28-Aug, Qualifying Finals

Clinton Leeuw (Rsa) 3-1 Johan Bouquet (Fra)
                        11/6, 6/11, 11/9, 11/9 (60m)
Geoffrey Demont (Fra) 3-1 Lewis Walters (Eng)
                        11/7, 10/12, 11/8, 13/11 (70m)
Nathan Lake (Eng) 3-2 Adam Auckland (Eng)
                       9/11 , 6/11, 11/2 , 11/3, 11/3 (50m)
Declan James (Eng) 3-2 Ammar Altamimi (Kuw)
                       11/7, 4/11, 11/13, 12/10, 12/10 (83m) 

Qualifying complete in Rotterdam

Clinton Leeuw, Geoffrey Demont, Nathan Lake and Declan James claimed the four available spots in the main draw of the Double AR Rotterdam Open Squash 2013, a new PSA Challenger 15 championship in the Netherlands.

South Africa’s Leeuw took four games to see-off Johan Bouquet from France, Frenchman Demont outlasted England’s Lewis Walters in a 70-minute tussle, young Englishman Lake fought back from two games down against compatriot Adam Auckland and in-form James, also from England, just got the better of Kuwaiti Ammar Altimimi in a fifth-game tiebreak in the final match of the evening.

Match by Match ...

Play resumed today with Clinton Leeuw making a quick start against Johan Bouquet, but the Frenchman was not to be outdone and fought back in similar fashion to take the second. The games continues to be played at fast pace with both players having some extraordinarily long rallies, consistently.

Clinton came from behind to clinch the third and then never looked back as the physicality took its toll on Johan, Clinton winning 11/6, 6/11, 11/9, 11/9 (60mins)

In a topsy-turvy first game Geoffrey Demont took the lead against Lewis Walters, as both players tryied to find their range against the other person's style. The second game continued to be long and exhausting as Geoffrey fought off a lead, but Lewis just grabbed it at the end.

The rest of the match showed the power of the players with Geoffrey demonstrating some great power and retrieval skills, which gave him the edge as Lewis made errors on crucial points. Geoffrey wins 11/7, 10/12, 11/8, 13/11 (70mins)

Adam Auckland and Nathan Lake both displayed some great squash, with their own individual style of play. Adam took the first two combining explosiveness and racket skills.

Nathan then fought back by being patient and consistent and keeping tempo up with great retrievals. He took the next 3 very comfortably 11/9, 11/6, 2/11, 3/11, 3/11 (50mins)

Declan James started strong making Ammar Altamimi do a lot of work, but this wasn’t the way the match was going to continue. Ammar fought back and took the next one convincingly. The rest of the match was a showcase of strength, unbelievable retrievals, athleticism and great racket skills. Declan showed some great determination in a come from behind v4th and 5th. A highly entertaining match to watch, Declan winning 11/7, 4/11, 11/13, 12/10, 12/10 (83mins).

On to the main draw

Tournament favourites Laurens Jan Anjema, Adrian Grant, Olli Tuominen and Mathieu Castagnet kick-off their Double AR Rotterdam Open campaign on Thursday.

Dutch champion Anjema faces qualifier James in his opening match, while Grant, the global ambassador of title sponsor Double AR, starts against Czech number one Jan Koukal. Finnish star Tuominen, the reigning European champion, plays Leeuw who came through qualifying, whilst Castagnet, from France, takes on Denmark’s Kristian Frost.

Other first round matches are Raphael Kandra vs. Demont, Aqeel Rehman vs. Jens Schoor, Lucas Serme vs. Sebastiaan Weenink and Steve Finitsis vs. Lake.
  

"Scraped through again tonight somehow, 12-10 in the fifth this time. Body isn't pleased with me.

Reward is playing top seed LJ Anjema tomorrow evening. Look forward to the experience. Another day another push."

@DeclanJames1