Sam Ellis and Emyr Evans March on at The Mote By Alan Thatcher June 2, 2015
- Sam Ellis from Bristol and Welsh junior Emyr Evans powered through
the Select Gaming Kent Open Pre-Qualifying tournament before a packed
gallery at The Mote Squash Club in Maidstone, Kent.
It was an excellent night of squash, with the top players from The Mote
and other Kent and Surrey clubs finally biting the dust in the quest
for a coveted place in a tough-looking qualifying draw.
There was a change of personnel in the first match following the withdrawal of Ollie Pett from the qualifying competition.
As first reserve, Phil Nightingale moved into that spot which meant he
no longer needed to compete in the pre-qualifying. A lucky losers draw
was held, which resulted in The Mote's 16-year-old Ben Goodayle being
given another chance to shine on the big stage.
Having narrowly lost in the fifth the night before to Surrey junior
Matt Cook, he was eager to impress against James Hall, from Sevenoaks
club Knole Park. Hall's superior experience and quality of shot proved
decisive as he won in straight games.
Hany Taleb, nephew of three-times British Open champion About Taleb,
and one of the Mote coaches, enjoyed his match against Ellis. He would
have enjoyed it even more if he had collected a few more points as
Ellis moved the ball effortlessly around the court.
Cook, from Croydon, battled hard against Robert Dadds, from Colchester,
who is one of the fairest young players I have ever seen, almost always
electing to play the ball even when a simple stroke is on offer. He
also possesses a great lob and good touch in the front corners.
Welsh junior international Emyr Evans opted to play a high-paced game
against Canterbury's Joe Magor, who withstood some punishing pressure
to prolong a succession of hugely entertaining rallies, winning an
impressive number points after finding some gaps on the court.
in the Pre-Qualifying Finals, with Ellis beating a tired-looking Hall
11-6, 11-3, 11-2 and Evans produced a quality performance after a short
rest between matches to overcome Dadds 11-7, 11-6, 11-5.
In the Qualifying competition today, Sam meets number two qualifying
seed George Parker and Emyr plays Jaakko Vahamaa, the No.7 seed from
Finland.
RESULTS
Select Gaming Kent Open, The Mote Squash Club, Maidstone, Kent.
Pre-Qualifying competition:
James Hall beat Ben Goodayle (lucky loser) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8
Sam Ellis beat Hany Taleb 11-3, 11-3, 11-4
Robert Dadds beat Matt Cook 11-7, 11-3, 11-5
Emyr Evans beat Joe Magor 11-6, 11-5, 11-4
Finals: Ellis beat Hall 11-6, 11-3, 11-2
Evans beat Dadds 11-7, 11-6, 11-5.
Picture 1: Sam Ellis (red shirt) and James Hall
Picture 2: Emyr Evans (blue shirt) and Robert Dadds
Qualifying First Round:
(1) Michael Harris (England) beat Phil Nightingale (England) 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (42 mins)
(8) Eain Yow Ng (Malaysia) beat Micah Franklin (Bermuda ) 11-5 11-6 11-5 (27 mins)
