Day ONE Reports (more to follow)
Double Quick Kemp
Jon Kemp, on his way back from injury, trying to emulate
Commonwealth Gold medal winning girlfriend Jackie Hawkes, faced
Rafael Alarcon, whose left calf was heavily strapped.
Alarcon coped well enough but when called upon to move,
especially in certain directions, he was apparently powerless.
In truth it was little more than what is known in racing
parlance as "an exercice canter".
Kemp had to be happy enough to have sauntered through to the
second round, but it was a shame for the South American, who
obviously had plenty to offer with the racket.
To his credit, he smiled his way to defeat with great good
humour.
Ashour number two looks good
Chris Ryder has had a couple of confidence-boosting wins over
Alister Walker, which would do him no harm in his first round
match with the irrepressible Hisham Ashour.
Ashour took early control and his racket skills were too much
for the more predictable Ryder, winning the first game easily
11/4.
Nor did much change in the second game, as the engaging Ashour
continued to dominate, his positive approach proving all too
much for Ryder's steadiness, 11/5.
At two-nil it was difficult to see a way back for Ryder, and
although he battled manfully and took the third to 12/10, there
was never a feeling that even success in that game would have
brought about a different final outcome.
Hisham may be number two in his family, but he is a player of
some quality in his own right.
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