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| Thu 28th, Day ONE
Steve Cubbins in Scotland |
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Seven
Scots progress in Edinburgh
The first day's action at Edinburgh Sports Club saw ten
qualifying matches - each of them featuring a Scottish player.
 I
asked Tournament Director Simon Boughton and National
Coach Roger Flynn how many they were expecting to make it
through. Simon went for five - including himself as an adopted
Scot - while Roger thought five or six. In the event they were
both underestimates as seven Scots came through to tomorrow's
main draw.
In the first set of matches Andrew Birks eased past Greg
Lobban in straight games, and Dominic Hughes came from a
game down to beat Kevin Moran in four before Chris Gray
put the Scots on the board with a five-game win over Manchester
youngster Tom Dwyer.
It wasn't looking good for Chris as, after taking the first
quite comfortably, he slumped into deficit, losing the third
11/2. He managed to pick up his form though, and despite
finishing looking decidedly the more tired of the two, he
advanced to a meeting with 5/8 seed Andy Whipp - he'll enjoy
that.
 "Concentration
was key," said Chris. "I switched off for long periods then got
it back. I actually felt better in the fifth than at any time in
the match, not bad considering what an age difference there is."
The next set of matches brought a trio of Scottish success as
Lyall Patterson, Simon Boughton and Scotland's top
junior Chris Ferguson all won in fairly comfortable
straight games. Simon now meets Joel Hinds, but Lyall and Chris
face tough tasks as they take on Saurav Ghosal and Ong Beng Hee
respectively.
 "That
wasn't too bad," said Ferguson, "it was reasonably tough. I
tensed up a bit in the second and third games but I was moving
well. I'm really looking forward to playing Beng Hee tomorrow,
it should be a great experience.
"I played Alister Walker in Ilkley, and although I lost 3/0 I
played well and scored good points in every game, so I'm hoping
for that type of performance or better tomorrow."
The third set of matches saw youngster Euan Urquhart fall to
Alex Phillips, but Iain Tennent and Jamie Jacobsen
upped the Scottish tally by two. Tennant closed out his match
with Nick Murrils impressively, coming from behind to clinch the
third, while Jacobsen did it the other way round, edging the
first 13/11 over Matt Pearson before taking the next two quite
comfortably.
 "I
stopped playing squash for 13 years," admitted Jacobsen, now 38.
"I quit when Peter Nicol moved South and went up to 19 stone.
"Then four years ago I had a game with someone, lost, and
thought I'm not having this. I went out bought a racket, two
weeks later I played him again and won, and I've played
virtually every day since, I've not had a day off since 24th
September last year!"
Jacobsen's reward is a clash with Simon Parke. "I'm playing a
legend tomorrow," he beamed, clearly determined to enjoy it.
Last up was another
member of the Scottish squad, Jamie McAuley. Roger and
Simon had probably pencilled this one in as a 'banker', but
Jamie was made to work really hard by Dean Russell, flinging
himself about the court and saving two game balls in the second
before making it a lucky seven for Scotland.
So, it's all set up for tomorrow, as ever with BSPA events a
hectic day with two rounds to play in each of the draws, but at
least the courts are in a straight line ... |
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Qualifying Results:
Q1
Andrew Birks bt Greg Lobban
11/7, 11/5, 11/6
Q2 Chris Gray bt Tom Dwyer
11/5, 6/11, 2/11, 11/9, 11/7
Q3
Dom Hamilton bt Kevin Morann 8/11,
11/4, 11/9, 11/9
Q4
Simon Boughton bt Sean Hunter
11/4, 11/2, 11/7
Q5 Chris Ferguson bt Jamie Matthews
11/3, 11/5, 11/7
Q6
Lyall Paterson bt Lee Brownson
11/1, 11/5, 11/3
Q7
James Jacobsen bt Matt Pearson
13/11, 11/5, 11/3
Q8
Alex Phillips bt Euan Urquahart
11/4, 11/2, 11/8
Q9
Iain Tennant bt Nick Murrils
11/5, 11/8, 11/9
Q10
Jamie MacAuley bt Dean Russell
11/5, 12/10, 11/8 |
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Back to Edinburgh
It's been a while since we covered a BSPA event, but if there's one that
deserves it, it's the Artemis Open.
 Now in its tenth year, the event offers by far the biggest prize fund of any
BSPA event, thanks to the generosity of sponsors Artemis, takes place at one
of the UK's top venues, Edinburgh Sports Club, and usually coincides
with the Burns Night celebrations in the Scottish capital - which at ESC
translates into Haggis, Neeps, Tatties and tournament director Simon Boughton
doing the Highland Fling.
What more could you ask for?
The players certainly appreciate it, the entry is always strong and this
year is no exception with England team-mates Adrian Grant and Daryl Selby
topping the seedings in the men's event and former world number one
Vanessa Atkinson at the top of the Women's draw (although with James
Willstrop making the ToC final it's to be hoped she's on her vway back from
New York already ...)
Tonight sees the qualifying round as twenty players look to claim one of ten
available slots in the main draw.
Matches start at 17.30, so as they say up in these parts,
stay tuned the noo ...
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Ticket information
0131 332 0088
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Strong entry for Artemis 2010
Adrian Grant, World No 10, tops the seedings at this year’s Artemis
Edinburgh Open Squash Championships to be held at the Edinburgh Sports Club
on 28 - 31 January. Also appearing are the 2008 champion Daryl Selby,
World No 13, and Ong Beng Hee, Malaysia’s World No 19, making his
first appearance in the Championships.
Local interest in the mens event will be supplied by Stuart Crawford,
Scotland’s No 2, and Waverley’s Chris Ferguson.
Vanessa Atkinson, World No 11, will be favourite to win the Ladies
event. Guyana’s Nicolette Fernandes is the second seed. Edinburgh’s
own Senga Macfie, a former Scottish internationalist, will be well
supported at her home venue but faces a tough first round tie against local
rival Lisa Aitken.
 Artemis, the Edinburgh based investment management company, are
sponsoring the event for the tenth consecutive year. The event remains the
richest on the BSPA Grand Prix with a total prize fund of £10,000.
Mark
Tyndall, Chief Executive of Artemis, says “Artemis is delighted to
continue to support the Edinburgh Open Squash Championships. Since its
inaugural event in 2001 the championship has become a firm fixture on the
international squash calendar. It is also a great opportunity to showcase
local talent permitting young players, perhaps for the first time, to gain
invaluable experience by competing at the top level”.
 Ian Williams, Manager at Edinburgh Sports Club, is delighted with
this year’s record entry:
“The event continues to attract some of the
world’s highest ranked professional players to give spectators a wonderful
opportunity to watch squash of the highest quality being played over a
four-day period.
"We remain hugely grateful to Artemis for their sponsorship
which has raised the event to its present status.” |
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