Results –
First Qualifying Round: Inno Wood Open 2016
[1] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [L] Lukas Burkhart (SUI) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4,
11-7
[7] Luca Wilhelmi (SUI) bt [L] Fabio Fuchs (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6,
11-1
[L] Andres Duany (PER) bt [8] Roman Allinckx (SUI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2,
11-5
[4] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) bt [L] Nils Roesch (SUI) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3,
11-8
[L] Christoph Zust (SUI) bt [3] Ben Coates (ENG) 3-0: 12-10, 11-4,
11-8
[6] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt [L] Cedric Kuchen (SUI) 3-1: 10-12,
11-5, 11-3, 11-4
[5] Robert Dadds (ENG) bt [L] Jan Kurzmeyer (SUI) 3-1: 4-11, 11-6,
11-6, 11-3
[L] Alex Imhof (SUI) bt [2] Remo Handl (SUI) 3-2: 12-10, 11-7, 9-11,
9-11, 11-4
Draw – Final Qualifying Round
[1] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) v [7] Luca Wilhelmi (SUI)
[L] Andres Duany (PER) v [4] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT)
[L] Christoph Zust (SUI) v [6] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
[5] Robert Dadds (ENG) v [L] Alex Imhof (SUI)
All four Swiss quarter-finalists in the Inno Wood Open, PSA M5
tournament bowed out at the last eight stage as the local players
were put to the sword on home soil in Kriens, Switzerland.
Dimiti Steinmann came the closest to reaching the last four after he
pushed Hong Kong’s Chi Him Wong all the way to five games in a
nail-biting encounter.
The Zurich-born World No.242 went ahead twice throughout the match
but found himself pegged back on both occasions by a resilient Him
Wong. A dramatic tie-break then went in the man from Hong Kong’s
favour in the fifth and final game, allowing him to run out a 7-11,
11-8, 12-14, 11-7, 12-10 winner.
Him Wong will line up against Spain’s Edmon Lopez Moller in the last
four after the 19-year-old dispatched Steinmann’s compatriot Manuel
Wanner by a 3-1 scoreline.
Benjamin Fischer and Jonas Daehler were the other home players to
compete in the quarter-final stage but they succumbed to defeats
against Czech qualifier Daniel Mekbib and top seed Joshua Larkin,
respectively. Larkin and Mekbib will meet for the first time on the
PSA World Tour as they face off for a place in the showpiece finale.
Top qualifying seed Daniel Mekbib surged past Lukas Burkhart in the
opening qualifying round of the Inno Wood Open, PSA M5 tournament
with a commanding straight games triumph.
The Czech World No.212 was appearing at only his second PSA World
Tour event of the year but showed no signs of rustiness as he sailed
to an 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 victory to put himself within one win of a
main draw spot.
“I’m happy with the way I played,” said Mekbib.
“I’ve know Lukas for a long time, since we were juniors. We played a
lot of long matches before so I had to play my best from the
beginning. My legs feel much better than last week [at the Sekisui
Open] so I am looking forward to my next match.”
Mekbib will do battle with Luca Wilhelmi for a place among the main
draw action after he dispatched Fabio Fuchs in three.
Second qualifying seed Remo Handl, meanwhile, fell to a shock loss
against local player Alex Imhof after he just missed out on what
would have been a superb comeback. Handl went two-games down after a
fast start from Imhof but battled back to restore parity heading
into the fifth game. A resilient Imhof refused to give up though and
dug in to edge out the win and seal his spot in the next round where
he will face Robert Dadds, 24-year-old Englishman who defeated Jan
Kurzmeyer.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Christoph Zust came through his encounter
against England’s Ben Coates with a 3-0 victory and he will line up
against compatriot Dimitri Steinmann after the number six qualifying
seed downed Cedric Kuchen.
Jakob Dirnberger and Andres Duany will go head-to-head in the other
final qualifying round match after respective wins over Nils Roesch
and Roman Allinckx.
