Friday 10th May, Day ONE:
It was a busy day at Jersey Squash Club, with two rounds of
qualifying to decide which four players progress to the main
draw.
Most of the players had an early start as they did some training
sessions with kids from local schools, then it was rest and (in
Tom Ford's case) restringing ready for the first round starting
at 11.00.Qualifying
Finals:
LIVE STREAMING
Youssef Abdalla
(Eng) bt Jan vd Herreweggen (Bel) 7/11, 11/8, 11/7, 10/12,
11/8 (74m)
David Haley (Wal) bt Will John Wal)
11/5, 6/11, 11/5, 11/7 (46m)
Rory Pennell (Eng) bt Tom Ford (Eng)
11/9, 11/13, 11/8, 6/11, 11/4 (55m)
Dougie Kempsell (Sco) bt Sam Ellis (Eng)
11/6, 11/7, 11/5 (34m)
Main draw: Abdalla v Bouquet, Haley v Finitsis, Pennell v Ingham,
Kempsell v Rehman
Qualifying Round One:
LIVE STREAMING
Jan vd Herreweggen (Bel) bt Rob Hickling (Jer)
11/7, 11/9, 9/11, 11/5(43m)
Youssef Abdalla (Eng) bt Nick Taylor (Jer)
11/6, 9/11, 2/11, 12/10, 11/4 (57m)
Will John (Wal) bt Gary Nisbet (Eng)
11/8, 11/4, 11/1 (29m)
David Haley (Wal) bt Scott Gautier (Jer)
11/3, 11/2, 13/11 (25m)
Tom Ford (Eng) bt Jamie Mathews (Eng)
11/3, 11/3, 11/7 (23m)
Rory Pennell (Eng) bt Michael Hopkins (Jer)
9/11, 11/5, 11/1, 11/6 (41m)
Sam Ellis (Eng) bt Charlie Griggs (Jer)
11/3, 11/5, 11/2 (20m)
Dougie Kempsell (Sco)
bye
No joy for Jersey in Classic openers
 The
inaugural Jersey Classic kicked off at Jersey Squash and
Racketball Club this morning with the first of two rounds of
qualifying play for the PSA $10k event, a first for the
Channel Island.
There was local representation in five of the seven matches,
but all of the local players failed to progress to tonight's
qualifying finals.
First up was Jersey head coach Nick Taylor, the
five-time National Over-35 champion, against young
Englishman Youssef Abdalla. After a slow start -
"where's my touch, where is it?" he asked himself as he lost
the first game - Taylor started to find his touch, helped no
doubt by knowledge of playing on the club's showcourt.
 Taylor
edged the second, romped through the third, and at 10-5 in
the fourth he had one foot in the next round. Abdallah,
after casually floating a service return into the nick on
that first match ball, now started to play his best squash
of the match, and took seven points in a row to force a
decider.
"I was so tense, but when I got so far down I just relaxed,"
he explained afterwards. "I was surprised to take the first
and I just didn't show up in the third and fourth, but I
decided to just go for it and it came off."
Sure enough the youngster continued his improved form in the
fifth to put out the local favourite after 57 minutes.
 "Youssef
is a difficult player," said Taylor, "one minute he's
playing Ramy style squash and the next he's not trying! Once
I got to 10-5 in the fourth I should have used my experience
to close the match out, but he played a couple of good
rallies then at 8-10 a couple of fistpumps and he was a
different player, and from then on I struggled to get my
momentum back.
"He has a lot of ability and if he applies himself he can be
a very good player," concluded Taylor.
Abdallah, playing in just his second PSA event, faces
Belgium's Jan Van Der Herrewegen in tonight's finals.
 David
Haley and Will John set up an all-Welsh
qualifying final when they beat Gary Nisbet and Scott
Gautier, both in straight games.
Tom Ford and Rory Pennell will contest an
all-English match, after Ford beat former world deaf
champion Jamie Mathews in straight games and Pennell
recovered from a game down to beat another Jersey favourite,
Mike Hopkins.
 Now
35 but still as fiercely competitive as ever, Hopkins made
it tough all the way for the rangy Pennell, fistpumping as
he took the first game and threatening to take the match
into a decider after the Englishman had dominated the middle
two games.
"I felt like I had him at the end," said a disappointed
Hopkins, "I knew he was blowing hard but I wasn't physically
done, I could have gone on a lot longer than that.
 "He's
difficult to play though, very tall and cuts everything off
so it's difficult to get into a rhythm, and I was trying to
turn the clock back ten years!"
The fourth qualifying final will see Scotland's Dougie
Kempsell, who had a first round bye, take on Sam
Ellis, who completed the rout of the locals with a
straight-game win over Jersey junior Charlie Griggs.
Referee for that match was Hopkins, who recalled playing
several gruelling matches against Sam's father Frank "when I
was 18 - I never thought I'd be in the same tournament as
his son!"
Qualifying Finals:
Abdalla outlasts Herreweggen
 The
first player through to the main draw in the evening session
was Youssef Abdalla, with a second consecutive five-game
victory. Abdalla has all the shots, even if he sometimes
chooses the wrong moment to use them, and moves around the
court easily.
Jan Van Der Herreweggen has a more traditional
English/Aussie style of play, so their match made for a
contrast in styles - the rallies were generally long on a
hot, bouncy court, with Abdalla usually the one to go for a
shot first, Herreweggen doing more of the defending.
The Belgian took the first, Abdalla struck back to take the
next two, and as the match approached the hour mark Abdallah
reached match ball as he edged ahead 10-9 in a fourth game
that was going point for point. He must have thought he'd
won it several times, but the Belgian dug in well, produced
some great retrieving as he took three points in a row to
force a decider.
 Abdallah
had the edge in the fifth though, but never by much, and
from 8-all it was his turn to take three in a row, finishing
the match with a pair of flicked long dropshots that Jan
couldn't quite get to.
"I just got really nervous going short, which is my game,"
admitted Youssef, "so I just had to try to grind it out.
"I never win in five, but now I've done it twice in one day!
I'm really pleased to qualify, but I haven't even looked at
the main draw to see who I might get ..."
Haley wins Welsh showdown
 The
second qualifier was Welsh - inevitably as David Haley and
Will John both hail from the Valleys! In a fast-paced match
it was Haley, fresh from some good performances for Wales in
the European Team Championships in Amsterdam, who generally
had the edge.
After winning the first Haley saw John get off to a flyer in
the second and couldn't close down the lead, but regained
the momentum to take the next two games to clinch a place in
the main draw.
 "It's
very different playing for yuorself in a tournament like
this rather than playing for your country," said Haley, "but
it's unusual to play another Welshman too.
"He played in the second and before I knew it I was 5 or 6
down, but I knew I had to try to keep the pace high, keep
him behind me and try to peg it back, and it paid off in the
end as I could feel him tiring in the fourth.
"This is my second year playing PSA, I'm beginning to enjoy
it now rather than just feel the pressure. I'm still at
University too, so although it's sometimes tricky to find
the right balance it's nice to have the two things going.
Looking forward to see who I get in the main draw ..."
Pennell powers through
 The
third qualifier was guaranteed to be English,and it was Rory
Pennell, who had a tough opening match with Mike Hopkins
earlier in the day, who prevailed in a fast-paced see-saw
battle with Tom Ford.
The first four games were shared, all played at a ferocious
pace, both players eager to exploit any opening. It was
Pennell though who took the initiative in the decider,
hitting several crisp winners at the start and pushing on to
complete the win.
"I'd never played Tom before," said Rory, "but it was a
really fast game and either of us could easily have won any
of the first four games. In the fifth I tried to slow it
down, a few of my shots went in and it worked out for me, so
on to tomorrow!
"He's an up and coming player, I'm on my way out - this
might even be my last tournament, I need to earn some real
money now ..."
Kempsell's wait worth it
 Having
had a bye this morning and a long wait tonight Dougie
Kempsell, another young player who performed well for his
country last week in Amsterdam, wasted little time in
advancing to the main draw at the expense of Sam Ellis.
The Englishman threatened to extend the match as he took a
7-4 lead in the second game, but seven points in a row saw
Kempsell double his lead and he continued to assert in the
third.
 "I
was glad to get on at last, and glad to get off fairly
quickly," said the winner. "I fell asleep a bit in the
second and he played well, but I managed to get it back."
Kempsell's main draw assignment is with Austria's aqeel
Rehman. "I've never played Aqeel before," he said, "but
Kevin [Moran] has, so hopefully he can give me a few tips
for tomorrow!"
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