French Trio Advance Past Open de Paris First Qualifying Round

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A trio of Frenchmen made it through the opening round of qualifying at the IG Open de Paris, PSA M25 tournament on home soil, with 16-year-old Victor Crouin causing the day’s biggest upset with a magnificent victory against Egyptian World No.82 Karim El Hammamy – an opponent who is ranked 140 places above Crouin in the World Rankings.

Toulon-based Crouin put in a mature performance to clinch the biggest win of his career, with an 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 victory being enough to eliminate the 2013 World Junior Champion and secure Crouin’s place in the final qualifying round.

A difficult encounter with second qualifying seed Tom Ford awaits Crouin in the next round, with the World No.64 benefitting from fresh legs after receiving a bye in the opening round.

Arguably the greatest match of the night took place between two Frenchmen with Christophe Andre and Johan Bouquet going head-to-head in a stunning five-game thriller. Andre, who has won four of his last five PSA World Tour events, looked to be heading for an ignominious exit after falling two games behind, having taken just a solitary point in the second.

But he dug deep to save three match balls in the third, which resulted in a comeback of mammoth proportions as he recorded the win to set up a fixture with England’s Richie Fallows in the next round.

French number six qualifying seed Geoffrey Demont is also through after beating Ben Coates and will face Jaymie Haycocks next after he dispatched Quint Mandil, while India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar will take on Abdullah Al Muzayen for a place in the main draw. Mangaonkar was the recipient of a bye and Al Muzayen defeated Lucas Rousselet to advance.

Results – First Qualifying Round: IG Open de Paris 2016
[1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) (bye)
[8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [L] Lucas Rousselet (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (25m)
[7] Christophe Andre (FRA) bt [L] Johan Bouquet (FRA) 3-2: 9-11, 1-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-3 (50m)
[3] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt [L] Rohan Mandil (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (30m)
[4] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) bt [L] Quint Mandil (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (40m)
[6] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt Ben Coates (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (25m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) bt [5] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 (57m)
[2] Tom Ford (ENG) (bye)

Draw – Final Qualifying Round
[1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v [8] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW)
[7] Christophe Andre (FRA) v [3] Richie Fallows (ENG)
[4] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) v [6] Geoffrey Demont (FRA)
Victor Crouin (FRA) v [2] Tom Ford (ENG)