DRAWS & RESULTS

After a first rally the "went on forever" according to one spectator, the second round match between Steve Meads and Daryl Selby went on to become an enthralling contest, the longest match of the tournament so far (of course, it just had to be the last match of the day, didn't it ...).

They traded the first two games, with Daryl always ahead in the first, and Steve never letting go of the second. The rallies were long as both probed for openings.

A few careless errors from Daryl in the middle of the third, and Steve was ahead, with the youngster starting to get a bit ratty with himself and the referee. Meads, meanwhile, moved serenely on, moving as well as ever, getting forward at every opportunity, winning the rallies although Daryl never looked out of it.

Daryl was back in control in the fourth as the match reached an inevitable decider. Daryl started getting very ratty with the decisions in the early part of the game. A no let that took Steve to 6/3 prompted a prolonged discussion and a "that's six decisions against me already this game" analysis from Daryl.

After tinning the next serve in frustration the youngster buckled down, kept the rallies going and two tins and two strokes brought him level. Two more tins from Meads took it to 9/7. Meads steadied the ship with a lovely drop and a stroke levelled it again.

At 9-all, with the game already 20 minutes old, six long rallies ended in six lets. This time it was Daryl's turn to pull out a drop - a long one, into the nick - to reach match ball, and Meads' turn to get ratty as the ensuing rally ended in a stroke which didn't find favour with the old stager.

It was a fitting end to the day, a tense, well-supported match with Daryl showing he is improving fast, and Steve that he's not ready to lie down just yet ...

Andy Whipp told us earlier that he was in good form, beating virtually everyone put in front of him this season.

Well tonight he beat 5/8 seed Ben Garner, as he did in the BSPA Boston Open, in straight games, looking pretty impressive.

He was always on top in the first two, and looked to be cruising at 8/3 in the third, but a number of silly errors gave Ben the sniff of a comeback as he lengthened the rallies and worked his way back to 9-all.

Andy then got the better of a long exchange to reach match ball, which Ben saved with an outrageous service return into the nick.

On the next match ball though, Andy worked Ben around the court, and although Ben was disappointed with a no let decision, when both players were happy to play a let, it just wasn't going to be his night tonight.
  

Madeline and Laura

"I used to play Deon a lot, in junior events and at Pontefract, but I stopped playing for a while and she moved ahead of me. I only started playing properly again in the last few weeks, and although I made too many mistakes in the first two games I was playing for most of the rest of the match. "It's Georgina tomorrow, I've been playing her since I was ten, but she's improved a lot so we'll see ..." Sarah Bowles

Jenny Wright

Scott Handley was one of a group who flew up from 'down South' this morning, getting the 8am flight to Edinburgh. Waiting to meet him was one of the University of Birmingham team, Jonny Harford.

Scott started slowly, several errors helping Jonny to a 5/1 lead, but he settled, levelled at 7-all and took the first 11/8. From 4-all in the second he pulled away again to double the lead, but a fast start from Jonny in the third gave him a lead he held onto - Scott gave the game up at 8/3 - to pull one back.

The little rest clearly did Scott the power of good as he raced to 8/1 and 10/2 in the fourth. Two tins from Scott and two fine winners from Jonny made the audience think a comeback might be on, but a loose shot down the middle resulted in a stroke to Scott and it was over.

It was ladies first in the morning, with the top seven seeds receiving byes until this evening's second round.

One of the first matches on was France's Laurence Bois against Katie Wilson from Ulster. Laurence was in command from the beginning, able to keep the ball tight, forcing weak returns from Katie which she put away clinically.

The first two games were quick, both 9/0, but Katie competed well in the third, matching Laurence for pace, and from 5-all pulled away, taking the last two points on strokes to pull one back.

France was back in control in the fourth, and although the rallies were well-contested, it was always Laurence who found the winning position, taking it 9/0 to complete a strange-looking scoreline as she went through to face top seed Madeline Perry this evening.

There was success for two locals as Helen Macfie and Louise Philip, both based at Edinburgh SC, won through to the second round. Macfie won three close games against Selina Sinclair, 9/5 9/7 10/8, and Philip, the Scottish number three, recovered from a 10/9 first-game loss against Susannah King to win in four.

French interest was doubled as Charlotte Delsinne had a little too much power for England's Jenny Tamblin, winning in three close games. Charlotte now meets second seed Laura Lengthorn.

French contingent in Edinburgh

Quickest win of the round was by Jenny Wright, dropping just a single point as she went through to an interesting-looking meeting with 5/8 seed Fiona Moverley.

DRAWS & RESULTS
 

"I tried to change my tactics in the third, but it  didn't work so I went back to what I was doing before. "I played for the French team last year, and I'm hoping to do so again, I'm working towards that goal. "Tournaments like this are good for us, good practice, and I'm hoping to play some more of them, maybe in London." Laurence Bois beat Katie Wilson 3/1

"It was a faster pace than I'm used to, I found I was missing the ball early on. I got used to it as the match went on, but in the fourth although we had some good rallies I just couldn't win the points. "I haven't played many tournaments recently, just clubs and Inter-Counties for Ulster ... maybe I should play more of them ..." Katie Wilson

"That was hard, we had long rallies right from the start and it just carried on right through the match. "I haven't played many tournaments recently, but because his is my club I thought I should. I'm pretty pleased to win a game, but the number one seed is pretty close in the draw so I don't expect to get too far." Helen Macfie beat Selina Sinclair 3/0

Thu 26th:
Day ONE, Qualifying:

Qualifying started at five-thirty, with four courts due to be in action, the start of a hectic weekend of squash - the Artemis Open Graded tournament featuring three draws of 16 is running alongside the BSPA event.

Tournament director Simon Boughton is playing in the event, and from personal experience I can tell you that organising an event and playing in it just don't mix, so my advice was to take his medicine like a man and exit gracefully.

Then news came through that his opponent, rising Yorkshire star Shawn Leroux, had pulled out.

"I enter the qualifying every year and I've always made it through to the main draw," said a relieved Simon. "When I saw the draw I knew that this was probably the year I wouldn't get there, so when Shawn dropped out I breathed a sigh of relief."

Qualifying for Cash

The qualifying matches seemed to be over in a flash. With four courts in action and some fairly quick wins the main draw quickly began to take shape. The record prize fund stretches all the way down, with tonight's winners guaranteed £25 for their appearance in the 32-man main draw.



University Challenge

In one of the first matches on, Steve Coppinger got the Birmingham University team off to a good start, in one of the closest matches of the evening. Two games up on Glasgow's Peter O'Hara, the Scot rallied to take the third on a tie-break, but Coppinger returned the favour in the fourth to claim the win.

Jaymie Haycocks, Joel Hinds and Jonny Harford completed the university quartet in the main draw.

Hinds came up against another Newlands player, Chris Small, and also won in four. The first two games were well-contested and shared, but the Derbyshire youngster controlled the last two games.

Joel meets Daryl Selby in the first round. "He's good ..." was all Joel would say about his prospects.

Harford recorded one of the quickest wins of the day, 24 minutes against young Lewis Walters, who did so well to reach the quarters of the British Junior Open, unseeded. "I just wasn't there tonight," Lewis said afterwards.

Haycocks recovered from a game down against Chris Hall, winning on a tie-break in the fourth.

Lucky Greg

The only Scottish winner tonight was Kris Johnson - "sneaked it", he said of his straight games win over Dean Newbury, but he was joined in tomorrow's action by Greg McArthur, who won the 'lucky loser spot' (drawn by yours truly) after losing to Tom Phipps in four.

"It's the first time that a group of us from the University have all entered a BSPA event together - Jonny actually left last year, but we're still a close group. "I'm playing Azlan tomorrow. I've never even seen him play, but I hear he's pretty good ..." Steve Coppinger

"I played well to start with, but I made far too many errors, particularly in the last two games." Chris Small

"I was competing well at the start, but I got tired at the end. "I had two 3/2 games yesterday playing for Scotland against Wales and the Netherlands in a junior 'test match', and I just ran out of steam in the end tonight." Greg McArthur

Unusual view on court one