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Tue 24th Day ONE:
Qualifying Round One:
Chris Simpson (Eng) bt Bradley Hindle (Mlt) 8/11,
11/8, 5/11, 11/4, 11/6 (71m)
Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) bt
Frank Hartkoren (Ned)
11/6, 11/8, 11/6 (26m)
Stéphane Galifi (Ita) bt Rene Mijs (Ned)
11/7, 11/7, 13/11 (33m)
Nicolas Mueller (Sui)
bt John Rooney (Irl)
11/13, 11/7, 11/8, 12/10 (49m)
Steve Finitsis (Aus) bt Rob Sutherland (Wal)
11/4, 11/9, 11/8 (35m)
Julien Balbo (Fra) bt
Bastiaan Meulenbelt (Ned)
11/7, 11/6, 11/3 (41m)
Robbie Temple (Eng) bt Bart Ravelli (Ned)
11/6, 11/9, 11/9 (34m)
Dylan Bennett (Ned)
bt Jan Koukal (Cze)
11/7, 11/7, 11/2 (26m)
Qualifying underway at
Dutch Open
Qualifying action got under way today at the Dutch Open
Squash 2009 in Rotterdam with plenty of exciting matches.
 Dylan
Bennett was the sole Dutch survivor on the opening day
of the PSA 4 Star Championship in the Netherlands. The
25-year old, who captured his third PSA tour title last
weekend at the KEAN Open 2009, was in dazzling form against
an out of sorts Jan Koukal, romping home to an unexpected
11-7, 11-7, 11-2 victory in just 26 minutes. Bennett now
faces England’s Robbie Temple for a place in the main
draw after the lightning quick lefthander defeated Bart
Ravelli in straight games in his first round qualifying
match.
 Steve
Finitsis created another upset on day one,
the tall Aussie coming
up with some stunning nick shots en route to an 11-4, 11-9,
11-8 win over higher ranked Rob Sutherland from Wales and
will have to see-off Julien Balbo tomorrow evening
for a highly-sought-after spot in Thursday’s first round.
The Frenchmen came
through rather comfortably against Bastiaan Meulenbelt, one
of the many young Dutch prospects.
The match of the day was produced by Chris Simpson
and Bradley Hindle. England’s Simpson was made to
work very hard by his lower ranked opponent to claim his
expected passage into the final qualifying round. Hindle
twice took the lead with high quality squash, only to run
out of gas in the last two games, which was not a major
surprise considering he pulled out of the PSA Super
Satellite tournament in the Dutch city of Delft last weekend
due to reoccurring health problems. Simpson will now play
Ryan Cuskelly from Australia, who saw off Frank
Hartkoren in straight games.
The fourth qualifying final will
see Stéphane
Galifi - now representing Italy - and
Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller go
head to head on Wednesday evening.
Galifi came through unharmed against Rene Mijs, winning
11-7, 11-7, 13-11, while Mueller had to fight off a spirited
performance by Irishman John
Rooney to book his place into the qualifying finals.
Barker out of Dutch
Open
Top seed Peter
Barker has
withdrawn from the Dutch
Open Squash 2009 which
starts today in the Dutch city ofRotterdam. The
England ace is struggling with an ankle injury which he
sustained last weekend in his semi-final match against
compatriot Nick
Matthew in
the Qatar Squash Classic 2009.
The 26-year old is
clearly disappointed with his withdrawal from the PSA
4 Star championship in
the Netherlands, which takes place at Victoria
Squash, the club Barker represents in Dutch league.
“Unfortunately I have been advised to pull out of the
forthcoming Dutch Open,” said the world number nine. “My
ankle clearly needs some attention, so I can’t compete in
the tournament this week. I am gutted I am not playing,”
concluded the ever improving Englishman.
The late
withdrawal elevates Dutch champion Laurens
Jan Anjema to
top spot in the biggest men’s tournament on Dutch soil this
century. Australia’s Cameron
Pilley, Malaysia’s Azlan
Iskandar and
England’s Daryl
Selby
are the three other highest ranked players in the
draw. Julian
Illingworth from
the United States is now seeded to reach the quarter-finals
while New-Zealand’s Kashif
Shuja avoids
the brutal qualifying competition due to Barker’s absence.
The Dutch Open
Squash 2009 starts today with first round of qualifying
action and runs through to Sunday with the men’s final
scheduled for 2pm.
Revised Draw
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