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Favourties Through to Quarter Finals in NZ ClassicSquashGym PN

The top seeds are through to the quarter finals of the Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers International Squash Classic but a number of them were pushed a little harder than they would have expected.

That included top seed and world number 33 Alan Clyne of Scotland. Clyne played fellow countryman Douglas Kempsell and took 43 minutes to win in three sets. Clyne impressed with his ability to play long quality rallies but Kempsell was up to the task at times particularly in the first and third sets. Clyne is regarded as an incredibly fit player and he did not look that fatigued when the match finished which is an ominous sign for the rest of the players in the tournament.

Fourth seed Nasir Iqbal was impressive in his 20 minute three set win over James Huang of Taiwan. He will now play Justin Beard (Australia) in the next round as Beard also had a three set win over American qualifier Adrian Leanza.

There were three all New Zealand clashes in the first round and the three higher ranked New Zealanders all
made it through including Palmerston North’s Kashif Shuja. Shuja looked in control of his match against Hamilton’s Chris Lloyd but had a third set slip up which extended the match to a fourth set. He will now play Martin Knight in the quarter finals in a re match of their New Zealand Champs semi-final from a month ago.
Knight was victorious that day but Shuja will be out to avenge that loss in front of home fans. The one match a
day PSA format will suit the veteran Shuja compared to the New Zealand Champs where he played Knight only
a couple of hours after his quarter final. Knight was taken to four sets by young Aucklander Lance Beddoes in
the longest match of round one (47 minutes). 

Palmerston North’s other player in the draw Joseph Watts played some attacking Squash against New Zealand representative Paul Coll but ultimately went down in four sets.

Second seed Leo Au was also pushed to four by English qualifier Pablo Rawden in an entertaining match.
Rawden’s third match in 36 hours caught up with him when he went down 11 – 7 in the fourth. Au impressed
the SquashGym crowd with his speed around the court. He now plays New Zealand’s Coll in the quarter finals.

The quarter final matches begin today at 5.30pm (Friday 6 September). All the action of the event can be viewed on the live stream here - http://new.livestream.com/NBLlivestreaming/events/2377210

First Round Results

(1)Alan Clyne (Scotland) beat Douglas Kempsell (Scotland) 11 – 9, 11 – 1, 11 – 9. (43 mins)

Matias Tuomi (Finland) beat Ben Grindrod (New Zealand) 11 – 1, 11 – 9, 12 – 10. (26 mins)

Justin Beard (Australia) beat Adrian Leanza (USA) 11 – 2, 11 – 3, 11 – 6. (35 mins)

(4) Nasir Iqbal (Pakistan) beat James Huang (Taiwan) 11 – 8, 11 – 6, 11 – 4. (20 mins)

(3) Martin Knight (New Zealand) beat Lance Beddoes (New Zealand) 11 – 4, 11 – 8, 8 – 11, 11 – 4. (47 mins)

Kashif Shuja (New Zealand) beat Christopher Lloyd (New Zealand) 11 – 8, 11 – 5, 8 – 11, 11 – 9. (44 mins)

Paul Coll (New Zealand) beat Joseph Watts (New Zealand) 11 – 5, 11 – 4, 7 – 11, 11 – 7. (29 mins)

(2) Leo Au (Hong Kong) beat Pablo Rawden (England) 11 – 9, 11 – 5, 11 – 13, 11 – 7. (34 mins)

Keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates or check out Squash Info for all the results


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