PSA: Top seeds roar through in Rotterdam

By Alan Thatcher

August 30, 2013 - 7:17am

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Declan James forces home favourite LJ Anjema to stretch for the ball

30 August 2013

From HOWARD HARDING

Dutch favourite Laurens Jan Anjema led the top four seeds safely through to the quarter-finals of the Double AR Rotterdam Open after a straight games win over English qualifier Declan James in the opening round of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event at Victoria Squash in the Netherlands city of Rotterdam.

Anjema, the Dutch number one, took 42 minutes to see off in-form James, the 20-year-old from Nottingham who arrived in Rotterdam fresh from his maiden Tour title success in his home town at the weekend.

The 30-year old top seed from The Hague dominated play from start to finish and never looked in danger of losing in front of a near-capacity audience on the show court of the renowned Victoria sporting club.

LJ shakes hands with Declan after reaching the quarter-finals

Adrian Grant, the No2 seed from England, survived three game-balls in the opening game against Czech number one Jan Koukal before taking control of the match.

European champion Olli Tuominen needed two narrow tie-break wins to break the spirit of South Africa’s Clinton Leeuw, while Mathieu Castagnet, the fourth seed from France, just got the better of Denmark’s Kristian Frost Olesen in an 83-minute match to finish off the first round main draw action.

Other first round winners at the new PSA Challenger 15 championship in the Dutch city of Rotterdam were Raphael Kandra, Lucas Serme, Steven Finitsis and Jens Schoor.

RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 Double AR Rotterdam Open, Rotterdam, Netherlands

1st round:
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Declan James (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 (42m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [Q] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) 11-1, 11-6, 11-5 (24m)
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [WC] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 (50m)
[4] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 12-10, 11-8, 11-7 (83m)
[3] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 13-11, 13-11, 11-5 (43m)
Jens Schoor (GER) bt Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 (39m)
Steven Finitsis (AUS) bt [Q] Nathan Lake (ENG) 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 (32m)
[2] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Jan Koukal (CZE) 12-10, 11-6, 11-9 (50m)

The Rotterdam crowd enjoys the action

Quarter-final line-up:

[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Raphael Kandra (GER)
[4] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
[3] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v Jens Schoor (GER)
[2] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Steven Finitsis (AUS)

Tournament website: www.rotterdamopensquash.com

For all the latest Tour news: www.psaworldtour.com

Qualifying complete as hopefuls book place in main draw

Clinton Leeuw, Geoffrey Demont, Nathan Lake and Declan James claimed the four available qualifier spots in the main draw of the Double AR Rotterdam Open Squash 2013, a new PSA Challenger 15 championship in the Netherlands.

South Africa’s Leeuw took four games to see-off Johan Bouquet from France, Demont (Fra) outlasted England’s Lewis Walters in a 70-minute tussle, young Englishmen Lake fought back from two games down against compatriot Adam Auckland and in-form James (also from England) just got the better of Kuwaiti Ammar Altimimi in a fifth-game tiebreak in the final match of the evening.

Tournament favorites Laurens Jan Anjema, Adrian Grant, Olli Tuominen and Mathieu Castagnet kick-off their Double AR Rotterdam Open campaign on Thursday.

Dutch champion Anjema faces qualifier James in his opening match, while Grant, the global ambassador of title sponsor Double AR, starts against Czech number one Jan Koukal. Finnish starlet Tuominen, the reigning European champion, plays Leeuw who came through qualifying, whilst Castagnet (from France) takes on Denmark’s Kristian Frost Olesen.

Other first round matches are Raphael Kandra vs. Demont, Aqeel Rehman vs. Jens Schoor, Lucas Serme vs.Sebastiaan Weenink and Steve Finitsis vs. Lake.

2^nd Round Qualifying results

Clinton Leeuw (RSA) bt Johan Bouquet (FRA) – 11/6, 6/11, 11/9, 11/9 (60 mins)

Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt Lewis Walters (ENG) – 11/7, 10/12, 11/8, 13/11 (70 mins)

Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Adam Auckland (ENG) – 9/11, 6/11, 11/2, 11/2, 11/3 (50 mins)

Declan James (ENG) bt Ammar Altamimi (KUW) – 11/7, 4/11, 11/13, 12/10, 12/10 (83 mins)