01/10/2006
HUNGARIAN OPEN
Gregory Wins Hungarian Open To Score Biggest PSA PrizeFinal
Tornament
Hungarian Open Squash Championship,
Budapest, Hungary
Final:
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [3] Lee Beachill (ENG) 6-11, 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 (84m)
Semi-finals:
[3] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8 (75m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 (36m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [8] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 (36m)
[3] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [7] Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (46m)
[4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (54m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-2, 11-0, 11-8 (35m)
1st round:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (29m)
[8] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 (84m)
[3] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [Q] Daryl Selby (ENG) 10-11 (0-2), 11-1, 11-5, 11-7 (52m)
[7] Joey Barrington (ENG) bt [Q] Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-4, 11-10 (2-0), 11-8 (36m)
Simon Parke (ENG) bt [5] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-10 (2-0) (64m)
[4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Stacey Ross (ENG) 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-4 (43m)
[Q] Alister Walker (ENG) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 11-9, 11-0 (43m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Andras Torok (HUN) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 (23m)
Qualifying finals:
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Bradley Ball (ENG) 11-9, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5 (60m)
Stacey Ross (ENG) bt Alex Stait (ENG) 11-8, 11-10 (2-0), 11-4 (35m)
Dylan Bennett (NED) bt Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 11-9, 11-10 (3-1), 11-5 (53m)
Alister Walker (ENG) bt Scott Handley (ENG) 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3 (42m)
Gregory Wins Hungarian Open To Score Biggest PSA Prize
It was third time lucky for France's Gregory Gaultier when he overcame England's Lee Beachill in a marathon climax of the Hungarian Open Squash Championship at the Római Teniszakadémia in Budapest to secure the biggest PSA Tour title of his career.
Third seed Beachill, who upset Australian favourite Anthony Ricketts in a 75-minute five-game semi-final, took the early initiative in only his second PSA Tour meeting with the 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence.
But Gaultier, the second seed who was runner-up in the 5-star event for the past two years, took the next two games to reclaim the advantage. Much to the delight of the enthusiastic Budapest crowd surrounding the all-glass court, Beachill claimed the fourth to draw level.
However, Gaultier maintained his 100% Tour average over his English rival when he clinched a 6-11, 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 victory to win the $50,000 title in 84 minutes.
The triumph marks the first PSA Tour title of the year for Gaultier, who became French National champion for the first time in February, then the European Individual champion for the third successive time in June.
But it brings to nine the number of Tour trophies the French international has collected since his maiden success in Spain in September 2001 when he won the Ciutat de Barcelona Open.
Beachill Beats Ricketts To Reach Hungarian Open Final
England's Lee Beachill scored one of his best wins of the year when he upset favourite Anthony Ricketts in a five-game marathon semi-final of the Hungarian Open Squash Championship to set up a meeting with Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in the final of the 5-star PSA Tour event in Budapest.
Ricketts, the world No5 from Sydney who has recently relocated to Yorkshire in England, twice stemmed leads by his new Pontefract club-mate.
But after 75 minutes, third seed Beachill celebrated an 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8 victory to reach his first PSA Tour final since losing to Ricketts in the Super Series Finals climax in London in May.
The triumph takes the 28-year-old Englishman, ranked nine in the world, into his 16th Tour final.
By contrast, the other semi-final was wrapped up in just 36 minutes when second seed Gaultier, runner-up in the event for the past two years, despatched Finland's Olli Tuominen, the fourth seed, 11-4, 11-4, 11-2.
Gaultier, the 23-year-old world No7 from Aix-en-Provence, is marking his 17th appearance in a PSA Tour final.
Despite several clashes in England v France internationals, this will be only Beachill and Gaultier's second meeting on the PSA Tour - with the Englishman looking for his first win.
Top Seeds Sail Into Hungarian Open Semis
Australian favourite Anthony Ricketts led the four top seeds into the semi-finals of the Hungarian Open Squash Championship after beating Italy's Davide Bianchetti in the quarter-finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event in Budapest.
Showing no signs of the elbow injury which has hampered his recent progress on the PSA Tour, Ricketts despatched the eighth-seeded Italian 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 in 36 minutes.
The world No5 from Sydney, who has recently relocated to Pontefract in England, will now meet his new club-mate Lee Beachill for a place in the final. Yorkshireman Beachill, the third seed, beat fellow Englishman Joey Barrington, the No7 seed, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 in 46 minutes.
The other semi-final will see Frenchman Gregory Gaultier aiming to reach the final for the third year in a row. The No2 seed from Aix-en-Provence beat English qualifier Alister Walker 11-2, 11-0, 11-8.
Gaultier's opponent will be Olli Tuominen, the fourth seed from Finland who needed four games to overcome England's unseeded Simon Parke, winning 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 in 54 minutes.
Parke & Walker Earn Upsets In Hungarian Open
Simon Parke and qualifier Alister Walker took out higher-ranked English compatriots in the first round of the Hungarian Open Squash Championship to earn unexpected places in the quarter-finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event in Budapest.
Parke, a former world No3 now combining a role as head coach at the Heaton club in Bradford with that of playing on the PSA Tour, twice came from behind to defeat Jonathan Kemp, the fifth seed, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-10 (2-0) in 64 minutes.
The 34-year-old Yorkshireman will now face Finland's fourth seed Olli Tuominen, who beat English qualifier Stacey Ross 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-4.
Walker, a Leeds-based 24-year-old from Gloucestershire, overcame sixth seed Peter Barker, the England international who last week won the Colombian Open crown in Bogotá.
Walker's 11-10 (2-0), 11-9, 11-0 victory takes him on to a quarter-final clash with Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the No2 seed who dashed local hopes of success when he beat Hungarian wild card player Andras Torok 11-7, 11-5, 11-9.
Top seed Anthony Ricketts, the Australian who lost his British Open crown in England earlier in the month, was back in winning form in Budapest where he beat fellow countryman Joseph Kneipp 11-7, 11-9, 11-7.
The world No5 from Sydney now faces Italian Davide Bianchetti for a place in the semi-finals.
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v [8] Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
[3] Lee Beachill (ENG) v [7] Joey Barrington (ENG)
[4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Simon Parke (ENG)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Q] Alister Walker (ENG)
Krajcsak Crashes Out While English Players Dominate Hungarian Qualifiers
Three English players made it into the main draw of the Hungarian Open Squash Championship, while local hero Mark Krajcsak crashed out in the qualifying finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event in Budapest, Hungary.
Krajcsak, runner-up in the World University Championship earlier in the month, battled for 53 minutes against Dylan Bennett, but ultimately went down 11-9, 11-10 (3-1), 11-5 to the Dutchman – who goes on to face England's No7 seed Joey Barrington in the first round.
Daryl Selby, Stacey Ross and Alister Walker all survived all-English encounters to win places in the main draw of the $50,000 event in Budapest.
Selby fought back from a game down to beat Bradley Ball – last week's winner of the Ciutat de Barcelona Open in Spain - 11-9, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5 in exactly an hour. The 23-year-old from Essex now faces fellow Englishman Lee Beachill, the third seed, in the main draw.
Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) v Joseph Kneipp (AUS)
[8] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) v Renan Lavigne (FRA)
[3] Lee Beachill (ENG) v [Q] Daryl Selby (ENG)
[7] Joey Barrington (ENG) v [Q] Dylan Bennett (NED)
[5] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) v Simon Parke (ENG)
[4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v [Q] Stacey Ross (ENG)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) v [Q] Alister Walker (ENG)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Andras Torok (HUN)
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