04-Mar, Final:

[1] Davide Bianchetti bt [2] Jens Schoor 11/7, 14/16, 11/8, 11/6

Bianchetti wins Austrian Open 2012
with (Bianchetti-) style ...
Aqeel Rehman reports

Today's final of the Austrian Open had the number one seeded player against the number two seeded player, pretty much a dream final, but unfortunately with no Austrian player left in that final.

But anyway it was a great final between Davide Bianchetti from Italy against Jens Schoor from Germany.

Both showed some great retrieving and clever play. It was Davide though who was mostly one step ahead of his opponent. The crowed was fascinated by his calm play, but also by his intense arguing with the referee. On the other side Jens did not make it an easy day for the referee as well (which was me unfortunately).

Davide took the first game 11/7, but Jens could push the mature Italian more in the second game and saw himself 10/9 up. However it took the German number two another five attempts to finally to close out the game 16/14.

After that it was again Davide who found his game and control better and was able to take the lead again after winning the third game 11/8.

During the fourth game it seemed as the crowd will have the joy to see a fifth game after Jens led 6/3, but due to an incredible run by Davide, he was able to win the next eight points in a row to avoid a deciding game.

The 34-year old from Brescia won the game 11/6 after 75 minutes of play, to claim the 12th PSA title of his career, but the first since June 2009.

It was a great final for the crowd on the Bella Vita Center court and an amazing tournament the whole week in the Tenniscourt Süd in Gneis, Salzburg.

A Big Thank goes to all the Sponsors and host families as well to the Squash-Mama Rosmarie Rehman, who played the role as a host, driver, chef, organiser ...


 

German reports on www.rehman.at 

11/6, 11/5, 13/11 (45m)

Aqeel Rehman

 11/7, 14/16, 11/8, 11/6 (75m)

[2] Jens Schoor

11/8, 13/11, 11/7  (37m)

[2] Jens Schoor

Qualifying:

01-Mar, Finals:

Johan Bouquet bt Alex Ingham                11/9, 8/11, 11/3, 8/11, 11/8
Florent Pontiere bt Karamatullah Khan  11/3, 11/13, 11/13, 11/5, 11/5 (67m)
Martin Mosnik bt Wojtec Nowics                        11/4, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9
Rory Pennell bt Roman Svec                            11/8, 9/11, 11/6, 11/5

01 Mar, Round One:

Alex Ingham (Eng)                                            bye
Johan Bouquet bt Martin Tollich                          11/9, 11/7, 11/4 (19min)
Florent Pontiere bt Lukas Gnauer               11/4, 11/7, 7/11, 11/7 (30min)
Karamatullah Khan bt Ondrej Ertl    9/11, 11/13, 11/9, 11/4, 11/9 (94min)
Martin Mosnik bt Theo Woodward                       11/9, 11/9, 11/6 (32min)
Wojciech Nowisz bt Adam Giles      6/11, 10/12, 14/12, 11/7, 11/7
Rory Pennell bt Michael Gäde                             11/5, 11/8, 11/7
Roman Svec (Cze)                                            bye

02-Mar, Round One:
Aqeel delights home fans in Salzburg
Rehan van der Merwe reports

Only one of the four seeds fell in the first round of the Austrian Open in Salzburg, but to the delight of the home fans it was Austrian number one Aqeel Rehman who produced the upset as he overcame Danish third seed Rasmus Nielsen in a five-game thriller ...

Anthony Graham bt Rory Pennell 3/1
Although Rory held his own in parts of the match, Anthony always seemed the most likely winner as he kept control of the rallies. A satisfactory start, although Anthony would be keen to keep a much more disciplined length tomorrow against Bianchetti.

Raphael Kandra bt Johan Bouquet 3/2
Fast pace, great court coverage - some errors, but also some nice shotmaking. Bouquet tired after having built up his 2-1 lead which let Kandra close out the match in style.

Davide Bianchetti bt Martin Mosnik 3/1
Although Mosnik has improved lately and was able to squeeze out a game, Bianchetti was unlikely to be threatened by the Slovenian No. 1, smoothing through, no questions asked.

Clinton Leeuw bt Florent Pontiere 3/0
The French qualifier surprised with a good start, but once Clinton found his stride and changed his racket, he galloped off into the next round.

Leandro Rogmilio bt Steve London 3/0
What promised to be a tight match on paper turned out to be very one-sided as Rogmilio romped to a faultless victory.

Jens Schoor bt Alex Phillips 3/1
Despite being unconcentrated in the second Jens looked very comfortable. Alex showed some signs, but was not establishing any dominance.

Aqeel Rehman bt Rasmus Nielsen 3/2
To the delight of the crowd, Aqeel pulled of a great victory. After both players invested so much effort into the 2nd and 3rd sets, Nielsen was the one who seemed to have lost the sharpness. A great victory for Rehman.

Ben Coleman bt Jakob Dirnberger 3/1
The Austrian wildcard was always the unlikely winner, but gave a shimmer of hope as he won the first game. Coleman showed his class from the 2nd game on as he didn't allow the Austrian any more chances.

Preview of the Quarters:

Bianchetti vs Graham - Graham would want to prove himself against Bianchetti who has been steadily slipping down the rankings. Bianchetti on the other hand would be keen to prove his no1 seeding.

Leeuw vs Schoor - They know each other well. Leeuw leads the head-to-head, but the last matches have been close.

Rehman vs Rogmilio - Rehman would be on a high after his great match against Nielsen, but Rogmilio would be much fresher after an easy match. Expect the crowd to go wild!

Coleman vs Kandra - They will be continuing a junior rivalry. Will Kandra's shotmaking prove to strong, or will Coleman be able to absorb and reverse?

You've gotta be brave if you want to bet on these matches!