English Trio Advance on Day Two of Nantes Open by Sean Reuthe
photos Jérôme Folliot
September 8, 2016 -
A trio of Englishmen - headed by World No.23 Chris Simpson - were
victorious on the second day of first round action at the Open
International de Squash de Nantes, PSA M25 tournament held at the Cité
Internationale des Congrès.
Second seed Simpson came up against tournament wildcard Geoffrey Demont
in his opening round fixture and recovered from a slow start to rise to
an 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 victory.
"I think I just tried to work on the process and playing good squash," said Simpson.
"He played some unbelievable shots and I had hit the ball into the
middle of the court. I just tried to work on my end and I knew that if
he could carry on hitting those unbelievable shots then I was going to
be quite surprised.
"No one can carry on at that rate, so I knew that level was going to drop at some point."
Simpson will line up against compatriot Declan James in the next round
after James put in an imposing performance to overcome French qualifier
Christopher Andre.
Andre, the World No.107, came through qualifying to progress to the
main draw, beating the experienced Piedro Schweertman in the process,
and fared well in the early stages.
However, the high intensity and immaculate width of James’s shots soon
came to the fore the longer the match went on, enabling the World No.39
to complete the win by an 11-6, 11-2, 11-7 margin in 37 minutes.
“I’m very happy to win in three games,” said James.
“I haven’t seen Christophe play much, but I’ve heard many good things
about him. I know he’s not been on the Tour that long and I heard he is
very good with the racket.
"It was the first match of the season, there are going to be a few
nerves and I felt like I couldn’t let my head drop for one minute or
otherwise he could come back."
Tom Richards was the other Englishman to prevail on day two after he overcame Indian opposition in Mahesh Mangaonkar.
The match began on an even keel, with a series of punishing,
attritional rallies playing out in front of a packed crowd, but
Richards’ experience and patience eventually paid off and the
30-year-old wrapped up the win in straight games.
“I was trying to get a feel for the court, I felt pretty good, so I was
trying to make it tough for him and put some miles into his legs,”
Richards said.
“As the match progressed, I felt more and more comfortable on the court
and I dominated the middle a little bit more than Mahesh. He likes to
volley, as I do, and I think I slightly won that battle and that meant
that I won the match.”
World No.50 Ben Coleman was the only Englishman to exit the tournament
on the second day of action after he succumbed to Egypt’s Karim Ali
Fathi, who will face Richards next.
In the inaugural PSA W5 Women’s tournament, French duo Chloe Mesic and
Laura Pomportes ensured that there would be home interest in the last
eight after they defeated Nia Davies and Marina de Juan Gallach,
respectively.
Mesic and Pomportes will now face off for a place in the semi-final,
while there were also wins for the likes of title contenders Alexandra
Fuller and Hana Ramadan.
2016 Open International de Squash de Nantes - Men’s First Round Results (Bottom Half)
[3] Tom Richards (ENG) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 (45m)
[6] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt Ben Coleman (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 13-11, 11-7 (59m)
[5] Declan James (ENG) bt [Q] Christophe Andre (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-7 (37m)
[2] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [WC] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (32m)
2016 Open International de Squash de Nantes - Men’s Quarter-Final Draw
[1] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Q] Joel Makin (WAL)
[8] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v [4] Gregoire Marche (FRA)
[3] Tom Richards (ENG) v [6] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
[5] Declan James (ENG) v [2] Chris Simpson (ENG)
2016 Open International de Squash de Nantes - Women’s First Round Results
[1] Chloe Mesic (FRA) bt Nia Davies (WAL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 12-10 (20m)
[8] Laura Pomportes (FRA) bt [Q] Marina de Juan Gallach (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (25m)
[7] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bt [Q] Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-1: 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 (32m)
[3] Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt [WC] Sarah Mekhalfi (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-5 (15m)
[Q] Julianne Courtice (ENG) bt [4] Enora Villard (FRA) 3-1: 11-3, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 (46m)
[5] Nadia Pfister (SUI) bt Marta Latorre Ramirez (ESP) 3-2: 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 14-12 (54m)
[6] Rachael Chadwick (ENG) bt [Q] Charlotte Delsinne (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (20m)
[2] Alexandra Fuller (RSA) bt Elise Romba (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (19m)
2016 Open International de Squash de Nantes - Women’s Quarter-Final Draw
[1] Chloe Mesic (FRA) v [8] Laura Pomportes (FRA)
[7] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) v [3] Hana Ramadan (EGY)
[Q] Julianne Courtice (ENG) v [5] Nadia Pfister (SUI)
[6] Rachael Chadwick (ENG) v [2] Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
