Wimbledon Club Squash Squared Open 12­17 March 2017 London, UK [ QUALIFYING ] 2017 Tournament Reports Tue 14­Mar, Round ONE: Top seeds through to face unexpected opposition .. After two days of qualifying it was time for the main draw, which started with three qualifiers beatins seeded opponents! Indian duo Vikram Malhotra and Mahesh Mangaonkar won through to the quarter­finals with wins over Mohamed Reda and Ivan Yuen ­ Mangaonkar spurning match balls in the third and fourth games before finally claiming the upset. Jaymie Haycocks was the third qualifier to win, prevailing 13/11 in the fifth against Abdullah al Tamimi, and recent British Nationals finalist Joe Lee beat Declan James in straight games to Tweets by @S2Wimbledon make it four upsets out of four. The last four matches saw each of the top four seeds win though, Squash Squared as Alan Clyne, Tom Richards, Saurav Ghosal and Nafiizwan @S2Wimbledon Adnan all booked their places in the quarter­finals against TODAY at the @TWCsquash Squash unexpected opponents. Squared Open ­ round one results, reports, quotes ... Round ONE: squashsite.co.uk/squashsquared/… [Q] Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 3­2 [8] Ivan Yuen (Mas) 11/6, 12/10, 10/12, 10/12, 11/7 (107m) [Q] Vikram Malhotra (Ind) 3­0 [7] Mohamed Reda (Egy) 11/8, 11/4, 11/2 Joe Lee (Eng) 3­1 [5] Declan James (Eng) 15/17, 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 [Q] Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) 3­2 [6] Abdullah Al Tamimi (Qat) 11/6, 7/11, 11/8, 5/11, 13/11 [4] Alan Clyne (Sco) 3­0 [wc] Robert Downer (Eng) 11/2, 11/7, 11/4 [3] Tom Richards (Eng) 3­0 Mazen Gamal (Egy) 11/6, 11/7, 11/6 (36m) [1] Saurav Ghosal (Ind) 3­0 Olli Tuominen (Fin) 11/4, 11/9, 11/8 (32m) [2] Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) 3­1 [Q] Youssef Soliman (Egy) 11/6, 5/11, 11/4, 11/9 Embed View on Twitter Round One: Fram reports from Wimbledon [Q] Vikram Malhotra (Ind) 3­0 [7] Mohamed Reda (Egy) 11/8, 11/4, 11/2 Vikram played at a fast pace It was a very good first game, extremely high quality squash to be honest, a game I would have come a long way to watch. Both hitting the front corners beautifully, both great length, and both retrieving superbly. But at the start of the second game, quickly, it became obvious Takashi was struggling physically, and was going for too much and finding the tin too often. The third was about the same unfortunately for the Egyptian…. I knew he would come at me very very hard from the start, and basically, I had to weather the storm. Last time we played, it didn’t go too well for me, so I was up to get one back…. The difference between the two matches is last time, I just opened the court too much and gave him too many cheap points. But today, I was very focused, my shots were very calculated, and I’m happy with my game plan, I didn’t make much unforced errors today…. Same routine, I studied his game, devised a tactic with Thierry and felt pretty strong Same routine, I studied his game, devised a tactic with Thierry and felt pretty strong physically. And that’s the key. When you feel strong physically and you move well on court, the rest just follows. If yesterday, I had my ups and downs, today I felt in control and really felt good out there: I stayed disciplined, and I played the right shot at the right time, it was very effective. Not happy with my game, I was playing fine and feeling fine, but suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my calf. So you start focusing on that and you are not concentrating on your match anymore. I trained more than for Canary Wharf, and I feel that I played even worse than at CW! So I feel I need to regroup, get myself sorted out physically…. [Q] Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 3­2 [8] Ivan Yuen (Mas) 11/6, 12/10, 10/12, 10/12, 11/7 (107m) Mahesh must stop thinking How many times have I wrote those words: do not THINK boys! You are not equipped…. It was so characteristic. The Indian was playing superb squash, truly playing the Malaysian under tremendous pressure, playing nice lines and accurate squash. First game is rather straight forward for Mahesh, 11/6. But from the 2nd on, the same pattern again and again. The Indian comfortably up (10/8 in the second), but Ivan managing to sneak in some great attacking shots as Mahesh squash would go wuiiiiiiiiiiii out of the window. 12/10 in the second. Third, exactly the same, 10/8, match ball, and again, Mahesh brain that come into action while Ivan finds his best squash of the match, hitting so hard, then lovely feathery long drop shot.. 12/10 for the Malaysian. Annnnnd the same story in the 4th would you believe!!!! Mahesh, match ball 10/7 annnnnd again, same story, Ivan digging in, patiently never panicking and it’s 12/10 for Ivan. In the decider, Ivan is finally a bit tired bless him, and he makes a few errors from the middle of the game that give Mahesh another good lead, and from 6/6, it’s all about Mahesh, who finally takes the game and match, on his 6th match ball bless him, and 107 m…. Never in doubt. Every time I got myself to match ball, I behaved like a stupid IDIOT, thinking “how I’m going to win the point” instead of building the rally and creating opportunities. Up to match balls, I was in the zone, playing good squash and following my tactical plan. I got also lucky as he played some unforced errors at crucial times. But again, when I was at match ball, the thoughts would come in “can I do it?” The harder the matches will get the more pressure I’ll have. Shawn Moxham told me “the pressure is only what you put on yourself”. I have to learn to balance it better. I feel I have the game, the discipline, the fitness, the squash, but now, I have to stop THINKING about the winning points, and PLAY the winning points… So much work to be done…. [Q] Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) 3­2 [6] Abdullah Al Tamimi (Qat) 11/6, 7/11, 11/8, 5/11, 13/11 He played two unbelievable shots to get to match ball, then offered me two superb tins to give me the match… This is my highest win on PSA, this year, I managed to beat players I never did beat before, that’s what keep me going. I played him last week in practice so I knew what to expect, you’ve got to try and not get too frustrated as you know he is going to play incredible shots, as you know there are a few unforced errors that could follow… When I had the chances today, I was pretty clinical… I’m sorry for Stacey and the Team here. I play here for the Surrey Cup, I’m used to the I’m sorry for Stacey and the Team here. I play here for the Surrey Cup, I’m used to the courts, and I won’t be able to play tomorrow for the Surrey Cup decider against Colets. Sorry guys. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and a big thank you to Rob Owen and all the boys at ROA… [3] Tom Richards (Eng) 3­0 Mazen Gamal (Egy) 11/6, 11/7, 11/6 (36m) Not one for the fainted hearted! Jzzz those two love to hit, run, retrieve, find their targets at the front, and visiting the courts in all directions!!!! Tom must be over the moon to be able to move that well on the court. He was put under a lot of pressure by the Wadi Degla coach who told us in Canary Wharf that he was happy to do a few matches to get his full fitness back. Well, that was one of lungs openers I’m sure he’ll be happy to have played! A very pleasant match indeed, both playing in a good spirit, but today, Tom being more assertive and fitter really, but a very entertaining match indeed. If it was coming down to fitness today, I think I was a bit stronger. I love playing at a fast pace, so when players try and outpace me, it’s normally not easy for them. I hadn’t seen much of him, only 2 m on youtube, so not much to go on. So I focused more on what I was supposed to do, to make it tough, and not giving him anything easy. And I think except in the middle of the second, I managed to do that rather well. I had a little loss of focus in the 2nd, I was up 2/0 and found myself down 6/2! Due to lack of mental focus, maybe a bit of match fitness too. This match had the potential to become a bit of a large scrappy round around match, but it’s not easy to play perfect squash in those bouncy conditions. I take it match by match of course, but you know I have a few ambitions for this event, and that was a good first round performance, and a good run as well!!! Joe Lee (Eng) 3­1 [5] Declan James (Eng) 15/17, 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 A very tough first game I arrived at 10/7 game ball for Declan in the opener.