27-Aug, Qualifying Round One:

Johan Bouquet (Fra) 3-0 Neeraj Aggarwal (Aus)
          11/4, 11/5, 11/7 (24m)
Clinton Leeuw (Rsa) 3-2 Robert Downer (Eng)
          11/7, 9/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/4 (66m)

Geoffrey Demont (Fra) 3-0 Marc ter Sluis (Ned)
          11/5, 11/1, 11/4 (22m)
Lewis Walters (Eng) 3-2 Bart Ravelli (Ned)
           5/11, 11/4, 11/7, 10/12, 11/7 (77m)

Adam Auckland (Eng) 3-0 Phillip Bull (Eng)
           11/5, 5/11, 11/7, 11/5 (45m)
Nathan Lake (Eng) 3-0 Jan Van Den Herreweggen (Bel)
            11/5, 11/3 , 11/7 (34m)

Ammar Altamimi (Kuw) 3-1 Dylan Bennett (Ned)
            6/11, 11/6, 11/7, 11/7 (46m)
Declan James (Eng) 3-2 Piedro Schweertman (Ned)
            11/9, 11/9, 5/11, 8/11, 11/9 (82m)
 

Seeds safely through on Day One
as locals bow out at the Victoria Club
 
All seeds navigated safely through to the second round of qualifying at the Double AR Rotterdam Open Squash 2013, which kicked-off today at the renowned Victoria sporting club in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.

Declan James and Lewis Walters both survived hard-fought five game battles against Piedro Schweertman and Bart Ravelli respectively, with both Englishmen fighting back from a daunting looking deficit in the fifth and final game. South Africa’s Clinton Leeuw also came through a tough match against Robbie Downer which went the full distance, recovering from 2-1 down to take the fourth and fifth game with increasing authority.

Amir Altamimi (v Dylan Bennett) and Adam Auckland (v Philip Bull) came through in four, whilst Johan Bouquet, Geoffrey Demont and Nathan Lake had an easier ride to reach the final qualifying round of the new PSA Challenger 15 championship in the Netherlands. Bouquet defeated tournament promoter Neeraj Aggarwal in straight games, Demont outplayed Dutch local Marc ter Sluis and Lake proved too strong for Belgium’s Jan van de Herrewegen.

Last round qualifying action kicks-off on Wednesday at 5.30pm.

Match by Match ...

Johan Bouquet kicked-off proceedings at the Double AR Rotterdam Open Squash 2013 with a straightforward win over tournament promoter Neeraj Aggarwal. The Frenchman dominated play against the Dutch based Aussie, who had no answer to the deceptive play of his opponent. The score line: 11/4, 11/5, 11/7 in 25 minutes.

Next on court were Clinton Leeuw and Robert Downer. Clinton started the match controlling the rallies with fast brutal squash while Robert kept up the tempo but was just outlasted. Robert fought back going up 2-1 showing some great recovery and that he can produce great squash at a high tempo.

However the 4th and 5th were one way affairs with Clinton returning to his dominant form and controlling the physicality of the game. A very tough match for both players with Clinton winning in 5 - 11/7, 9/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/4 in 66 minutes.

Adam Auckland started his campaign with some extraordinary pickups against Phillip Bull’s attacking style of play. Very good match between two players who know each other well, but Adam was in control from the start eventually winning 11/5, 5/11, 11/7, 11/5 in 45 minutes.

Nathan Lake and Jan VDHW are both young upcoming players with similar styles of play, however Nathan was too strong and consistent for Jan, who has just had 10 days off due to teeth issues, which seems to have affected his recovery systems. Nathan too good, winning 11-5, 11-3 , 11-7 in 34 minutes.

Dylan Bennett started very quickly winning the first 11-6 against Ammar Altamimi. However Ammar started getting used to the court Dylan’s style of play and showed his athleticism to take the next three games in a very exciting match with Dylan showing off why he used to be in the ranked in the top 100. Ammar won 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 in 46minutes.

Geoffrey Demont was too good for the younger Marc ter Sluis, whose playing his first PSA Challenger tournament on home soil. Marc was positioned as a local player to give him some experience as he starts his venture as a professional player. Geoffrey’s experience on the tour shone through as he was in control of the whole match, winning 11/5, 11/1, 11/4.

After having 10 months off due to injury, Bart Ravelli started his tournament with a quick start against Lewis Walters. However Lewis regrouped and took the next 2 games in a hard physical battle, which saw Bart on the back end of a few rallies.

The 4th was a long battle, with both players showing how physically hard squash can be, but Bart prevailed here and took the match to a Decided, keeping the Dutch hope alive.

The match took its toll on Bart as he took an early lead, but his body couldn’t go any more as Lewis took the back end of the game. Lewis wins 5/11, 11/4, 11/7, 10/12, 11/7 in 77 minutes.

The highly anticipated match between Piedro Schweertman and Declan James started with Declan taking the first 2 in a very close battle with both players having a very similar playing style. The hot court meant we were in for some long hard rallies and this is exactly what happened.

Piedro took a quick lead in the third and never looked back. The 4th was another close encounter but Piedro seemed to finish better, taking the game into a decider and giving the local crowd a show. The 5th had some major momentum changes as Piedro went up 8/4 and played some outstanding squash, catching Declan off guard.

However Declan came back to level the score at 9/9 and took the match with the next two points. Final score Declan bt Piedro 11/9, 11/9, 5/11, 8/11, 11/9 in 1h 22minutes.