Top Seeds Progress at SquashGym

The top four seeds have progressed safely through to the semi-finals of the Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers
International Squash Classic at SquashGym, Palmerston North tonight.

Top seed Alan Clyne of Scotland found his match a bit easier compared to his first round against countryman
Douglas Kempsell. He defeated Matias Tuomi (Finland) in three straight sets in 30 minutes. Clyne now plays
the impressive Nasir Iqbal from Pakistan who beat Australia’s Justin Beard in three sets. Iqbal was in control in
the first two sets but was pushed hard in the third where he ground out a 12 – 10 win. Clyne is ranked 33 in
the world and Iqbal is currently at 49 which will make for a high quality semi-final tomorrow night.

The all New Zealand clash of Martin Knight and Kashif Shuja didn’t live up to the pre-game hype with Knight
putting in a dominate display of outstanding retrieving and classy touch at the front of the court to win in
three straight sets. Shuja threw some of his best volley drops and boasts at Knight who continued to get them
back and then put pressure on Shuja. “I was happy with my defensive lobs tonight and I was conscious of not
giving Kash (Shuja) too many chances as he is too good a player and eventually one will be a winner,” Knight
said. “We know each other’s games very well and I knew it would be tough tonight with Kash (Shuja) playing in
front of his home crowd.”

In the night’s last quarter final, second seed Leo Au was pushed hard by New Zealand rep Paul Coll. In the
longest quarter final of the night, Coll got the first set and pushed Au in the next three but went down three
sets to one.  Coll will now turn his focus to the Doubledot Media Christchurch Boys High School Open next weekend, where he is the second seed.

Au will now meet Martin Knight in the semi-finals in what should be another high quality match with Au
ranked 47 in the world and Knight 53. The two have never played each other in a tournament but have trained
together while on tour so will be aware of each other’s game.

The first semi-final is at 4.00pm tomorrow (Saturday 7 September) and the second at 5.00pm.

Remember to tune in on the following link to watch live streaming of all the action throughout the day (including Manawatu Classic quarter- and semi-finals from noon): http://new.livestream.com/NBLlivestreaming/events/2377210/statuses/29263012.

The schedule of play is available here: http://www.squashnz.co.nz/news/index.cfm?content_id=1020.

Quarter-final Results

(1)Alan Clyne (Scotland) beat Matias Tuomi (Finland) 11 – 4, 11 – 9, 11 – 6. 30 mins
(4) Nasir Iqbal (Pakistan) beat Justin Beard (Australia) 11 – 8, 11 – 7, 12 – 10. 36 mins
(3) Martin Knight (New Zealand) beat Kashif Shuja (New Zealand) 11 – 3, 11 – 6, 12 – 10. 50 mins
(2) Leo Au (Hong Kong) beat Paul Coll (New Zealand) 9 – 11, 11 – 9, 13 -11, 11 – 7. 58 mins