Qualifying Gets Underway at Victorian Open

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The first round of qualifying at the Victorian Open, PSA M15 event saw all but one seeded player make it through to the next round at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre.

The big surprise of the day was Darcy Evans who saw off Steven Liu in straight games. The Australian raised his game on home-soil and stormed to an 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 success to secure passage through to the final qualifying round.

Taylor Horton lies in wait for Evans after the New Zealander overcame Jesse Keegan in an absorbing encounter.

Second seed Sean Conroy is also through to the next round after beating Connor Sheen and will face Mike Corren there after he defeated Courtney West in three games.

Manuel Wanner and Majeed Hussain will face off in the final round of qualifying after the duo saw off TJ French and Shahzad Khan, respectively while Martin Svec’s win over England’s Alex Noakes sees him through to meet Mithran Selvaratnam in the next round after the Malaysian received a walkover against local player Daniel Wright.

Results – First Qualifying Round: Victorian Open 2015
[1] Chris van der Salm (NZL) (bye)
Rohan Toole (AUS) bt Caillin Austin (AUS) 3-2: 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8
Ben Courtice (AUS) bt Tyler Hawkins (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-3
[8] Joshua Masters (ENG) bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-5
[6] Adrian Ostbye (NOR) bt Jason Holmes (AUS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-4
Ondrej Uherka (CZE) bt Karim Amer (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-5
Majeed Hussain (PAK) bt Shahzad Khan (PAK) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8
[3] Manuel Wanner (SUI) bt TJ French (AUS) 3-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4
[4] Martin Svec (CZE) bt Alex Noakes (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Mithran Selvaratnam (MAS) bt [L] Daniel Wright (AUS) w/o
Taylor Horton (NZL) bt Jesse Keegan (AUS) 3-1: 6-11, 14-12, 11-3, 11-8
Darcy Evans (AUS) bt [7] Steven Liu (MAC) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6
[5] Mike Lewis (USA) bt Alex Eustace (AUS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-3
Joel Luca (AUS) bt Muhammad Waheed (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-1
Mike Corren (AUS) bt Courtney West (AUS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-7
[2] Sean Conroy (IRL) bt Connor Sheen (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-4

Draw – Final Qualifying Round
[1] Chris van der Salm (NZL) v Rohan Toole (AUS)
Ben Courtice (AUS) v [8] Joshua Masters (ENG)
[6] Adrian Ostbye (NOR) v Ondrej Uherka (CZE)
Majeed Hussain (PAK) v [3] Manuel Wanner (SUI)
[4] Martin Svec (CZE) v Mithran Selvaratnam (MAS)
Taylor Horton (NZL) v Darcy Evans (AUS)
[5] Mike Lewis (USA) v Joel Luca (AUS)
Mike Corren (AUS) v [2] Sean Conroy (IRL)