IG Open de Paris 2016
09-15 May, Paris, France, $25k

14-May, Final:
Simpson takes the prize in Paris

Top seed Chris Simpson beat fellow Englishman Declan James in straight games to collect his 10th PSA title in Paris.

After struggling through the first round Simpson grew stronger as the tournament progressed, finishing by picking up his second $25k title of the season.

"Every match has been different this week, " said Simpson. "My focus in the final was to stay disciplined and to extend the rallies, even when I had opportunities, and it paid off. Winning two 25k was actually one of my main goals this season so I'm happy to achieve that."

13-May, Semis:
An All English Final between two Roomates

Two very contrasting semi finals tonight.

In the opening match, #1 Chris Simpson and title holder Paul Coll played some long and gruelling rallies,  the Englishman winning in 3 close games in more than an hour.

“I am very happy to win in 3, said the man from Guernsey after the match, I think this court suits Paul’s game very well. When I was 10-9 up in the third, I stopped and thought to myself, Paul saved match balls in his first 2 matches, he cannot do it again.”

Second semi finals between Declan James and Nicolas Mueller was arguably the match of the tournament so far. They exchanged the first two games before James went up 2-1 after a very close third game. The Englishman had a drop of energy in the fourth, but just when one thought the higher seeded was getting the upper hand, James came back firing on all cylinders in the final game, finding himself 10-3 and 7 match balls down!

“I went completely blank, he said after the match, and before I knew it we were at 10-10! After I saved his only match ball at 11-10, I thought it was like a second chance and made sure I went back to the plan which was working perfectly well until then. This is probably the biggest win of my career.”

Not only we’ll have two Englishmen in the finals tomorrow, but also two players who are sharing a room together this week. It is unlikely they'll be discussing strategy tonight!
 

 TAGS : 2015 Event | Paris | France | Search

10-May, Qualifying Finals:

Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 3-2 Abdullah Al Mezayen (Kuw)  6/11 11/9 11/3 10/12 12/10 (79m)
Richie Fallows (Eng) 3-2 Christophe Andre (Fra)                   4/11, 11/8, 6/11, 11/5, 11/5 (60m)
Geoffrey Demont (Fra) 3-1 Jaymie Haycocks (Eng)                       11/7, 12/14, 11/8, 11/7 (80m)
Tom Ford (Eng) 3-1 Victor Crouin (Fra)                                           11/2, 11/4, 9/11, 11/7 (45m)

09-May, Qualifying Round One:

Abdullah Al Mezayen (Kuw) 3-0 Lucas Rousselet (Fra)             11/6, 11/3, 11/4 (25m)
Christophe Andre (Fra) 3-2 Johan Bouquet (Fra)   9/11, 1/11, 12/10, 11/8, 11/3 (50m)
Richie Fallows (Eng) 3-0 Rohan Mandil (Fra)                           11/5, 11/4, 11/4 (30m)
Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) 3-0 Quint Mandil (Fra)                        11/7, 11/8, 11/7 (40m)
Geoffrey Demont (Fra) 3-0 Ben Coates (Eng)                          11/4, 11/6, 11/6 (25m)
Victor Crouin (Fra) 3-1 Karim El Hammamy (Egy)            11/9, 11/7, 7/11, 11/9 (57m)

12-May, Quarters:
Coll survives, again...

Winner of the event in 2015, Paul Coll has already saved two match balls on the first round and he did it again against Scotsman Alan Clyne. He finally came out as the winner after a gigantic battle (110 minutes), finding some lovely winners in the final game.

“It’s not my usual game so maybe I took him by surprise” said Coll after the match.

He will try to extend his winning streak in Paris to seven matches tomorrow against seed number 1 Chris Simpson, who ended local hopes beating Lucas Serme in three hard fought games.

23 year old Declan James carried on his recent form and put on a very mature performance to defeat his older compatriot Adrian Waller in 4 very close games.

He'll meet Nicolas Mueller for the first time tomorrow. After a slow start yesterday, the Swiss was impressive today against Greg Lobban, especially in the last 2 games.

11-May, First Round:
Seeds tested in Paris

The eight seeded players got through to the quarters in the first round on Wednesday but it was not a walk in the park for any of them. Especially for Chris Simpson, straight from PSL: a Joe Lee in top form took him to a five setter, finally won after 87 minutes of quality squash.

Simpson will meet Lucas Serme (who carries France's last hopes) for a rematch of the ETC finals. Nicolas Mueller was taken by surprise by Geoffrey Demont but eventually erased a two game deficit, and will face Scotsman Greg Lobban in the quarters.

In the top half of the draw, last year's winner Paul Coll came back from a 2/0 down deficit to defeat Charles Sharpes in 5 tense games. His encounter with Alan Clyne will be a rematch of El Gouna, won by Coll.

An Englishman is garanteed in the semis: Adrian Waller saved two game balls at 1 game all against an inspired Tom Ford, and will face Declan James who came back from a two game deficit against Indian Mahesh Mangaonkar.

10-May, Qualifying Finals:
Late finish in Paris

It was not far from midnight when Mahesh Mangaonkar came out of court victorious against Abdullah Al-Mezayen, the Indian winning 12-10 in the fifth in 79 minutes, to face one of the seven Englishmen in the draw, Declan James.

Two other long matches earlier, with Richie Fallows downing Christophe André to meet Scotsman Greg Lobban tomorrow. Geoffrey Demont dug deep to defeat Jaymie Haycocks in four very close games to face Nicolas Muller. 

The opener was another England-France affair, and Tom Ford put an end to Victor Crouin's run.

"Surely one to watch for the future" said the Englishman after the match. He meets compatriot Adrian Waller in the first round tomorrow.
 

09-May, Qualifying Round One:
Crouin ousts Hammamy in Parisian upset

Young Frenchman Victor Crouin created a massive upset in the first day of the IG Open de Paris.

The 16-year-old from Toulon clinched his best victory ever, beating Egyptian Karim El Hammamy (world junior champion in 2013) in 4 games and 57 minutes. He will face Englishman Tom Ford tomorrow for a spot in the main draw.

Home player Christophe André defeated compatriot Johan Bouquet and will be tested against England's Richie Fallows, who dispatched local boy Rohan Mandil in straight games. Rohan’s brother Quint shared the same fate, losing to Jaymie Haycocks. The man from Warwickshire will meet another Frenchman tomorrow Geoffrey Demont who only needed 25 minutes to beat Ben Coates. Abdullah Al-Mezayen from Kuwait defeated Lucas Rousselet and now plays  India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar.