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05-Feb, Round ONE:
Qualifying complete, it was on to the main draw, with eight
matches on the Glass Court at Linkoping Sports Hall ...
[1] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) 3-0 Fares Dessouki (Egy)
11/5, 11/6, 11/6 (44m)
[Q] Tom Richards (Eng) 3-1 [6] Nicolas Mueller (Sui)
9/11, 11/1, 11/8, 11/5 (54m)
[8] Steve Coppinger (Rsa) 3-0 [wc] Rasmus Hult (Swe)
12/10, 11/7, 11/8 (36m)
[3] James Willstrop (Eng) 3-2 Chris Simpson (Eng)
11/9, 7/11, 7/11, 11/4, 11/8 (73m)
[4] Simon R๖sner (Ger) 3-1 Adrian Waller (Eng)
12/14, 11/6, 14/12, 14/12 (70m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (Egy) 3-1 [Q] Shaun Le Roux
(Rsa)
11/9, 5/11, 11/6, 11/7
(57m)
[7] Cameron Pilley (Aus) 3-0 [Q] Joe Lee (Eng)
11/5, 11/9, 11/3 (39m)
[2] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-0 [Q] Olli Tuominen (Fin)
11/5, 11/4, 11/4 (30m)
Richards gatecrashes the quarters,
Willstop survives
The first day of main draw action at Linkoping Sportshalle
saw seven of the eight seeds progress to the quarter-finals,
joined by English qualifier Tom Richards.
 Richards
lost a close first game to sixth seeded Swiss Nicolas
Mueller, but blitzed through the second and maintained an
advantage throughout the next two games.
Mueller may have been hindered by a slight leg problem, but
Richards was just too accurate and strong on the day.
He'll meet top seed Gregory Gaultier, who beat rising
Fares Dessouki in straight games, the young Egyptian unable
to cope with Gaultier's control in the latter half of each
game.
"He is a future star and he mastered things that I myself
was not close to master at that age," saiud Gaultier of his
opponent. "He is outstanding for his age and will be
prominent in the next generation of squash players.
Second seed and defending champion Nick Matthew was
equally imnpressive as he dismissed qualifier Olli Tuominen
in straight games, despite the Finns constant attacks.
"I felt I had an advantage of being well rested compared
to Olli who have played qualifiers two days in a row," said
Matthew. "I've played so much here Linkoping that there is a
risk that I get too relaxed but that was not a risk today."
 He'll
face Cameron Pilley for a place in the semi-finals.
The big Aussie dominated his first and third games against
qualifier Joe Lee, and pegged back a sizeable lead that the
Englishman had built in the second.
"I stuck to the game plan during the first and third
games, but lost it a bit in the second," said Pilley. "We
both had the momentum during different stages of the match
and it was a tight game.
Marwan Elshorbagy was the first winner of the day,
coming through in four games against Shaun Le Roux, and his
quarter-final opponent is German Simon Rosner, who
dropped the first game against Adrian Waller but, despite
still making a few too many errors, edged the next three to
progress.
Steve Coppinger won an entertaining three-game match
against wildcard Rasmus Hult, whose unusual double-handed
backhand and tricky shots made the South African work hard
for his win.
 The
last match of the day was the longest as James Willstrop
made a welcome return to PSA action, but it was a tough
return as fellow-Englishman Chris Simpson too the third seed
all the way to a decider.
Willstrop took the opening game, looked a little tired as
Simpson took the next two, but found a way back and was very
strong in the fifth.
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