Austrian Open 2018
04-09 Jun, Salzburg, $5k

09-Jun, Final: Fuller Champion

Lyell Fuller is new Austrian Open Champion. After a 3/0 victory over Emyr Evans and celebrates his second PSA World Tour title.

The packed crowd saw an very even battle in the first game. Emyr was able to come back from a bad start, being 0/4 down and turned it into a 8/7 lead and even to 10/9. But Lyell was able to save that game ball and won the game 12/10.

In the second game Lyell again raced to a lead, this time 7/1. At this point Emyr had to take a medical time out after getting hit by the racket. He had to stop his lip from bleeding. After a 5 minute break Emyr couldn't fin his rhythm anymore and Lyell too the game comfortably 11/1.

Emyr seemed to have recovered well after that game though. The third game started very even until 2/2. From that point on the Englishman reached a 6/2 lead. But again Emyr fought back well to 5/6. However Lyell got more control of the game again. With lovely shots and change of directions he had the better ideas to win most of the rallies. After 44 minutes Lyell converted his first match point to win the Austrian Open.

Lyell Fuller:
'This is one of the most favorite tournaments I played. It was a uniqe experience playing on a glasscourt in a shopping mall. Aqeel did a great job in organising. I am really happy the way I played this week. My goal was to play positiv and I am over the moon to win my second title.'

Photos: a.lutche

08-Jun, Semis: Evans & Fuller to the top!

Both semifinals were well contestes and decided on four games at around the 60min mark.

First on court were Emyr Evans and Brian Byrne. The rallies were very even, however Evans was able to take a 8/3 and 10/7 lead. But Brian fought back very well to level at 10-all. It was then Emyr again who took the lead an won the game 12/10.

Brian then was able to keep ahead of his opponent in the second game and equalized by winningthe game 11/8. Also the third game could have gone either was, this time it was the 21 year old Emyr who had the better end and took the lead 2/1.

The fourth was more or less decided after a few rallies. Emyr raced to an 8/0 lead. Brian again fought well but couldn't close the gap.

The final score was 12/10, 8/11, 11/9, 11/6 after 54min to Emyr.

His opponent Lyell had to fight just a few minutes longer to beat Rory Stewart. Rory did well to come back from 3/7 down in the first game to win it 11/9. From then on things went little by little more towards Lyell who gained more control of the game. But never enough to relax, because Rory kept pushing and fought for every point. The crowd saw some entertaining rallies with some interaction of the ref too.

At the end Lyell kept control of things and won 9/11, 12/10, 11/5, 11/8 after 60min.

This means that the final on Saturday on the all glasscourt in the EUROPARK shopping mall will be staged between Emyr Evans and Lyell Fuller at 16:45 local time.

Photos: a.lutche

07-Jun, Quarters

Another day of upsets at the EUROPARK shopping mall. With second seed Ahmed Hosny from Egypt and local favourite Aqeel Rehman (number three seed) it is now fourth seed Lyell Fuller who is in pole position for the Austrian Open title.

But of course it is still a long way to go.

Welshman Emyr Evans booked his semifinal place at first when he beat Ahmed Hosny in tough four games. He will meet Brian Byrne from Ireland who stopped Spencer Lovejoy's run. The US-Boy came from qualifying and reached and upset himself yesterday when he beat topseed Jaymie Haycocks. This time Brian had the better and and won 3/1.

In the top half Rory Stewart won a tough five game battle againce Brazilian qualifier Vini Rodrigues after 73min. It was the longest match of the evening.

His opponent will be Lyell Fuller who disappointed the home crowed after he ended the dream of defending champion Aqeel Rehman. After a solid performance he was the deserved winner with a score of 3/0.

Photos: a.lutche

Qualifying:

Finals:
Spencer Lovejoy (USA) 3-0 James Peach (ENG)          11/9, 11/8, 12/10 37min
Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 3-0 Martin Kegel (CRO)                11/9, 11/2, 11/8 35min
Claudio Pinto (POR) 3-0 Robert Dadds (ENG)                11/8, 11/3, 11/2 29min
Vini Rodrigues (BRA) 3-0 Roshan Bharos (NED)              11/8, 11/8, 11/4 35min

Round One:
Robert Dadds (ENG) 3-0Kevin Waldner (AUT) 11/8, 11/4, 11/5 24min
Spencer Lovejoy (USA) 3-0 Georg Stoisser (AUT) 11/6, 11/5, 11/3 21min
Roshan Bharos (NED) 3-0 Christoph Ressel (AUT) 11/3, 11/5, 11/1 20min
Martin Kegel (CRO) 3-0 Lukas Rosner (AUT) 11/1, 11/5, 11/6 18min
Vini Rodrigues (BRA) 3-0Andreas Wiesner (AUT) 11/1, 11/4 ,11/4 18min
Claudio Pinto (POR) 3-0 Philipp Hofbauer (AUT) 11/6, 11/2, 11/5 17min
Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 3-0 Simon Loindl (AUT)11/3, 11/3, 11/2 20min
James Peach (ENG)3-0– David Ablinger (AUT) 11/4, 11/5, 11/4 24min

06-Jun, Round One

The day of first round of the main draw of the Austrian Open started with a sad message - top seed Mohammed Alsarraj withdrew due to injury. This meant Lucky Loser Roshan Bharos (NED) got a second chance and just made it as he was just about to board the plane back home!

The Dutchman seemed to have settled quickly, as he showed a good performance but wasn't lucky enough for a second time. In a 60min battle he lost against Rory Stewart from Scotland.

Earlier on the new top gun Jaymie Haycocks lost in another five setter to young US-qualifier Spencer Lovejoy!

Vini Rodrigues caused for one more upset after he beat eight seed German Valentin Rapp 13/11 in the fourth game!

All other matches went acording to the seeding, which unfortunately means, that Austrian Wildcard entry Jakob Dirnberger became second against Lyell Fuller from England, but also that defending Champion Aqeel Rehman won against qualifier Claudio Pinto 3/0.

The only Austrian left has the chance to take revenge on his collegue, as Aqeel will play against Lyell in the quarterfinal on Thursday.
 

Photos: a.lutche

05-Jun, Qualifying Finals

The four qualifiers who made it into the main draw were decided today at the second round of qualification at the Austrian Open at EUROPARK shopping mall.

First on court was top seed Spencer Lovejoy (USA) and James Peach (ENG) The match was decided in three games to Spencer, however all games were very close with James even reaching two game balls in the third game. But The US-boy was able to save both of them and took the game 12/10.

After 37min Spencer won 11/9, 11/8, 12/10.

The next match on the glasscourt was between Jakub Solnicky (CZE) and Martin Kegel (CRO). Also this match ended up 3/0. It was the Czech Jakub who had the better end and won 11/9, 11/2, 11/8 after 35min.

It was another 3/0 victory for Claudio Pinto from Portugal. He was too good today for his opponent Robert Dadds, who seemed to be not on his best today.

Last on court was Vini Rodrigues from Brazil against Roshan Bharos from Holland. Vini had a bit more control in the first two games taking them 11/8 each. The last game was a more clear affair for the Brazilian winning 11/4.



Tomorrow the big action will start with the main draw. Two Austrian’s – Jakob Dirnberger and defending Champion Aqeel Rehman will keep the local interests up. Jakob will meet fifth seed Lyell Fuller from England at 17:00, while Aqeel plays against Qualifier Claudio Pinto from Portugal at 18:00. National TV will report from tomorrow’s evening matches as well as National Radio.

Photos: a.lutche

On Monday Austria's only PSA Tournament will take place for the 14th time in a row in Salzburg and for the 4th time on the All-Glasscourt in the EUROPARK shopping mall. The Austrian Open is part of a two-week squash event called Austrian Squash Challenge.

In the previous week the Austrian Elite Series Finals took place with Austria's best players competing against each other. Besides many promoting activities are happening such as the Kids&School Day where more than 300 Kids joined free clinics with Rehan van der Merwe and National Champion Aqeel Rehman.

In the second week of the ASC it will be the international pro's to go on stage to compete at the Austrian Open. Defending Champion and local hero Aqeel Rehman is seeded fourth at the main draw, while Austria's number two Jakob Dirnberger received his main draw spot through a wildcard.

Eight more Austrian players will try their best in the qualification to make it into the main draw. However their tasks are tough as they have to compete against the professionals from the PSA Tour. Anyway it will be a great experience for them and for sure a great advertisement for squash.

Photos: a.lutche

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