stuart George 3-0 Tom Partington 11/2, 11/2, 11/6 (20m)
Elliot Selby 3-0 Craig Valent-Wallace 11/6, 11/8, 14/12 (40m)
Chris Shinne 3-0 James Singh 11/4, 11/7, 11/4 (19m)
Luke Parker 3-0 Michael Ross 12/10, 11/8, 11/7 (24m)
Adam Turner 3-1 David Beaumont LL 11/7, 8/11, 11/6, 11/3 (36m)
Taminder Gata-Aura 3-2 Ross McHoul 9/11, 11/8, 8/11, 11/7, 11/5 (44m)
Simon Boughton 3-0 Matt Schonfrucht 11/9, 11/5, 11/3 (20m)
James Jacobsen 3-0 Jacques Laas 12/10, 11/4, 11/6 (24m)

WSA Round One:

[1] Lucie Fialova (Cze) 3-0 [Q] Lauren Gray (Sco) 11/4, 11/3, 11/7 (18m)
Lucy Beecroft (Eng) 3-0 [5] Sina Wall (Ger) 11/5, 11/8, 11/8 (20m)
Fiona Moverley (Eng) 3-0 [6] Chloe Mesic (Fra) 11/2, 11/6, 11/4 (18m)
[3] Tamika Saxby (Aus) 3-1 [Q] Alison Thomson (Eng) 7/11, 12/10, 11/5, 11/8 (44m)
[4] Nele Gilis (Bel) 3-0 [Q] Ineta Mackevica (Lat) 11/3, 11/7, 11/2 (19m)
[8] Leonie Holt (Eng) 3-1 Anna Klimundova (Cze) 10/12, 11/9, 11/7, 11/6 (36m)
[8] Georgina Kennedy (Eng) 3-1 [Q] Jessica Davis (Eng) 11/8, 11/4, 8/11, 11/6 (32m)
[2] Birgit Coufal (Aut) 3-0 Enora Villard (Fra) 12/10, 12/10, 11/6 (27m)
WSA Qualifying Finals:
Alison Thomson (Eng) 3-0 Senga Macfie (Sco) 11/5, 12/10, 11/6 (24m)

Ineta Mackevica (Lat) 3-0 Taylor Flavell (Aus) 11/3, 11/8, 11/8 (21m)
Lauren Gray (Sco) 3-0 Roxanna Keshavarz (Eng) 11/4, 11/5, 11/4 (19m)
Jessica Davis (Eng) 3-0 Marina De Juan Gallach (Esp) 13/11, 11/7, 11/4 (27m)

WSA Qualifying Round One:

Alison Thomson (Eng) 3-1 Elspeth Young (Sco) 5/11, 11/3, 11/8, 11/9 (30m)
Senga Macfie (Sco) 3-1 Ekaterina Marusan (Rus) 11/5, 12/10, 7/11, 11/9 (33m)
Taylor Flavell (Aus) 3-0 Stephanie Walton (Sco) 11/4, 11/0, 11/1 (19m)
Ineta Mackevica (Lat) 3-0 Kirsty Lobban (Sco) 11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (13m)
Lauren Gray (Sco) 3-2 Tessa ter Sluis (Ned) 11/9, 4/11, 6/11, 13/11, 11/8 (30m)
Roxanna Keshavarz (Eng) 3-2 Emily Ison (Eng) 14/12, 7/11, 10/12, 11/7, 11/2 (35m)
Marina De Juan Gallach (Esp) 3-1 Claire Gadsby (Sco) 11/5, 5/11, 12/10, 11/9 (36m)
Jessica Davis (Eng) 3-0 Elin Harlow (Wal) 11/1, 11/4, 11/6 (16m)

Pictures by STEVE CUBBINS

 

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