Wed 11th, Day TWO:
Harris gets his revenge as the
quarter-finalists are settled at St Clement ...
 Round
one of the fourth edition of the Jersey Squash Classic saw
sixteen matches played throughout the day at Jersey Squash and
Racketball Club, and one big upset.
Michael Harris beat second seed Ashley Davies in three
tough games, gaining a measure of revenge for his semi-final
defeat at the hands of Davies last year when it was Harris who
was the second seed!
 Davies
recovered from a slow start to narrowly lose the first, then
failed to convert a game ball in the second before losing a
little composure as the third slipped away.
"When I saw the draw I thought about the opportunity for
revenge from last year," admitted Harris. "I think I dealt with
the bouncy conditions better than Ash today, it's hard to get a
rhythm when it's like that, but I'm delighted to finish that off
in three."
 An
unseeded semi-finalist - from Bristol - is guaranteed after
qualifier Sam Ellis pulled off one of his best wins in
coming from a game down to beat fifth-seeded South African
Tristan Eysele.
"I've never made the quarters of a $5k before," said a
delighted Sam, "in fact I rarely make the first round, so that's
huge for me! It's always been in the head, more a matter of
confidence than ability so I'm really delighted with that."
Top seed Matthew Hopkin recovered from a game down to
beat qualifier Connor Sheen, and he'll meet undeeded Italian
Yuri Farnetti, who came from two games down and 7-10 in the
fifth to beat sixth seed Bermudian Micah Franklin.
 "I
wasn't attacking enough at the start," admitted the young
Italian playing his third PSA event. "It was a tough match, a
good match, I think he got tired at the end and I was happy to
come through the fifth."
Third seeded Egyptian Youssef Soliman, who only flew in
just in time for his match, looked impressive as he beat
wildcard Matt Sidaway - who played very well - in straight
games, and he'll meet eighth seeded Czech Ondrej Uherka,
who beat training partner Robert Dadds in three.
Rui Soares, the third seed from Portugal, almost blew a
two game lead against young English qualifier James Peach, who
saved match ball in taking the third and eased through the
fourth.
"I tried to finish it too quickly in the third," said Soares,
"and in the fourth everything went wrong. So for the fifth I
just had to turn off and turn on again, and it worked!"
Soares meets another Englishman in Nick Mulvey, the
seventh seed who ended the run of Italian qualifier Olivero
Ventrice in four close games.
The top four seeds in the inaugural women's draw are safely
through to tomorrow's quarter-finals, but three of them will
face unexpected opposition.
 Millie
Tomlinson, who like Soliman flew in just in time for her
match, settled quickly to beat Welsh qualifier Nia Davies, and
she'll face qualifier Rachael Chadwick who beat fifth
seed Alison Thomson in three well contested games.
Georgina Kennedy, the fourth seeded English U21 and U23
champion, eased past lucky loser Sarah Mekhalfi and faces
further French opposition in qualifier Laura Pomportes,
whose play is certainly better than her current ranking - and
after her 12-minute win she had to referee the 80-minute men's
match which followed!
 Third
seed Alexandra Fuller from South Africa battled past
Leonie Holt in three games. "It was getting closer as the match
went on," admitted Fuller, nearing the end of her two-month
European trip. "I went 6-0 up in the third and in the end was
grateful to win it in three!"
Fuller now meet Nadia Pfister, the Swiss who made it to
PSA quarter-finals for the first time as she beat French
qualifier Julie Rossignol in five fast-paced games.
 Second
seed Hania El Hammamy raced past local wildcard Beth
Garton and the Egyptian, like Soliman a reigning British Junior
Open champion, meets New Zealand's Eleanor Epke who won
the longest women's match of the day as she edged past seventh
seed Jess Davis in five games.
Quarter-finals start at 15.00 on Thursday and are all on
the show court. |
