Richards Rallies Past Waller In Bluenose Opener by Nathan Clarke October 30, 2014 England's
Tom Richards upset the form-book on day one of main draw action at the
2014 Fiera Properties Bluenose Squash Classic, PSA International 50
tournament taking place in Halifax, Canada to defeat compatriot Adrian
Waller 3-0 in their first round encounter. Richards,
the current World No.33 who has fallen from inside the top 20 over the
past 10-months following a run of injuries, looked to be closing in on
the form that took him to a career high World No.12 in 2012 as he got
past Waller, a quarterfinalist at the recent Delaware Investments US
Open World Series event. Following
a closely fought opening exchange, it was 28-year-old Richards who took
the upper hand in the first game to hit three consecutive winners and
take it 11-9 and he continued his aggressive play and proved too much
for his 24-year-old opponent, taking the match 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 in just
under 50-minutes. Richards
will now take on tournament top seed and World No.7 Borja Golan in the
quarter-finals, after the Spanish ace came through a comfortable
first-round encounter with Egyptian Mohamed Abouelghar. Elsewhere
on the opening day of action there were wins for all the remaining
seeds, with only South African Stephen Coppinger dropping a game in his
opening encounter against Ryan Cuskelly. Results: Fiera Properties Bluenose Squash Classic 2014, Halifax, Canada:
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 11-7 (45m) Tom Richards (ENG) bt [7] Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (49m) [6] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 3-1: 11-6, 11-13, 11-9, 11-5 (67m) [4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-0: 13-11,11-8, 12-10 (52m) [3] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Christopher Gordon (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (40m) [8] Alister Walker (BOT) bt [WC] Andrew Schnell (CAN) 3-0: 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (34m) [5] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Diego Elias (PER) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (42m) [2] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (42m) Quarter-final Draw: [1] Borja Golan (ESP) v Tom Richards (ENG) [6] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v [4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) [3] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [8] Alister Walker (BOT) [5] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [2] Peter Barker (ENG)
