29-May, Final:

[7] Mohamed Hafiz (Egy) bt [2] Laurens Anjema (Ned)
      15/11, 11/15, 13/15, 15/5, 15/12 (85m)

Reports & Photos from Chartres

28-May, Semis:
[7] Mohamed Hafiz (Egy) bt [Q] Stephane Galifi (Fra)
       15/9, 15/7, 15/6
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Julien Balbo (Fra)
      15/7, 15/9, 15/10

No French Final in Chartres

Hopes of an all-French final were dashed when the unseeded French pair of Stephane Galifi and Julien Balbo both fell at the semi-final stage in Chartres.

Qualifier Galifi, who put out top seed Jan Koukal on his way to the semi-finals, lost 3/0 to Egypt's seventh seed Mohamed Hafiz, while Balbo also lost 3/0, to Holland's second seed Laurens Jan Anjema.

Anjema will be seeking his second PSA title in quick succession, having won the Dutch Open last week.

Framboise Gommendy on Chartres
 

Mohamed Essam A Hafiz

15/11, 11/15, 13/15, 15/5, 15/12 (85m)

Laurens Jan Anjema

Laurens Jan Anjema

Qualifying Finals:
Andrew Whipp bt Tom Hoevenaars  15/11  15/12  16/17  15/8
Sam Miller bt Bradley Hindle  5/13 9/15 15/7 7/15 15/12
Stefan Galifi bt Rodolphe Bigot 15/5  15/6  15/13
Alex Muller bt Jago Nardelli  11/15  15/5  15/10  15/7

First Round:
Tom Hoevenaars bt James Stout  15/7  10/15  15/7  17/14
Bradley Hindle bt Michael Elford  15/11  6/15  15/4  15/17  15/1
Stephane Galifi bt David Barnett  15/6  15/5  15/7
Rodolphe Bigot bt Shahid Khan  15/13  15/12  6/15  15/10
Alex Muller by Mark Burke 15/11  15/12  15/10

27-May, Quarters:
French Final In
Prospect In Chartres
The remarkable prospect of an all-French Chartres Open  final was set up when qualifier Stephane Galifi and wildcard entrant Julien Balbo claimed dramatic and unexpected places in the semi-finals of the new PSA Tour event in the French city of Chartres.

In a finely-balanced quarter-final clash at the top of the draw, Galifi overcame Mexican Eric Galvez 13-15 15-13 17-16 16-17 15-2 - just twenty four hours after removing the Czech Republic's top seed Jan Koukal.

Galifi, at 269, the lowest-ranked of the 13 Frenchman in the PSA World Rankings, now meets Egypt's No7 seed Mohamed Hafiz, who upset France's third seed Jean-Michel Arcucci 15-13 15-9 15-14.

Following his first round defeat of Pakistan's sixth seed Arshad Iqbal Burki, Balbo beat English qualifier Andrew Whipp 15-10 15-13 14-17 15-10 to earn a semi-final meeting with Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema.

The in-form second seed, who won the Dutch Open title last week in The Hague, swept to his second successive straight games win with a 15-13 15-9 15-14 victory over fifth-seeded Englishman Alex Stait.

26-May:
Galifi leads French
Charge in Chartres

French qualifier Stephane Galifi delighted local fans on the opening day of the first Chartres Open when he engineered a mighty upset to defeat top seed Jan Koukal in straight games.

Galifi, at 269, the lowest-ranked of the 13 Frenchman in the PSA World Rankings, overwhelmed the Prague-based Czech No1 15-8 15-5 15-11. It was a stunning comeback for the former world No70 who is competing in his first PSA Tour event since November 2000 - and had not won a first round match since the previous July!

Galifi now takes on unseeded Mexican Eric Galvez, who also sprung a surprise when he defeated eighth-seeded Brazilian Rafael Alarcon 15-7 15-12 15-4.

Unseeded Julien Balbo became the third Frenchman through to the last eight when he forced sixth-seeded Pakistani Arshad Iqbal Burki to retire with cramp towards the end of a five-game marathon - with the score at 9-15 15-2 13-15 15-4 12-3 in Balbo's favour.

Caroline LEMESLE sets the scene ...

Au centre de la superbe ville de Chartres, un tournoi de squash va se dérouler du 26 au 30 mai 2004. Un court vitré sera installé en plein centre de la Ville devant l'hôtel de Ville pour un Tournoi International doté de 8000 $ avec la présence de joueurs qui ont participé aux derniers championnats d'Europe. L'organisation d'un tournoi international (de circuit professionnel) est très rare en France et notre club, le 4ème club français de squash en termes de licenciés, a fait ce pari. En parallèle nous organisons un tournoi de circuit national, lui doté de 2000 €. Nous avions déjà, l'année dernière, sur ce même court et au même endroit reçu Thierry Lincou en exhibition.

Côté Français cette année, nous aurons Jean-Michel Arcucci, Julien Balbo, Laurent Elriani (membres de l'équipe de France) et Stéphane Galifi.

Alors, n’hésitez à participer à ce tournoi, ou à venir pour y voir un squash d’excellente qualité. Chartres vous attend !

PSA comes to Chartres
There aren't many PSA tournaments in France, so it's good to see this $11k event set for the beautiful town of Chartres, not far from Paris.

Action will take place on an all-glass court in the heart of the the town, in front of the town hall.

Running alongside the event is a national tournament with a €2,000 prize fund.

Top seeds are the Czech Republic's Jan Koukal and the Netherland's Laurens Anjema, with French interest led by several members of the European Championships team, including Jean-Michel Arcucci and Laurent Elriani.