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Wed 21st May - Day TWO
Qualifying Finals
The main draw of the PSA $15k
Bedell Jersey Classic was completed day at Jersey Squash and
Racketball Club as three Englishmen and one Dutchman claimed the
four qualifying places.
Sebastiaan Weenink (Ned) 3-0 Jan van den Herrewegen (Bel)
11/6, 11/7, 12/10 (41m)
Alex Ingham (Eng) 3-1 Ashley Davies (Eng)
11/5, 9/11, 11/4, 11/9 (65m)
Richie Fallows (Eng) 3-0 Courtney West (Aus)
11/2, 11/6, 11/7 (26m)
Lewis Walters (Eng) 3-0 Michael Harris (Eng)
11/8, 11/8, 11/6 (45m)
The first match of the day was an
all-European affair between room-mates Sebastiaan Weenink
and Jan Van Den Herrewegen.
 Weenink
won in three games but it was far from straightforward, the
Dutchman grateful for taking early leads in each of the games
before his young Belgian opponent fought back strongly. In the
third Herrewegen looked to be getting the upper hand and had a
game ball to extend the match, but Weenink squeezed out the last
three points to progress to the main draw where he meets last
year’s finalist Charles Sharpes.
From7-3 in the first Herrewegen pulled it back to 8-6, but a
couple of errors gave Weenink some breathing room as he took the
lead 11-7. From 4-all in the second Weenink pulled away again to
lead 9-4 but was made to work hard to finish the game off as
Hereweggen closed to 9-7 before Weenink took the last two points
with two short winners.
 Even
though he led 4-1 in the third, it was Weenink who looked to be
feeling the effects of the high pace more, and again Herrewegen
closed, finally drawing level at 9-all. A tight drive earned the
Belgian a game ball, but Weenink levelled on a stroke, saw his
boast roll out of the nick for match ball, and drove the ball
deep in the corner at the end of a final gruelling rally to take
the match 12-10 after 41 minutes.
“Jan is a good friend so we know each other’s game well,”
said Weenink. “He pushed me all the way, especially in the third
so I was happy to get those crucial points at the end. All
credit to him, he’s still studying so it’s difficult but he’ll
soon be up there.”
 Next
up was an all-English match between two left handers, Alex
Ingham and Ashley Davies. Ingham, 23, was on top in
the early stages taking the first 11-5, but Davies, just out of
juniors, made the second much tougher, firing in two crisp
winners from 9-all to level.
Ingham got the early momentum in the third, regaining the lead
11-4, but Davies was back in contention from the outset of the
fourth, leading by a point or two until Ingham levelled at
8-all. Ingham chose the perfect time to play a perfect dropshots
from deep to go 9-8 up, and then two more from 9-all to take the
match and set up a meeting with second seed Adrian Waller.
“I had to pull a few shots out of the bag at the end,” admitted
Ingham. “He’s a bit younger than me but it’s awkward playing a
fellow left-hander, there was a lot of play down the backhand
side so I had to try a few different shots and thankfully they
came off.”
 European
junior champion Richie Fallows was next through,
dominating his match against Australian Courtney West.
Fallows stormed through the first 11-3, then pulled away from
5-all in the second to double his advantage 11-6, and finished
it off 11-7 on his fourth match ball.
“Happy enough with that,” said Fallows, “I felt pretty sharp
on there tonight. “I didn’t know him so I just went on to play
attacking squash and try to not let him get into it. Whoever I
get in the main draw it will be tough but good experience.”
Fallows now meets seventh seed Joel Hinds in the first round.
 The
final place in the main draw was claimed by qualifying top seed
Lewis Walters, who always had the slight edge in his match
with Michael Harris, who put out local hero Nick Taylor
yesterday. Walters led throughout each of the games, forcing
errors out of his opponent who could never quite get on terms.
“I played him a lot in juniors and we always had long
matches,” said Walters, “so I was a bit wary but very pleased to
get off in three. It was close all the way but he made a few
errors at the end of the first two, and in the third I found my
length better and was more comfortable.”
Walters’ ‘reward’ is a match with top seed and defending
champion Chris Simpson.
“I train with Chris quite a lot, so it will be good to play
him, I’m looking forward to it,” added Walters.
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