[ Up ] [ Semis ] [ Quarters ] [ Round One ] [ Qual 2 ] [ Qual 1 ] [ Day0 ]

Naude provides
late success for Dutch
Steve Cubbins reports from Frans Otten

The first day's play in the 2008 edition of the Forexx Dutch Open wasn't too productive for the home players, as six Dutchmen and three Dutchwomen fell at the first qualifying hurdle.

Amsterdam-based Australian Bradley Hindle and American Gilly Lane made it through though, both beating home-grown opposition in the process, as did Canadian Robin Clarke, who has been training here for a few weeks.

There was just one upset result in the day, with Laura Hill continuing her winning run against fellow Englishwoman Sarah Kippax.

For many of the women it was their first competitive experience of 11-scoring, and Dominique Lloyd-Walter and Lauren Briggs have learned something already, having let 10/5 and 10/3 leads slip into extra points (both managed to scrape home 12/10, so not lasting damage done).

The evening session saw Dutch involvement in all four matches on the Frans Otten showcourt, but Orla Noom and Sander Kock failed to progress before Annelize Naude won a thrilling hour-long encounter with England's Emma Beddoes. The Dutch number two saw seven match balls disappear from 10/3 to lose the fourth, but Emma couldn't repeat the feat as Annelize took the fifth 11/7.

The Dutch fans thought a second success was looming when Bart Ravelli took a 2-0 lead over Ben Ford, but the Englishman fought back, edging the final two games in tight finishes to leave the Dutch count in tomorrow's qualifying finals at one.

Finals start at 13.00 Wednesday - note, tickets no longer available online, only in person at Frans Otten Stadion ...

Men's Qualifying Round One:

Bradley Hindle (Aus) bt Rene Mijs (Ned)
                     11/9, 11/7, 11/8 (49m)
Rob Sutherland (Wal) bt Martijn Kock (Ned)
                     11/4, 11/2, 11/7 (22m)

Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe) bt Rasmus Neilsen (Den)
                     11/9, 11/9, 11/4 (31m)
Shaun Le Roux (Eng) bt Jens Schoor (Ger)
                    11/5, 11/6, 11/3 (33m)

Steve Coppinger (Rsa) bt Sander Kock (Ned)
                    11/5, 12/10, 11/2 (44m)
Gilly Lane (Usa) bt Frank Hartkoren (Ned)
                    11/9, 11/1, 11/5 (31m)

Ben Ford (Eng) bt Bart Ravelli (Ned)
                    9/11, 9/11, 11/4, 13/11, 11/9 (64m)
Robin Clarke (Can) bt Bastiaan Meulenbelt (Ned)
                    11/5, 2/11, 11/5, 11/9 (60m)

Women's Qualifying Round One:

Samantha Teran (Mex) bt Wee Wern Low (Mas)
                       11/9, 11/4, 12/10 (38m)
Line Hansen (Den) bt Orla Noom (Ned)

                       11/13, 11/1, 11/2, 11/2 (33m)
Annelize Naude (Ned) bt Emma Beddoes (Eng)
                       11/7, 4/11, 12/10, 10/12, 11/7 (60m)
Lauren Briggs (Eng) bt Dagmar Vermeulen (Ned)
                       6/11, 11/8, 12/10, 11/3 (35m)

Laura Hill (Eng) bt Sarah Kippax (Eng)
                       11/7, 11/8, 9/11, 11/6 (45m)
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt Elise Ng (Hkg)
                       12/10, 11/5, 12/10 (36m)

Aisling Blake (Irl) bt Milou Van der Heijden (Ned)
                        11/8, 11/2, 11/6 (30m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) bt Laura Mylotte (Irl)
                       11/8, 11/4, 7/11, 11/6 (35m)

Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt
Elise Ng (Hkg)    12/10, 11/5, 12/10 (36m)

"It's nice to be back into it, you're always a bit edgy in your first match so it's good to get that one over with.

"We train all the time with 11 scoring but that's the first real match I've played with it. When I was 10/5 up in the third I thought I'd got it won, but it just shows you have to concentrate all the time, you can't let up.

"I haven't played Laura [Hill] for a while but we used to play a lot so it should be a good match tomorrow."

Lauren Briggs (Eng) bt Dagmar Vermeulen (Ned)                6/11, 11/8, 12/10, 11/3 (35m)

"I found it hard to see the ball in the first game, it was hard to adjust to the court and the lighting, but she played better than me, she deserved to win that one. In the last three I started to get a better length and felt more comfortable.

"It was just bad concentration to let that 10/3 lead slip in the third. Funnily enough I'd talked to Dom about it after she let 10/5 go, and then it happens to me! When you're well up you don't feel threatened, but the closer you get the more nervous you become - you seem to get more edgy when they're coming back than you did in the old scoring …"

Samantha Teran (Mex) bt Wee Wern Low (Mas )
              11/9, 11/4, 12/10 (38m)

"I've been in Amsterdam for two weeks now, I'm spending ten weeks altogether, training with Liz Irving. I put my name down for this but didn't expect to get in, so I've not really prepared for matches but I was quite pleased with how I played."



"Everything was different, my first time here, the court, the scoring, so it took me a while to find my game, I was happy to get through in three games.

"I was thinking to attack more because of the scoring, but then I realised that you can't afford to make mistakes, the points just slip away. I'm sure we'll all get used to it, but it's different at first …"

Laura Hill (Eng) bt Sarah Kippax (Eng)
                11/7, 11/8, 9/11, 11/6 (45m)

"I do seem to be her bogey player, we've met in some National League matches, in France and here and I seem to always win them. It's always a good game when we play, really tough so we don't really want to be meeting each other in first round qualifying.

"I get a lot of things back and she sometimes seems to get frustrated, goes for some winners to finish the rally and ends up making mistakes.

"I'm still working part-time as a firefighter, I've been able to get to a few good tournaments now. I've been getting a few little injuries though, so just need to find the right balance between training and playing."

Line Hansen (Den) bt Orla Noom (Ned)
                       11/13, 11/1, 11/2, 11/2 (33m)

"I made a few mistakes in the first, and Orla had a better length than me in that game. I managed to get a better length and cut out the mistakes from then on, and managed to get on top of her. She starting going for some winners she maybe didn't need to and made mistakes.

"This is my third tournament under the new scoring, so I'm probably more used to it than most. I've been training hard - we all are - and I'm looking forward to a good match with Samantha tomorrow, she's someone I've never played …"

Gilly Lane (Usa) bt Frank Hartkoren (Ned)
                    11/9, 11/1, 11/5 (31m)

"I've been in Amsterdam since January, training with Tommy and Lucas, so it's nice to get to play a match at my 'home' club! I really enjoy it over here, Tommy and Lucas are great guys to work with. We've put in a lot of work over the Summer, let's hope it pays off."

He's good in the middle of the court and has some very good kills - I was a bit too loose in the first but got my length working and was able to take control of it from there.

"I'm happy that the season's started, it's good to get going.



"I was just happy to get into the draw really, winning that wildcard playoff was my aim. I hadn't played Gilly before, even though he's over her in Amsterdam now. I really enjoyed it, but he was just too quick for me.

"I'm still at school, so I can only play local tournaments in, or close to, Holland at the moment. I'll have to play the smaller tournaments until I get a bit better, then I'll be able to compete in this type of event."

Badr Abdel Aziz (Swe) bt
Rasmus Neilsen (Den)
                 11/9, 11/9, 11/4 (31m)

"That was my first match for a very long time, so it was hard to get into a match rhythm. We had some good rallies though, and we were both moving well.

"Rasmus is a good player so I'm happy to win and hope I can play a bit better tomorrow …"

Robin Clarke (Can) bt Bastiaan Meulenbelt (Ned)
                    11/5, 2/11, 11/5, 11/9 (60m)

"He just runs and runs and picks up everything, you have to win the point two or three times.

"I've been training here and in England for the last seven weeks, since the Canadian Nationals, and that was my first match in four months so it was tough to get back into matchplay, I was a little rusty.

"After this I'm back to Canada for a couple of weeks the I'm playing in Charleston and there's lots of tournaments coming up after that, it's good that there are so many."

Steve Coppinger (Rsa) bt Sander Kock (Ned)
             11/5, 12/10, 11/2 (44m)

"It took me a while to get used to the court, the bounce and the different side walls make it a little tricky.

"When I was down in the second I knew I just had to stay in the rallies, and that eventually I'd hit a good shot or he would make a mistake. We had a few good rallies there, and that told on him in the end.

"Gilly next, don't think I've played him before, so that should be good …"

Ben Ford (Eng) bt Bart Ravelli (Ned)
                    9/11, 9/11, 11/4, 13/11, 11/9 (64m)

"That was tough! I basically haven't played for five weeks, so I wasn't really expecting to do anything here, just looking to hopefully get a win and get the season started.

"I couldn't get into it in the early part of the match, I felt better as it went on, but it was really tight, it could have gone either way.

"It will be a tough match tomorrow - I have a flight booked and I'm not changing it yet - it would be nice to get home to see my wife who's expecting our first child in January, but to qualify would be good too ..."

 

[ Up ] [ Semis ] [ Quarters ] [ Round One ] [ Qual 2 ] [ Qual 1 ] [ Day0 ]