Qualifying finals: Taminder Gata-Aura (ENG) bt Michael Babra (SWE) 11/5 11/4 11/8 (19
min.)
Balázs Farkas (HUN) bt
Chris Leiper (SCO) 10/12 11/9 11/6 9/11 11/5 (67 min.)
Stuart MacGregor (ENG) bt Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 11/7 6/11 11/9 2/11 11/8
(68 min)
David Zeman (CZE) bt Carl Remle (SWE) 11/6 11/2 11/3 (21 min.)
1st qualifying round: Taminder Gata-Aura (ENG) bt Marek Panacek (CZE) 11-8, 11-2, 11-7
(17m)
Michael Babra (SWE) bt Matous Sochurek (CZE) 1-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7
(41m)
Balázs Farkas (HUN) bt Vojtech Ryba (CZE) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (18m)
Chris Leiper (SCO) bt Ondrej Vorlicek (CZE) 11-4, 5-11, 11-3, 11-8 (47m)
Stuart MacGregor (ENG) bt Filip Strouhal (CZE) 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 (19m)
Jakub Solnicky (CZE) bt Petr Nohel (CZE) 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
Carl Remle (SWE) bt Matyas Dufek (CZE) 11-2, 11-8, 11-6 (17m)
David Zeman (CZE) bt Benjamin Bergel (CZE) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (24m)
REPORTS
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Photos Irena Vanišová
Final Report
Today´s final was played between top seed and tournament´s favourite
Mohammad Alsarraj and tournament surprise Emyr Evans who managed to beat
two higher ranked players to reach his first PSA final.
Mohammad started the match better and he was soon 4/1 up. He managed to
keep his lead at 7/4, 8/5 and 9/7 only to get a bit nervous at the end
which Emyr used very well. He won next 4 points to get the first game
and 1/0 lead. Second game started exactly the same way as the first.
Mohammad raced to 4/1 lead but this time he managed to keep the lead not
only to 7/3 but to 10/5, gameball.
Emyr played three briliant rallies which saved three gameballs only to
serve out at 8/10 to give the last point to his opponent. After winning
the second Mohammad got more confident and dominated the third. He kept
Emyr behind him and punished anything loose with nice nicks in the
front.
The fourth game was close all the way to 6/6. Emyr won next two points
to 8/6. Mohammad came back with three points of his own to get the lead
back at 9/8. Emyr levelled, 9/9. Mohammad chased what looked like Emyr´s
winning drop in front left.
He flicked it crosscourt and Emyr was just watching the ball rolling out
of the nick. This time Mohammad used his first chance and after Emyr´s
shot hit the tin he started celebrating his 5th PSA title.
Players Comments
Mohammad Alsarraj:
Very happy with my performance in this tournament. It is a great way to
finish this year. And also it was great to win this tournament which
makes it a perfect start to be living in Prague. I hope the crowd
enjoyed it as much as me and Emyr did. Really enjoyed the match.
Emyr Evans:
Not the result I wanted today but I have had a great week and credit to
Mohammad winning. He played the big points really well.
Hopefully I will be back soon. It was a very enjoyable tournament. I
came last year and enjoyed it then as well.
Report Courtesy of
Tomas Forter
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Photos Irena Vanišová
Mohammad Alsarraj
Lyell Fuller
Daniel Mekbib
Emyr Evans
Semi Finals Report
First of the two semifinals was played between top seed
Jordanian Mohammad Alsarraj who lives and trains in Prague and Lyell
Fuller from England. Mohammad started better and got 1/0 lead but Lyell
came back strong in the second to level. Lyell made too many mistakes in
the third and gave the game to Mohammad.
The fourth was close and tense from the beginning. Lyell
was able to get a 9/6 lead towards the end but Mohammad scored 4 points
in a row to get his first matchball. Lyell save it but he was not able
to return a rolling forehand volley crosscourt nick from Mohammad when
he had his second chance at 11/10.
Home crowd was much more interested in the second semifinal where Czech
no. 1 Daniel Mekbib met Emyr Evans from Wales.
Emyr started the match with two great nicks and from the
beginning it was obvious this is not going to be Daniel´s day. He wasn´t
able to keep his usual high pace and made too many mistakes. Emyr played
well, was very solid, didn´t give Daniel anything easy and it was enough
today to earn him a place in his first PSA final tomorrow. I am sure
Daniel will try to forget about today´s match as quickly as possible.
Players Comments
Mohammad Alsarraj: Very happy to be through and very excited to
play the final tomorrow and I hope me and Emyr will play a good final
tomorrow so the crowd can enjoy.
Lyell Fuller: Dissapointed.
Emyr Evans: So happy to make my first final. I knew before the
match that I had to play well for any chance of winning, looking forward
to playing Mohammad tommorow, last time we played was in juniors.
Daniel Mekbib: Worst match of my season so far. Dissapointed with
everything. The only good thing now is that I won´t play any more this
year.
Report Courtesy of
Tomas Forter
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Photos Irena Vanišová
Mohammad Alsarraj
Lyell Fuller
Daniel Mekbib
Emyr Evans
Quarter Finals Report
First match between top seed Mohammad Alsarraj and Miko
Äijänen took 5 games. Mohammad was in control for most of it but his
concentration was up and down and he made lots of mistakes at times.
Miko used them well and got to 2/1 lead. Mohammad managed to keep his
concentration for the rest of the match and won final two games.
He will play Lyell Fuller who did not have to step on court today
because his opponent Charlie Lee injured his shoulder during his
yesterdays match and was not able to play today. The last Czech player
in the tournament Daniel Mekbib beat qualifier Stuart Macgregor easily
3/0 when Stuart was struggling with his movement from the first rallies
of the match.
Daniel just kept the pace high and did not give Stuart any chance to get
into the match. Last match between second seed Faraz Khan and Emyr Evans
was very entertaining and full of attacking shots to the front. Faraz´s
drops were really tight in the first and he got a 1/0 lead. Emyr came
back strong.
He was hitting the ball very hard and also attacked the front a lot and
started to control most of the rallies. He got to 2/1 lead but Faraz
fought hard and managed to turn the score in the fourth to level.
His efforts in the fourth took a lot out of him and Emyr started the
fifth very well and got a good a good lead and although Faraz managed to
save three match balls Emyr got a final point he needed with a hard
backhand crosscourt.
Players Comments
Mohammad Alsarraj: Today was another great match I have played
and Miko was playing in a good quality which made me struggle, but
eventually I managed to close the match.
Daniel Mekbib: Happy with my performance today, I tried to make
it hard for him, because he had a couple of matches in his legs already
and it worked perfectly for me. Sadly he was either cramping or injured
after the first game, so I hope he gets well soon.
Emyr Evans: Happy to get the win today. It wasn´t my best
performance but he has got a lot of good shots so he makes it tough for
you. Looking forward to semis against Daniel.
Report Courtesy of
Tomas Forter
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Photos Irena Vanišová
Mohammad Alsarraj
Faraz Khan
Lyell Fuller
Daniel Mekbib
First Round Report
Top seed Mohammad Alsarraj was put under a lot of pressure by 16 years
old wild card Viktor Byrtus. Viktor was able to keep Mohammad´s high
pace in the rallies but at the crucial moments in tie-breaks Mohammad´s
experience prevailed over local hope. Czech no. 1 Daniel Mekbib was the
only succesful of the 3 home players. He faced probably the most
difficult of the 4 qualifiers Hungarian Balasz Farkas. They played a
good game with lots of attacking shots but Daniel was more solid towards
the end of the games which proved decisive as Balasz usually made a
couple of mistakes which cost him those games.
Players Comments
Mohammad Alsarraj: First of all I enjoyed the match so much.
Viktor played well which made the crowd excited and I hope that they
enjoyed the match as much as us inside the court.
Viktor Byrtus: It was my first real test in a PSA event and I
took it quite well. Iam happy with my performance and I hope that I can
play more of these matches soon. I hope the crowd enjoyed it.
Miko Äijänen: I think I played quite well. Too much errors in the
first two games probably because I was a bit nervous but I think my game
opened up a bit in last two games.
Charlie Lee: Nice to win when not playing as well as I’d like.
Lyell Fuller: Happy to win in 3 against Carl who had nothing to
lose as coming in as the lucky loser. Enjoyed the match and looking
forward to tomorrow.
Daniel Mekbib: Happy to win against Balasz, he is a very good and
dangereous player. Lost focus a little bit in the third game, but pushed
really hard in the fourth. Looking forward to tomorrow´s quaterfinals.
Stuart Macgregor: Very happy to win this match 3/0. I had nothing
to lose in this match as I was not the expected player to win. I played
my best squash, and now I´m through to my first quarter final. Looking
forward to tomorrow.
Emyr Evans: Happy to get through in 3 today, he’s a dangerous
play so you can´t afford to lose any concentration. Looking forward to
playing Faraz tomorrow.
Faraz Khan: Good to get thru against a fit young player, who was
a bit unlucky not to get a game. Looking forward to the next round.
Report Courtesy of
Tomas Forter
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Photos Irena Vanišová
Taminder Gata-Aura
Balasz Farkas
Stuart Macregor
David Zeman
Qualifying finals:
Top two seeds Taminder Gata-Aura and David Zeman both won easily today
against Swedish oponents but the other two matches were marathons.
Balasz Farkas managed to beat Chris Leiper in five games lasting 67
minutes and Stuart Macregor beat his time by one minute to also win 3/2
against local hope Jakub Solnicky.
Matthew Broadberry pulled out of the tournament because of illness and
we draw a lucky looser to play against Lyell Fuller. We initially draw
Michael Babra as no.
1 lucky looser and Carl Remle as no. 2. Michael unfortunately couldn't
stay for tomorrow's match because of the test he needs to take at school
at home on Friday. He was not able to get a flight which would enable
him to play tomorrow evening and get home on time so he gave a nice
Christmas present to his fellow countryman Carl who was more than happy
to take lucky loser's spot.
Players Comments
Taminder Gata-Aura:
Happy to get through. Felt like I was finding my range well. I was
controlling the game. Happy to play anyone tomorrow.
Balasz
Farkas:
My opponent played very well every game and put me under pressure. I
need to attack the ball and thats why I made four and sometimes more
mistakes. The last game was very good and I played good shots. I think
thats why I could win the match and I really enjoyed it.
I can´t wait to play again tomorrow.
Stuart
Macgregor:
very happy with how mentally strong i stayd in that match. I thought we
both played quality squash throughtout the whole match. I am very
pleased to come out on top. Hopefully i can recover well for another
tough match tomorrow
David Zeman:
I am satisfied with my game. I am happy to win both matches
3/0 and save energy for tomorrow. I think I am ready to play a good
match.
Report Courtesy of
Tomas Forter
1st qualifying round: Two of 10 Czech players who took part in today´s qualification 1st round
of Prague open 2017 made it to tomorrow´s finals. And we hope they will
continue their winning ways tomorrow as well and make it to the main
draw.
Jakub Solnický managed to beat fellow countryman Petr Nohel in three
games and second seed David Zeman won also 3/0 against Benjamin Bergel.
All the seeded players got through but some of them had to work a
little harder than they probably thought.
All the local players are still juniors and although they all lost I
am sure it was a good experience for them and hopefully it will help
them in their future development.
