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22-Apr,
Final:
[1] Simon Parke (Eng) bt
[8]
Fabien Verseille (Fra)
11/8, 11/6, 11/6 (38m) |
Parke Takes Prime Time Final
With five TV cameras from TV Zagreb showing the whole match
live on the prime time sports show, and sold out squash
stands with flat screen on the side court to allow more
squash nuts to watch the final, top seed Simon Parke
overcame a tired Fabien Verseille to claim the
inaugural Croatian Open.
There were some fine rallies to entertain the various
audiences, but even without his exertions in previous
rounds, taking on the former world number three would have
been a tough challenge for the world number 152, as Parke
used his experience to run out a straight games winner in
his 15th PSA final.
"Not bad for a satellite tournament," stated Wolfgang Denk,
managing Director of McWIL Consulting and tournament
director. "Next year it will be 20,000 USD and a glass
court."
The trophies were presented by Mr. Zlatko Matesa, President
of the Croatian Olympic Commitee, with Parke pledging that
all the players would return next year.
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 "Just
before I go to Fed Cup tennis between
Croatia-Argentina thanks to the VIP tickets that
Vedran got for me, I'd like to say ...
"The organisation of this tournament was fantastic and
Vedran and Wolfgang did treat the players really well
and I am sure they gave their best on and out of
court.
"On behalf of the players I want to say a big thank
you to all who worked hard for this, the drivers, the
girls in the club and of course the sponsors and
Logitech.
"We are all looking forward for tonight's big party
and I am sure we'll all come back again.
Petros
Tzamaloukas |
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21-Apr,
Semis:
[1] Simon Parke (Eng) bt [3] Jan Koukal (Cze)
11/6, 11/3, 11/3 (38m)
[8]
Fabien Verseille
bt [4] Ian Power (Can)
8/11, 6/11, 11/4, 11/5, 11/2 (65m) |
Fabien to face Parke in final
France's Fabien Verseille continued his sensational
run in the Croatian as the world number 152 won a second
successive five-game thriller to oust Ian Power in the
semi-finals.
Verseille fell two games behind but he fought back to level
and opened up a quick 5-0 lead in the fifth game, finalising
his victory in 65 minutes.
Tournament favourite Simon Parke had an easier route
to the final, beating Jan Koukal in straight games. |
"I just finished my match, and I did beat a Power ...
wasn't the Jonathan one, but still, it feels darn
good, winning a hard match 3/2!
"There you go ..."
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20-Apr, Quarters:
Verseille Vanquishes Krajcsak
Young Frenchman Fabien Verseille pulled off a
stunning upset in Zagreb as he ousted second seed Mark
Krajcsak in five games.
After winning a tight first game Verseille fell 2-1 behind
to the Hungarian champion, ranked some 71 places above the
French number ten, but fought back to level and eventually
take the match on a fifth-game tie-break where both players
had several match balls.
Elsewhere the results went to seeding - Verseille faces
Canada's fourth seed Ian Power for a place in the
final, while top seed Simon Parke, the former world
number three, meets Czech champion Jan Koukal after
all three completed straight-game quarter-final victories.
Today some of the players enjoyed a sightseeing tour of
Zagreb old town, while others are preparing for the Saturday
players party in Zagreb's biggest discothek, the Phirania
Club ...
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19-Apr,
Round One:
Parky
Arrives - Just in Time...
Top seed Simon Parke almost didn't make it to his
first round match in Zagreb.
Delayed by a traffic accident in London, the top seed missed
his flight, but a frantic phone call to the organisers
resulted in a re-arrangement of his match to 11.30pm and a
Business Class Heathrow to Zagreb ticket ... well, the
sponsors, Croat squash fanatics and the TV+Press needed to
be kept happy as the build-up all week has been about Parky!
The flight arrived sharp at 10.00pm (it was Lufthansa) and
Simon was speeded through customs. Naturally with Mercedes
as one of the event sponsors (fast) Mercedes cars were
available to whip Parky to the club in just 15 minutes,
arriving at 10.35 - not bad considering the airport is 35km
outside Zagreb!
"I think we need to make a fund raising exhibition for the
speeding tickets," joked tournament organiser Vedran
Rezic to the crowd.
The Croats have seen some close matches today, although in
the end all the top eight seeds progressed to the
quarter-finals.
Czech star Jan Koukal liked the courts so much that
he decided to play 85 minutes to overcome qualifier Jonny
Harford in five games. There was one rally at game ball in
the second that [allegedly] lasted eight minutes!
Fabian Kalaitzis also needed five games and 62
minutes to beat another qualifier, Rene Mijs from
Netherland.
The local hero Domagoj Spiljar had no joy against
Austrian number one Andreas Fuchs, even with the fanatic
crowd in his corner.
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"Blimey, that was a
bit of a rush!"
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 Croatian
Open 2006
17-22 April, Zagreb, $6k |
Round One
Apr 19 |
Quarters
Apr 20 |
Semis
Apr 21 |
Final
Apr 22 |
[1] Simon
Parke (Eng)
11/8, 11/6, 11/7 (35m)
Friedrich Scheel (Ger) |
Simon Parke
11/8, 11/3, 11/4 (39m)
Fabian Kalaitzis |
Simon Parke
11/6, 11/3, 11/3 (38m)Jan Koukal |
Simon Parke
11/8, 11/6, 11/6 (38m)
Fabien Verseille |
[7] Fabian Kalaitzis (Gre)
11/5, 7/11, 11/10(2-0), 9/11, 11/2 (62m)
[Q] Rene Mijs (Bel) |
[3] Jan
Koukal (Cze)
9/11, 9/11, 11/9, 11/4, 11/7 (85m)
[Q] Jonny Harford (Eng) |
Jan Koukal
11/6, 11/4, 11/5 (38m)
Andreas Fuchs |
[5]
Andreas Fuchs (Aut)
11/9, 11/4, 11/2 (35m)
Domagoj Spoljar (Cro) |
[Q] Klemen Gutman (Slo)
11/5, 7/11, 11/4, 11/4 (36m)
[6] Rob Sutherland (Wal) |
Rob Sutherland
11/10(2-0), 11/7, 11/9 (35m)
Ian Power |
Ian Power
8/11, 6/11, 11/4, 11/5, 11/2 (65m)
Fabien Verseille |
Petros
Tzamaloukas (Gre)
11/3, 11/6, 11/3 (29m)
[4] Ian Power (Can) |
Andre Holderegger (Sui)
4/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/9 (55m)
[8] Fabien Verseille (Fra) |
Fabien Verseille
11/10(2-0), 9/11, 5/11, 11/9, 11/10(4-2) (78m)
Mark Krajcsak |
[Q]
Phillip Nightingale (Eng)
11/4, 11/10(5-3), 11/5 (43m)
[2] Mark Krajcsak (Hun) |
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Super Start in Zagreb
"My partner in the Squash Tower Club Zagreb, the event
organiser Vedran Rezic did an outstanding job - we
are prepared for bigger PSA events," Wolfgang Denk
from McWIL Sport consulting said to
15 interested journalists from local radio stations and
newspapers.
Logitech as main sponsor represented by marketing
manager Maja Karas, Mercedes the tournament shuttle
car supplier, and Coca Cola are very satisfied with
the PR coverage so far - several articles in newspapers, TV
morning show and many local radio stations did reports about
the event upfront.
15 huge tournament posters are displayed in the city of
Zagreb to round up the perfect PR for the new squash event
in Croatia.
On the court, Rene Mijs, Jonny Harford, Philip Nightingale
and local wildcard
Klemen Gutman made it through to the main draw ...
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"The players are thrilled about the tournament organisation
"Pick up from airport for all qualifier and main draw
players, and free food / isotonic drinks / internet access for
all players in the club.
"This is not what PSA players are
used to in Satellite Tournaments!"
Friedrich Scheel
PSA
Player Representative |
Qualifying Quotes from
Zagreb ...
Binns and the
Boyz from the Internet Cafe ... |
Jonathon Hartford bt
Jethro Binns
10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8
This turned out to be a fairly tough long match as expected.
Binns managed to sneak the first on a tie break. The second
was a different story with lots of errors flowing from
Jethro's racket. The third and fourth were tighter but Jonny
was prepared to stay in the rallies longer, and waited for
the errors to come, which they did.
"Woof! Before I start
I just want to clear something up, Shaun said in his
quote yesterday that we sleep together, I would like
to highlight the fact that we merely room together and
do not sleep together.
"The match went well, I was pleased to get off in 4 as
I was getting a bit nervous at the end of the fourth,
but I was delighted to see the ball roll out of the
nick on the last point."
Jonny Harford
 "Unfortunately
it didn't go quite to plan, I just made to many
mistakes and am now catching an early flight home. It
was a tough draw and a long way to come for one match,
but I guess that is the risk of qualifying."
Jethro Binns |
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Philip Nightingale bt
Thibault Gouti
8-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9
This was one of Phil's finest ever performances. he was like
a man possessed imposing himself upon the T with authority.
He never allowed the Frenchman to settle and after losing
the first game he never looked back. The Frenchman became
more and more frustrated and at one point exclaimed that
Phil was to tall and that it was unfair.
Phil finished the match with a fine crosscourt kill and with
that let out a very loud cry to as he made his way into the
main draw to earn himself a date with the number two seed,
Mark Krajcsak.
"I was delighted with
that, he was awkward to play, and makes himself very
big around the T but I managed to cope with it in the
end.
"It's my birthday tomorrow so this is really the
perfect present.
"I am looking forward to playing Mark, well see what
happens.
Phil Nightingale |
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Qualifying Quotes from
Zagreb ...
Binns and the
Boyz from the Internet Cafe ...
Tom Phipps lost a brutal match yesterday in
the first round of qualifying against Rene Mijs, 14-12 in the 5th in
80mins. Tom was running around like a headless chicken for the
majority of the time, showing moments of brilliance that could not
be sustained. tom never had a match ball himself but saved three.
One save in particular stands out when he went for a crosscourt nick
off the serve that turned out to be a corkscrew lob that
thoroughly confused his opponent.
"I'm obviously disappointed
to lose first round qualifying, I had a good draw but couldn't
capitalize on it. Rene played very well and made run and run.
As for the crosscourt nick, don't ask!! It was a tough match
and now looking forward to spending more time at the poker
table and admiring the women in boom bar!!!
Tom Phipps |
Jonny Harford vs Shaun Le Roux was a match of the highest quality,
except for the third game which was a game of the lowest quality
where Shaun proceeded to hit 7 tins to lose the game 11-0!!! the
first game lasted longer than the whole match on the adjoining court
between Aqueel Rehman and a local.
At 10-10 in the 4th a decision by referee Jethro Binns caused an
outburst from Shaun that resulted in a loss of concentration and
Jonny went on to seal victory 13-11. he now plays Binns who received
a bye in the first round.
"I don't know, I fly all the
way here to play my north west team mate who I train with,
travel with and sleep with. All credit to Jonny who played
really well. The nicks he hit were quite unusual for Jonny,
but were very effective
Shaun Le Roux
Woof! I am happy with that, it's a tough draw, got Jethro
tomorrow which should be just as tough but I'm playing well
and looking forward to it.
PS, hi Polly!!
Jonny Harford |
"Just delighted to be here in
all honesty after missing my flight on Monday. I only allowed
myself 5 minutes for traffic but it turned out I needed 8 as I
was officially 3 minutes late for departure (I have the slip
to prove it). It all worked well in the end as I won 3-0
against a local, and have a good opportunity to qualify today!
Philip Nightingale |
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Qualifying
Finals, 18-Apr:
Rene Mijs bt Ivan Djordevic
11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6
Philip Nightingale bt Thibault Gouti
8-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9
Klemen Gutman bt Aqeel Rehmann 11-9,
10-12, 11-6, 13-11
Jonathon Hartford bt Jethro Binns
10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8
Qualifying
first round, 17-Apr:
 Jethro Binns (Wal)
bye
Jonathan Harford (Eng) bt Shaun Le Roux (Eng) 3:1
Aqeel Rehmann (Aut) bt Marko Milek (Cro)
3:0
Klemens Gutman (Slo) bt Johan Bouqet (Fra)
3:2
Thibault Gouti (Fra) bt Mario Sunjara (Cro)
3:0
Philip Nightingale (Eng) bt Damir Bezan (Cro)
3:0
Rene Mijs (Bel) bt Thomas Phipps (Eng)
3:2
Ivan Dordevic
bye
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