Top seed Julian Illingworth
claimed the title in the 2013 Sekisui Open in Kriens,
Switzerland, when he beat Den mark's defending champion Kristian
Frost in the final.
Julian Illingworth
played really well today. He was very precise and played a lot
of deadly shots. Kristian Frost fought as he always does but
today the luck was not on his side.
He lost his first game ond the courts in Kriens. But with 3
finals in 3 years he can still be satisfied!
The Sekisui Open 2013 run very well and the tournament could
improve his standard again compared with the year before. We
hope that we can improve it again for next year, as SEKISUI
signed a contract until 2020.
With the sun finally coming out the tournament has now come to a
good end.
Kristian Frost pushed with a 3-2 win over surprising Zahed
Mohamed into his 3rd final in Kriens. On this courts he has
never lost, so it will be a very difficult task to beat him
here!
Julian Illingworth had to go games as well but managed to do it
quite quicker than Frost. Steve Finitsis played not bad, but in
the end Julian could just manage to play his best squash.
We are looking forward to an exciting final tomorrow!
Kristian Frost
That was close I was down 1-2 and 4-7 and looking for answers
and a way to expose him. He gave me a small opening and I took
it! I fought hard and it paid off. Now time to recover and have
some curry wurst!
Zahed Mohamed
Happy the way I played today. It was a tough match. After 2-1
leading I felt that physicaly I was not good. At all I played
well so now I’m getting ready for the next tournament in Kriens.
I hope I play well also. Good luck for Kristian tomorrow!
Steve Finitsis
I felt disappointed with the 3-2 loss, in which again was a good
opportunity to go further in the tournament. My basic game let
me down and Julian played more consistent in shot area, which
was the difference today. All credit to Mario, Igor and the
Sekisui Open team for putting on a wonderful event and hope to
come back again next year.
Julian Illingworth
Happy to get through! Was a good game today, we both play pretty
well up and down the left wall so it was quite tactical. Looking
forward to the match tomorrow and then straight to the airport
for 12 hour to Hong Kong. That is going to suck.
24-May, Quarters:
Zahed zips into the semis
Unseeded Zahed Mohamed
pushes into the semi-finals with a proper win over swiss Reiko
Peter, with Reiko the last remaining swiss to bow out.
In the semis Mohamed will meet title defending Kristian Frost
who tries to get his third title in Kriens!
In the other half Steve Finitsis battles top seed
Julian Illingworth. This could become a close encounter as
well.
With lots of spectators coming tomorrow it will be a good
atmosphere in the club.
Aqeel Rehman
Not good enough. Didn’t feel well today on court, couldn’t push
physically and wasn’t able to play how I wanted to. Disappointed
but next one is coming.
Kristian Frost
I’m happy with the way I played today, much more structure and
precision. Tomorrow is a new day and a new match. I’m going to
push hard. Hopefully I’ll make it through to the final.
Reiko Peter
Well, with a performance like this I don’t think I will win a
lot of matches in the PSA. Made way too many mistakes in the
first two games. Played well in the third but unfortunately I
didn’t manage to win it. All credit to Zahed, he is such a
skillful player.
Zahed Mohamed I am so happy to win today. It was not an easy match with
Reiko Peter. I was playing the first 2 games very well. So in
the third I was 10/9 down but I won it 13/11. Looking forward to
the semifinal tomorrow. Thank you.
Steve Finitsis I was happy with the way I played against Kevin today. Found
good consistent length and my decision making was much better.
Happy to make the Sekisui semis and look forward to playing
tomorrow!
Kevin Moran Just never really got going tonight. Hitting too much onto
his forehand and getting punished by anything that sat up at the
front. Only really started to apply pressure in the third and by
that point it was too late. Lost to the better, more experienced
player today. Look forward to going back home to work on what
I’ve learned from the match. Time to train!
Nathan Lake Julian played well today, physically I felt I struggled on
the hot courts and he had me doing a lot of work towards the
end. Really enjoyed the event, well organised as always and I
look forward to coming back next year!
Julian Illingworth Felt pretty good physically today, a bit patchy mentally,
but was lucky to win the first and then was alright in the next
two.
Still trying to figure out this court, pretty hard to be
assertive on there.
The day started with an 105
minutes encounter between Haschker and Frost. But you
could expect this match getting over 5 games. Frost played the
last points of the match just better but André really played
well and made it not easy for Kristian.
There is still one swiss remaining in the main! Reiko Peter
holds up home hopes for a semi-final spot. He had to work hard
to overcome Sebastiaan Weenink but he will be happy for sure to
be in the quarterfinal of a Challenger 10 event. Local players
Patrick Miescher and Lukas Burkhart lose their matches against
better seeded opponents but can be pleased to collect some
points for their PSA ranking.
Even if it keeps raining the court conditions are very warm and
bouncy, so we are looking forward to some long matches.
They Said
Aqeel Rehman
Not much to say, it was a very quick game. I had good control
oft he ball and my opponent. I moved well to pick up his shots
so I didn’t give him much to put me under pressure. Happy with
my performance and looking forward tot he quarters tomorrow!
Roman Svec
Just a big blackout today. I play Aqeel quite often but I
absolutely cannot read his game and it was pretty much the same
today. Anyway I feel happy fort he lucky loser spot and hope to
make the maindraw again next week here in Pilatus Cup once again.
Kristian Frost
I knew it was going to be a tough match. André is very steady
and we sort of play the same game. I got a bad start to every
game, which I really need to work on for tomorrow. All credit to
the old man. He made it very hard for me!
André Haschker
Today I missed out on the famous Swiss lunch served at 12 am at
family Burkhart’s place, because I had to play at 2 pm. That’s
maybe why the good old diesel ran a bit out of gas in the fifth.
Also I didn’t get to the two hour mark. But quite. The court fee
is expensive here in Switzerland so I tried to take the most out
of it. It was only 105 minutes. But all credit to the young „hopper“.
He simply played the last couple of points in the fifth better
than me today.
All the best for him for his quarterfinal here in the Sekisui
Open-
Reiko Peter
Happy to win against a tough opponent. It’s the first time I
beat him and that’s even better if you play in your hometown. It
got a bit physical but I guess that’s just the way it is when
two tall players play each other... looking forward to play
Zahed again tomorrow.
Sebastian Weenink
Really unhappy with the first game. After that it was a good
battle. Unfortounately at times I couldn’t keep my focus. I
think that’s where I lost today, and have to work on. He played
well, best of luck to him in the rest of the tournament.
Zahed Mohamed
I am happy to win in the 1st round against Jens Schoor. It was a
tough match I was 1-0 up and Jens leading the 2nd game 8-6 so I
returned back to win the game 13-11. I hope to play the other
matches well. Thank you!
Jens Schoor
Unfortounately I couldn’t keep up my form from ten days ago. The
first two games were very close and tough. Towards the end of
the two games Zahed was just a bit more constant than I and won
the decisive points. He played very well today, I wasn’t bad but
not as good as I could be. Next week I’ll have another chance to
win points.
Jan Van den Herrewegen
I played well for the first two games, and he was making some
mistakes. In the third and fourth I was making the mistakes,
while he was punishing me on all loose balls. Still happy with
my tournament, I hope I’ll be back here next year. All the best
to Steve in the next matches.
Kevin Moran
It’s the second tournament in a row that I have played in where
I have got out of the plane and moved from qualifying into the
main draw. So I was a bit fresher than Rory today. Even after
losing the first I wasn’t too bothered as it was a really tough
game for both of us... just tried to keep the tempo high for the
next 3. It wasn’t an easy match, Rory is a great player and will
be missed on the tour! Wish him all the best in his retirement
from PSA!
Rory Pennell
Slightly annoyed that my last ever PSA game was a bagel... But
other than that I started well but just couldn’t maintain the
pace after than and Kev just kept the pace and applied a lot of
pressure.
Nathan Lake
Very lucky to win tonight, on such a hot court it was important
to get my tactics richt and at the end of the first , switched
off and managed to turn it round and sneak the second. Had I
lost that it may have been different. Happy to win and looking
forward to tomorrow.
Patrick Miescher
He was physical and mentally tougher than me today. He wanted to
win harder and deserved to win. One more tournament to go now
and then train hard during summer.
Lukas Burkhart
I think it was a much better performance compared to my match
yesterday. I was able to put him under some pressure – but only
in patches... In the fourth game he lift up the pace and I was
struggling with it. Happy that I had the opportunity to play
another match. I need more matches like this to improve my game
and to stay strong in the important rallies of the match! Thanks
to Mario, Igor and the guys who made this great event even
possible!!
Julian Illingworth
Tough conditions here. Quite warm and bouncy plus the 19 inch
tin, plus maybe 500m elevation... going to be some long matches
this week. Just need to stay patient and not expose myself too
much
22-May:
Qualifying complete in Kriens
Eight players went into today's qualifying finals in Kriens, and
six of them made the main draw of the Sekisui Open !
How? Four winners plus two lucky losers - the "unlucky losers"
being Jonas Daehler and Ondrej Ertl.
Qualifying Finals:
Andre Haschker (Ger) bt Jonas Daehler (Sui)
11-9, 11-2, 11-6
Sebastiaan Weenink (Ned) bt Ondrej Ertl (Cze)
11-5, 11-2, 12-10
Jan vd Herreweggen (Bel) bt Lukas Burkhart (Sui)
11-8, 11-6, 11-9
Rory Pennell (Eng) bt Roman Svec (Cze)
4-11, 11-2, 14-12, 11-7
Roundup from Mario Tschopp:
We
saw many good matches today. It was a bit disappointing to see
both remaining Swiss qualifiers lose but luckily at least one
managed to get a lucky loser spot.
With the main draw starting tomorrow we are looking forward to
some hard fights! Especially the Swiss matches and the match
between Kristian Frost and André Haschker will be
interesting for the local spectators!
What they Said:
André Haschker This morning, I got „tschopped“ by my practice partner Lukas
Burkhart. So I had a good lunch, regrouped and was fully aware
when the match started. As it is still raining here in Lucerne,
I had the game plan to stay as long on the court as I could not
to get wet. And it worked. Tomorrow there is another match form
e. The real business is starting.
Jonas Daehler
It was a though match. Long rallies but he came up winning too
many oft hem. Far too many unforced errors on my side. So he
played better and made it to the main. Now I’m getting ready
fort he next week and try to make the main there.
Sebastiaan
Weenink
Happy to win obviously. The courts are quite warm and bouncy, so
a lot of long rallies. Also 19“ tin doesn’t make the rallies
shorter. I know Ondrej since juniors, but never had a match with
him I think. A bit shaky at the end oft he third game, so happy
to get through in three.
Ondrej Ertl
Sebastiaan took very fast first two games. I couldn’t get used
to his high pace of the game. Last game was very tight 12-10 but
unlucky I lost.
Jan van den
Herrewegen Glad to get through that match in 3. All the rallies were
pretty close, but in the end of each game I gave it a big push.
Well done to Lukas as well, always good to have a fair game.
Lukas Burkhart Disappointed the way I played and worked today. In every
game except the third I had a slow start and went down quick.
All credit to Jan though, he played good and fought hard.
Very, very lucky to get a second chance tomorrow in the main
draw. Looking forward playing in this great tournament and
atmosphere!
Rory Pennell Pretty much the same as yesterday. Concentration was so up
and down. But fortunately I managed to push through.
Roman Svec
The whole match was just up and down unfortunately form e I was
the one who was down in the end. I started well but made too
many mistakes in the second and third. End of the third and
fourth game was just a fight. But in conclusion I am happy with
the way I played here and look forward to the Pilatus Cup next
week.
