Willstrop Top Seed as Zurich Grasshopper Underway from PSA Media April 23, 2014
- Denmark's Kristian Frost Olesen became the lowest-ranked player to
qualify for the 2014 Grasshopper Cup in Switzerland – and added a ninth
nation to the main draw line-up of the PSA World Tour International 50
squash event taking place at the EWZ Selnau in Zurich. The Grasshopper Cup,
which dates back to 1979, returned to the PSA Tour in 2012 – and this
year, with the tournament level raised to PSA International 50 status,
has attracted a star-studded field including nine players from the
world top 20, led by England's World No.6 James Willstrop. Olesen, ranked 64 in
the world, battled for 63 minutes to overcome England's Eddie Charlton,
ranked nine places higher, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 in the qualifying finals. The 25-year-old from Odense will now take on No.6 seed Tarek Momen, the World No.12 from Egypt. Fellow qualifiers include Finland's Henrik Mustonen and Egyptian pair Mohamed Abouelghar and Mohd Ali Anwar Reda. Mustonen, the World
No.38 from Hollola, defeated England's Charles Sharpes 11-9, 7-11,
11-9, 11-2, whilst Reda beat higher-ranked Jaymie Haycocks, also an
Englishman, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9 and Abouelghar overcame Malaysian Muhd
Asyraf Azan 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8. Top seed Willstrop,
who is making his Grasshopper Cup debut, begins his campaign against
Olli Tuominen, the former World No.13 from Finland who has twice
reached the event's final and was champion in 1999. The 30-year-old
Englishman is expected to contest Sunday's final against second seed
Borja Golan, the World No.5 from Spain who was a semi-finalist in 2013. Grasshopper image below, courtesy of Helen Ree, shows Olesen and Charlton in action RESULTS: Grasshopper Cup, Zurich, Switzerland Qualifying finals: Henrik Mustonen (FIN)
bt Charles Sharpes
(ENG)
11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-2 (48m) Mohamed Abouelghar
(EGY) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan
(MAS) 11-4,
8-11, 11-6, 11-8 (43m) Kristian Frost Olesen
(DEN) bt Eddie Charlton
(ENG)
11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (63m) Mohd Ali Anwar Reda
(EGY) bt Jaymie Haycocks
(ENG)
11-2, 11-7, 11-9 (31m) Updated 1st round draw: [1] James Willstrop (ENG) v Olli Tuominen (FIN) [5] Simon Rösner (GER) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI) [6] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) [4] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [WC] Reiko Peter (SUI) [3] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Alister Walker (BOT) [8] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) [7] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) [2] Borja Golan (ESP) v [Q] Henrik Mustonen (FIN)
