England’s Ben Coleman defeated 2013 World Junior Champion Karim El
Hammamy in the final of the Courtcare Open, PSA M10 tournament held
at Pontefract Squash and Leisure Club to lift his eighth PSA World
Tour title.
The World No.53 didn’t drop a game throughout the tournament and
followed up an opening day win against Ondrej Uherka with a
comprehensive 3-0 victory over tournament wildcard Patrick Rooney,
before receiving a semi-final walkover against Chris Fuller after he
sustained an injury against Ashley Davies.
Meanwhile, El Hammamy’s quarter-final triumph over seventh seed Jan
van den Herrewegen, sandwiched between wins over Lyell Fuller and
Matthew Hopkin, enabled the Egyptian to claim a second successive
PSA World Tour final berth after reaching the same stage of June’s
Arab Federation Open.
Coleman had the better of the opening stages and put his opponent
under pressure after a series of lengthy, well-constructed rallies,
eventually going a game ahead for the loss of five points.
The 25-year-old was then met with an improved display from El
Hammamy, with the second and third games being highly competitive
affairs. Coleman managed to keep El Hammamy at arm’s length though
to wrap up the win by an 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 margin to lift his second
PSA World Tour crown of 2016.
England’s highest ranked teenager Patrick Rooney produced an
magnificent performance to reach the quarter-final stage of the
Courtcare Open, PSA M10 tournament courtesy of a superb win over
World No.79 Piedro Schweertman – the Dutchman who is ranked 81
places above Rooney in the World Rankings.
Having won the Katowice Open less than a month ago, Schweertman came
into his encounter with Rooney full of confidence, but went two
games behind after a strong start from the 19-year-old tournament
wildcard.
Schweertman clawed a game back in the third, but Rooney rallied to
take the fourth, wrapping up an 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5 victory to
set up a last eight clash with top seed Ben Coleman after the World
No.53 dispatched Ukrainian qualifier Ondrej Uherka.
There were further upsets to be found at the Pontefract Squash and
Leisure Club as the number two and three seeds, Eddie Charlton and
Tom Ford, also exited the tournament on the opening day of action.
Charlton succumbed to a 3-2 defeat against World No.119 Mark Fuller,
while Ford let a 2-1 lead slip against Ashley Davies to bow out by
the same scoreline. Fuller’s reward is a quarter-final clash with
Matthew Hopkin, the Australian who defeated eighth seed Ammar
Altamimi, and Davies is set to face Fuller’s brother, Chris, for a
place in the last four.
2013 World Junior Champion Karim El Hammamy and Belgium’s Jan van
den Herrewegen will meet in the other quarter-final fixture after
they beat Lyell Fuller and Martin Svec, respectively.
English duo Lyell Fuller and Sam Ellis emerged unscathed from their
respective final qualifying round matches at the Courtcare Open, PSA
M10 tournament to secure their places in the main draw at the
Pontefract Squash and Leisure Club.
World No.145 Fuller dominated his fixture with compatriot Bradley
Masters and surged to the win in straight games by an 11-7, 12-10,
11-3 margin of victory in 37 minutes.
Fuller will do battle with 2013 World Junior Champion Karim El
Hammamy in the opening round of the main draw as he looks to reach
the quarter-final of a PSA World Tour event for the first time in
2016.
Ellis, meanwhile, also overcame a fellow Englishman in Miles
Jenkins. 23-year-old Ellis went a game ahead after prevailing on a
tie-break before doubling his lead in the second. A resurgent
Jenkins clawed a game back in the third, but Ellis was soon on top
to close out a 3-1 triumph and set up a meeting with Chris Fuller in
the next round.
Czech pair Martin Svec and Ondrej Uherka both earned their main draw
spots after triumphing in five games over James Peach and Tristan
Eysele, respectively.
Svec is set to meet Belgium’s Jan van den Herrewegen for a place in
the last eight, while Uherka has the distinction of facing
tournament top seed Ben Coleman.
English World No.145 Lyell Fuller sealed his place in the final
qualifying round of the Courtcare Open, PSA M10 tournament after
defeating compatriot Matthew Sidaway 3-1 at the Pontefract Squash
and Leisure Club.
Fuller, 20, took the opening game before conceding the second after
an improvement from Sidaway. He steadied the ship though in the
third game, dropping just three points as he regained his lead, and
pressed on to take the fourth in an 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8 victory.
Exeter-based Fuller will lock horns with World No.249 Bradley
Masters in the final round of qualifying after he swept past seventh
seed Lewis Doughty.
Number eight qualifying seed James Peach is also through to the next
round courtesy of a 3-1 win over Phil Nightingale. A strong start
from Peach saw the 19-year-old power to a 2-0 lead and, despite
Nightingale clawing a game back in the third, he held firm to take
the win in four games, setting up a fixture with Martin Svec of the
Czech Republic, who beat Cai Younger.
Elsewhere, Miles Jenkins and Sam Ellis will do battle in an
all-English affair after they rose to respective scalps against Nick
Mulvey and Julian Tomlinson. Jenkins came back from behind to claim
a 3-2 triumph, while Ellis achieved a hard-fought straight games
victory.
South Africa’s Tristan Eysele and number five qualifying seed Ondrej
Uherka will face off in the other final qualifying round fixture
after Eysele dispatched Taminder Gata-Aura and Uherka defeated Owain
Taylor.
