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  Christchurch
Vets Ipswich Open 2015
05-10 May, Ipswich UK, $5k |
10-May, Final:
Gaskin grabs the title
Alec Livingstone Reports
 Arthur
Gaskin, the top seed, is the new Christchurch Vets Ipswich Open
Champion after a 3-2 win over Chris Fuller – the best PSA Tour final
Ipswich has hosted.
Of course, this was something of a homecoming for Gaskin who spent a
year as the Club’s Head Coach but the slightly partisan crowd were
quick to appreciate the fantastic performance of his opponent in a
match whose outcome was in doubt until the very end.
Perhaps it was playing in front of a ‘home’ crowd, but Gaskin got
off to a shaky start with three complete mishits in the first game.
Even so, there was never much in it and he steadied to take the game
11/8. Fuller upped the pace in the second and frequently wrong
footed Gaskin, pulling him into the front corner before catching him
with a pacey crosscourt. 1-1.
The third game was crucial. Gaskin was catching his opponent with
quick boasts and seemed comfortably up at 6-3. But just a few quick
rallies later his opponent had reeled off a fistful of points to
reach game ball. This was the crunch. If Fuller could take the
third, did Gaskin have enough to come back? We never found out
because Gaskin dug deep, squared the game, went on to win it 12/10
and was a game up, not a game down.
Although Fuller won the fourth, and they were tied at 5-5 in the
5th, the tide was beginning to flow Gaskin’s way and despite the
match having lasted well over the hour, suddenly there were quick
points – a deft volley nick from Gaskin followed by a serve that hit
the nick and Gaskin had a handful of match points. Although Fuller
got one of them back, Gaskin wasn’t going to give this one up and
ran out the winner. A truly excellent match much appreciated by the
spectators.
“I’ve seen Arthur play and the game went pretty much as I
expected. I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, I think I played well –
but it would have been nice to have won.” Chris Fuller.
“I’ve had a great couple of weeks. The Europeans were special and
then to have time back in Ipswich was fabulous. And, of course, a
win to round it off in front of a ‘home’ crowd.” Arthur Gaskin.
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  Christchurch
Vets 2015
05-10 May, Ipswich UK, $5k |
Round One
07 May 18.00-20.15 |
Quarters
08 May |
Semis
09 May |
Final
10 May |
[1] Arthur Gaskin (Irl)
11/9, 11/3, 11/4 (33m)
Rui Soares (Por) |
[1] Arthur Gaskin
11/6, 11/3, 11/6 (29m
[8] Lyell Fuller |
[1] Arthur Gaskin
11/8, 5/11, 11/3, 11/9 (52m)
[Q] Patrick Rooney |
[1] Arthur
Gaskin
11/8, 4/11, 12/10, 8/11, 11/6
(89m)
[3] Chris
Fuller |
[8] Lyell Fuller (Eng)
11/5, 11/8, 11/6 (28m)
[wc] Josh Turmel (Eng) |
[6] Joel Makin (Wal)
11/8, 11/9, 11/7 (40m)
[Q] Patrick Rooney (Eng) |
[Q] Patrick Rooney
13/11, 12/10, 11/2 (32m
[4] Mike Harris |
[4] Mike Harris (Eng)
11/7, 8/11, 11/4, 11/8 (43m)
Micah Franklin (Ber) |
[Q] Nick Mulvey (Eng)
7/11, 11/5, 11/4, 11/6 (48m)
[3] Chris Fuller (Eng) |
[3] Chris Fuller
11/8, 5/11, 11/3, 11/8 (59m
[5] Robert Downer |
[3] Chris Fuller
13/11, 11/3, 6/11, 11/6 (83m)
[2] Dougie Kempsell |
Ashley Davies (Eng)
8/11, 11/2, 11/7, 11/6 (36m)
[5] Robert Downer (Eng) |
[Q] Tristan Eysele (Rsa)
14/12, 11/7, 11/5 (36m)
[7] Mark Fuller (Eng) |
[7] Mark Fuller
12/10, 11/4, 7/11, 8/11, 11/7 (88m)
[2] Dougie Kempsell |
[Q] Jaako Vähämaa (Fin)
11/9, 11/9, 11/9 (54mins)
[2] Dougie Kempsell (Sco) |
06-May, Qualifying Finals:
Jaako Vähämaa (Fin) 3-0 Miles Jenkins (Eng)
11/7, 14/12, 11/9 (41m)
Patrick Rooney (Eng) 3-1 Phil Nightingale (Eng) 11/8,
11/2, 9/11, 11/4 (32m)
Tristan Eysele (Rsa) 3-0 Ondrej Uherka (Cze)
12/10, 11/7, 11/8 (38m)
Nick Mulvey (Eng) 3-0 Jamie Henderson (Sco)
19/17, 11/6, 11/8 (41m)
05-May, Qualifying Round One:
[1] Jaako Vähämaa (Fin) bye
[5] Miles Jenkins 3-1 Daren Ramsey 9/11, 11/6, 11/4, 11/5
(38mins)
[4] Phil Nightingale 3-0 Ben Turmel
11/5, 11/6, 11/3 (23mins)
[7] Patrick Rooney 3-0 Gary Nisbet
11/5, 11/6, 13/11 (32mins)
Ondrej Uherke 3-2 Robert Dadds 5/11, 8/11, 11/8,
11/2, 11/0 (63mins)
[3] Tristan Eysele 3-0 Jamie Goodrich 11/4, 11/2, 11/4
(23mins)
[2] Jamie Henderson 3-1 Owain Taylor 11/6, 11/6, 7/11, 11/7
(38mins)
[6] Nick Mulvey 3-0 Elliot Selby 11/6, 11/8, 11/9
(28mins)
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09-May, Semis:
Fuller in the final against Gaskin
Top seed Arthur Gaskin
will meet third seed Chris Fuller in Sunday’s final. Gaskin had
a tough match against the country’s top junior Patrick Rooney.
Although he won 3-1 there were times when he had to use all his
experience to stay with the youngster.
Rooney has great shots and
isn’t afraid to go for them. It’s great to watch, but they don’t all
come off, and in the end a few clipped tins at critical times made a
lot of difference.
If you play Dougie Kempsell you have to be prepared to be on court
for a while. After his 88min quarter, today we had an 83min semi.
He
got off to a good start and was 10-6 up before Chris Fuller, on his
third racket, not only pegged him back but eventually took the first
game 13/11 in just under half an hour.
From then on, despite trading long ferocious rallies, Fuller always
just seemed to have the edge and despite losing the third he managed
to avoid the sweaty puddles to take the fourth and the match.
08-May, Quarters:
Rooney reaches the semis
Alec Livingstone Reports
Qualifier Patrick Rooney
is into the semi finals of the tournament after a tight 3-0 over 4th
seed Michael Harris.
Rooney certainly wasn’t overawed by his opponent and held his nerve
when game ball down in the first and again when he missed a game
ball in the second. Having survived both of those he made quick work
of taking the third and the match.
In the semi he will meet the top seed, Arthur Gaskin, the
Irishman out of New York who was much too experienced for Lyell
Fuller, although the latter pushed hard enough for Gaskin to have to
show some of the touches he is capable of.
In the other half of the draw Chris Fuller and Robert Downer
had a real tussle and although it was close, Fuller always just had
the little edge that won the critical points.
He meets Dougie Kempsell in the semi.
As expected of a match between Kempsell and Mark Fuller, that
quarter was a high intensity effort which was the match of the
round, much appreciated by the Ipswich crowd. Kempsell edged the
first two games but Fuller took the third and th despite a couple of
spectacular diving retrieves from Kouempsell.
In the fifth, it was a more composed Kempsell than we have seen in
previous years who slowly eked out a winning margin with all the
frustration coming from his opponent.
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07-May, First Round
Alec Livingstone Reports
In large part, the first round of the main draw was successful for the
seeds in the draw. The one exception was Joel Makin who went down
3-0 to qualifier Patrick Rooney in a game of long punishing
rallies as would be expected between two players of very similar
style.
First seed Arthur Gaskin had a comfortable win over Rui
Soares despite a tentative start. By contrast, second seed
Kempsell
had a 3-0 that really didn’t reflect how close Finn Jaako Vähämaa
got, the 11/9, 11/9, 11/9 result taking just under the hour.
A match of particular note was the hugely entertaining contest
between Chris Fuller and Nick Mulvey. Mulvey has impressed a
lot of people this week and when he took the first game it raised
the prospect of an upset, but in the end he couldn’t sustain the
pace of a game of flair and quick fire nicks.
06-May, Qualifying Finals:
Four good matches to decide who joined the main draw.
Patrick Rooney was first up against Phil Nightingale and stormed
into a comfortable 2-0 lead. But the pace dropped and he made a few
unforced errors that let Nightingale back in at 2-1 which was the
wake up Rooney needed to step the pace up and take the match.
Tristan Eysele is also through having saved game ball in the first
with pace and having won the second with some nice drops and a
couple of crosscourt nicks. A really enjoyable game against Ondrej
Uherka, from two players with good shot variation.
In the first battle of the youngsters, Jamie Henderson lost to Nick
Mulvey. He never quite recovered from serving out at 17/16 in the
first and then losing it 19/17.
Last up, Jaako Vähämaa beat Miles Jenkins 3-0 in a match that was
much closer than the score suggested. Great to see two young players
prepared to go for their shots.
Under way in Ipswich
The first qualifying round of the tournament was tough for the local
entries. None survived but Robert Dadds came close, taking an early
2-0 lead against the late replacement Ondrej Uherke. But Uherke's
variety of shot had Dadds covering a lot of ground and it eventually
took its toll, Uherke taking the last two games at a cost of only 2
points.
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