Mueller Makes European Semis In Warsaw by Howard Harding
May 27, 2011-Rising
Swiss squash star Nicolas Mueller pulled off an impressive upset on the
second day of action in the European Individual Championships in Poland
when he beat experienced Spaniard Borja Golan to reach the men's
semi-finals of the European Squash Federation event at Squash City in
Warsaw.
The 21-year-old from
Zurich battled
for 44 minutes to overcome 3/4 seed Golan for the second time in three
months, beating the former world No10 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-1.
In his first appearance
in the
event's semi-finals, world No36 Mueller will face defending champion
Thierry Lincou, ranked eight in the world.
The second-seeded
Frenchman, who
last month celebrated his 35th birthday, had to work hard to see off
young compatriot Gregoire Marche - ultimately overcoming the
21-year-old 13-11, 11-7, 12-14, 11-8 in 71 minutes.
There will be French
interest in the
other semi-final where five-time champion Gregory Gaultier will take on
Dutch champion Laurens Jan Anjema.
Top seed Gaultier,
bidding to make
the final for the eighth year in a row, defeated Mark Krajcsak 11-4,
11-6, 11-5 - thereby denying the top-ranked Hungarian a second
successive semi-final appearance.
But Anjema almost
failed to make his
anticipated appearance in the last four. The world No15 from The Hague
had to fight back from two games down against up-and-coming Frenchman
Mathieu Castagnet - then saved a match ball at 9-10 in the fifth game
before finally clinching his 3-11, 8-11, 11-2, 11-9, 12-10
quarter-final victory after 89 minutes.
The women's quarter-
finals went
according to the seedings, with 2009 champion Natalie Grinham edging
closer to a second title. The 3/4 seed from the Netherlands, who missed
last year's event following the birth of her first child, defeated
newly-crowned German national champion Sina Wall 11-9, 11-5, 11-4.
Grinham will now face
Emma Beddoes -
but the second seed survived a close call with English compatriot
Victoria Lust before beating her lower-ranked opponent 7-11, 9-11,
11-6, 12-10, 11-8.
Camille Serme, the top
seed who is
hoping to be part of a French double in Warsaw, took just 18 minutes to
earn her place in the semis for the third time when she beat Dutch
opponent Orla Noom 11-4, 11-3, 11-2.
Serme, the world No9
from Paris, now
lines up against Manuela Manetta following the Italian's 11-8, 11-8,
11-7 defeat of Austrian Birgit Coufal. RESULTS:
European Individual Squash Championships, Warsaw, Poland