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 Salzburg
Open 2008
Austria, 28-Feb to 02-Mar, $3k |
02-Mar, Final:
French win in Salzburg:
Aqeel Rehman reports
Today's Final between top seed Bradley Hindley and
upcoming Gregoire Marche from France was a really exciting
one. The centercourt was packed and the crowd saw a big battle
between those players.
 Gregoire
won the first game, but as Bradley won the second game impressively 11/3 it looked as he was able to turn the game. But one
more time Gregoire came back and won the third nearly as clear
11/5.
The fourth game seemed to be decided at 8/4 for the youngster, but
this time the Aussie raced back to level at 8/8. It then went
on point for point. At 10/9 matchball for Greg, Brad hit the tin and
the title went to Gregoire who celebrates his 18th Birthday tomorrow.
Congratulations!
Besides the winner-check he also received a big trophy sponsored by
Aspargo. Thanks a lot to all players, spectators, the venue and our
sponsors Bank Sparkasse, Elektro Ausweger and City of Salzburg.
Thanks a lot for coverage too!
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Salzburg
Open 2008
Austria, 28-Feb to 02-Mar, $3k |
Round One
29-Feb |
Quarters
01-Mar |
Semis
01-Mar |
Final
02-Mar |
[1] Bradley Hindle
(Aus)
11/9, 12/10, 8/11, 11/7 (66m)
[Q] Lucas Vauzelle (Fra) |
[1] Bradley Hindle
11/6, 11/5, 13/11 (40m)
[8] Karamatullah Khan |
[1] Bradley Hindle
9/11, 11/4, 11/3, 12/10 (42m)
[Q] Fabien Verseille |
[1] Bradley Hindle
11/5, 3/11, 11/5, 11/9 55min
Gregoire Marche |
[8] Karamatullah Khan
(Pak)
11/9, 11/8, 6/11, 11/4 (50m)
[Q] Michael Harris (Eng) |
[4] Jakob Dirnberger (Aut)
4/11, 11/8, 11/7, 11/7 (46m)
[Q] Fabien Verseille |
[Q] Fabien Verseille
11/4, 4/11, 9/11, 11/9, 11/6 (65m)
[7] Lewys Hurst |
[7] Lewys Hurst (Wal)
11/3, 11/3, 11/7 (28m)
[Q] Issa Kamara (Eng) |
Gregoire Marche (Fra)
11/6, 13/11, 11/2
[6] Rene Mijs (Ned) |
Gregoire Marche
11/9, 6/11, 8/11, 12/10, 11/9 (80m)
[3] Clinton Leeuw |
Gregoire Marche
7/11, 11/9, 11/4, 12/10 (51m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman |
Matias Tuomi (Fin)
9/11, 11/5, 11/5, 11/6
[3] Clinton Leeuw (Rsa) |
Luke Forster (Aus)
15/13, 5/11, 11/6, 8/11, 14/12
[5] Stefan Braunais (Aut) |
Luke Forster (Aus)
11/5, 11/7, 11/4 (27m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman |
Joan Lezaud (Fra)
10/12, 8/11, 11/7, 11/9, 11/6 (70m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman (Aut) |
Qualifying Finals:
Fabien Versaille (Fra) bt Andreas Fuchs (Aut)
3/1
Lucas Vauzelle (Fra) bt Jamie Macaulay (Sco)
3/2
Michael Harris (Eng) bt Marcus Greslehner (Aut)
3/0
Isaa Kamara (Eng) bt Rehan van der Merve (Rsa) 3/0
First round:
Marcus Greslehner (Aut) bt Daniel Dagel (Aut)
3/1
2007 Event
2006 Event
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01-Mar, Semis:
More French upsets in Salzburg
Aqeel Rehman reports
The first semifinal of the Salzburg Open 2008 was between the top
seed Bradley Hindle and qualifier Fabien Versaille. The French
qualifier won the first game before Bradley found better into the
game and won the next two games pretty clearly. The fourth game was
the closest, but the Australian was able to win that game and finish
the match.
The next semifinal was between local hero Aqeel Rehman and the young
upcoming Frenchman Gregoire March. Both showed some good Squash from
the beginning on with long rallies, good shots and many retrieves.
Aqeel won the first game 11/7, while Gregoire won the second game
very close 11/9. The third was quite short with 11/4 to Greg, when
Aqeel was looking to come back from 1/2 down.
The Austrian Champion had four gameballs in the fourth game at 10/6
but was not able to finish it and lost it 10/12. Gregoire played
clever and showed all his abilities and it will be an interesting
final against Bradley Hindle ...
01-Mar, Quarters:
More French upsets in Salzburg ...
Aqeel Rehman reports
Today's Quarters showed some more unexpected wins from the French
delegation, as qualifier Fabien Verseille celebrated the first upset
after beating Lewys Hurst in a 5 game thriller, recovering after
being 1/2 down.
Meanwhile Bradley Hindle was in control of Karamatullah Khan, though
Karamat was already 10/7 up in the third game, he was not able to
finish it and the Aussie won that game on extra points.
The second upset was caused by the young Gregoire Marche from
France. Just as his countryman, he was 1/2 down in games against the
number 3 seeded Player Clinton Leeuw from South Africa. Both players
played a high pace and were moving very well on court. It was a very
thrilling match, and after the third game it looked as Clinton was
more in control, but Gregoire did not give up and won the fourth
game 12/10.
The fifth game was as close as the previous one. After 80 minutes
Gregoire finished the match with his first matchball, 11/9.
The last match was between the last local player Aqeel Rehman and
wildcard entry Luke Forster. Aqeel was always in control of his
opponent and worked him too much. Aqeel won the match in just 27
minutes and will now face Gregoire Marche in the semis.
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29-Feb, Round One:
Seeds scattered in Salzburg as
just one Austrian progresses ...
Aqeel Rehman reports
Today the main draw of the Salzburg Open 2008 started at the
Tenniscenter Süd in Gneis, Salzburg.
www.tenniscourt.at. The
Venue was pretty packed with many spectators, wanting to see their
local players winning. Too sad that just one Austrian could progress
in the event.
First on court was the Top seed Bradley Hindle against the
French Qualifier Lucas Vauzelle.
The French youngster played great Squash and challenged the Aussie
pretty well, but at the end Bradley just showed all his routine and
played just more consistent, though a big fight from both players
Another big fight was the match between Pakistani Karamatullah
Khan and Michael Harris from England. Both played a high
intensity and there was a lot of screaming on the court and a lot of
discussions with the referee, nevertheless the match was fair and
Karmat, son of former word number 7 Karimullah Khan deserved the
win!
Next on court was the first local hero Jakob Dirnberger. The
Austrian Number two had a good start and won the first game
impressively 11/4, and the crowd was absolutely behind him,
everybody was cheering him up. But then Fabien shifted one gear up
and played more focused and turned the game. The spectators did not
like this, but they accepted that the Frenchman was the better
player today. Jakob kept on running, but Fabien just placed the
Balls too precise. So it was a big upset that the number four seeded
is out of the event!
Number 7 seeded Lewys Hurst was always under control and
showed a strong performance today, while Issa Kamara was
running and fighting great, he had not much to say in that match!
Meanwhile another upset took place on the second court. The young
Gregoire Marche seems to have a good run of form, and takes
another good win, after beating the number 6 seeded Rene Mijs
from Netherlands.
After that Clinton Leeuw and Matias Tuomi went on
court. The South African took a game to find his rhythm in the
match, while Matias played good squash, but then Clinton took
control of his opponent and worked him a lot.
Then the next local player tried to make it better than Jakob did.
Luke Forster, the wildcard entry surprised the crowed when he
beat the number five seeded Austrian National player Stefan
Brauneis in a very close battle in the tiebreak of the 5th game.
Luke looked tired in the middle of the match, but he retrieved so
many balls and hit some good quality and his opponent ran in the
wrong direction too often! While Stefan was probably the fitter
player he could not take advantage of that.
Luke now faces the local hero and organiser Aqeel Rehman in
the Quarters. Aqeel had to work not less than Luke had to. It was
the last game of the day and the 22 Year old Aqeel, who is staging
this tournament for the fourth successive year, saw him already 0/2
down, when the big crowed behind him pushed him forward again. Aqeel
never stopped running and was able to work Joan more. Even though,
the Frenchman was very close to the win, when he was 9/8 up in the
fourth, it was again the Austrian Champion who kept working and took
the game. The final game was pretty clear, Joan seemed to be too
tired to fight back. So the spectators where happy to have their
last favourite still in the tournament!
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