Byrne Battles Through to Madeira Main Draw

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Ireland’s Brian Byrne overcame second seed Roshan Bharos in the day’s big upset as qualifying at the Madeira International Open Squash, PSA M5 event drew to a close.

The first two games were tight affairs with only a few points between the pair. World No.428 Byrne powered through to victory though in the third and saw the fourth game out to rise to an unlikely 11-8, 8-11, 11-1, 11-7 triumph.

Byrne is rewarded with a main draw matchup against top seed Alejandro Garbi Caro in what is sure to be a testing encounter for the Irishman, particularly as he is making his first main draw appearance outside of his home country since 2006.

“I felt drained during little patches because of the heat and I almost switched off completely in the second game,” said Byrne.

“Thankfully, I managed to simplify things and played much better in the third. It wasn’t the best way to end, but tomorrow will be a nice opportunity to test myself against the top seed. This is the first time I have been away from my family competing abroad and the experience has been pretty new for me.

“The mindset is completely different from working nine to five and then travelling to play a match in the evening. Hopefully, I can put in a strong performance and catch Garbi Caro on an off day.”

Sam Ellis also continued his fine start to the tournament as he overcame Ricardo Santos in straight games. The Englishman dominated the first and third games and, despite a revival of sorts from Santos in the second, he held firm to set up a first round clash with compatriot Joe Green.

Pascal Gomez and Omar El Tahry also negotiated the final round of qualifying, seeing off Pedro Gomes and Gonçalo Miranda, respectively. Gomez will go up against Mark Fuller in the next round while El Tahry meets Tristan Eysele for a place in the quarter-final.

Results – Final Qualifying Round: Madeira International Open Squash 2015
[1] Sam Ellis (ENG) v [L] Ricardo Santos
[L] Pedro Gomes (POR) v [3] Pascal Gomez (ESP)
[4] Omar El Tahry (EGY) v [L] Gonçalo Miranda (POR)
[5] Brian Byrne (IRL) v [2] Roshan Bharos (NED)

Main Draw – First Round
[1] Alejandro Garbi Caro (ESP) v [Q] Brian Byrne (IRL)
Q] Sam Ellis (ENG) v [7] Joe Green (ENG)
[8] Tristan Eysele (RSA) v [Q] Omar El Tahry (ESP)
Remo Handl (SUI) v [3] George Parker (ENG)
[4] Mark Fuller (ENG) v [Q] Pascal Gomez (ESP)
Claudio Pinto (POR) v [5] Lyell Fuller (ENG)
[6] Rui Soares (POR) v Tom de Mulder (BEL)
Joeri Hapers (BEL) v [2] Jan Koukal (CZE)