Niort Venise Verte: England’s Smith and Herbert Cause Upsets

The second round of the Open International Niort Venise Verte threw up a couple of surprises, with England’s Simon Herbert and Ben Smith making it into the quarter finals at the expense of seeded players.

Herbert got the better of fellow Englishman Declan James on the second day of the Challenger 20 level competition. The World No.89 won the first game 11-7, but saw his compatriot tag the second game to level the scores at 1-1. Both the third and fourth games went to tie-breaks, with both men having their chances. In the end, Herbert won both by a 13-11 scoreline to win in four games, beating the former World No.15 to make it through to the quarter finals.

He will be joined in the last eight by another Englishman in Ben Smith. The Swiss Open champion got the better of Spaniard Ivan Perez on Tuesday evening. Smith won the first game 11-5 but saw the No.8 seed battle back to take the second game on a tie-break 12-10. From there, though, the Englishman was in control, and came through to win in four to book his spot in the semis.

Elsewhere, the French duo of Baptiste Masotti and Auguste Dussourd made their way into the last eight on home soil. The top seed downed Marek Panacek in straight games, while Dussourd had to fight back from the brink to win in five. He found himself 2-0 down to Italian No.1 Yuri Farneti, but eventually won after almost 70 minutes of action, winning the final game of their contest 11-3.

Egypt’s Ibrahim Elkabbani also had to fight back from two down in his match against Englishman James Peach, eventually winning in a deciding fifth game. Spaniard Borja Golan, Portuguese No.1 Rui Soares and Scotland’s Rory Stewart complete the quarter final line-up.

The Open International Niort Venise Verte continues on Wednesday, November 9, with the last eight doing battle for places in the semi-finals. You can watch all the action on their YouTube channel. If you are unable to watch, you can stay up to date with live scoring here.

Second Round Results: Open International Niort Venise Verte
[1] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Marek Panacek (CZE) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (34m)
[6] Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 13-11 (89m)
[7] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) bt James Peach (ENG) 3-2: 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (71m)
Simon Herbert (ENG) bt [4] Declan James (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 4-11, 13-11, 13-11 (48m)
[3] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (33m)
Ben Smith (ENG) bt [8] Ivan Perez (ESP) 3-1: 11-5, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9 (63m)
[5] Rui Soares (POR) bt Viktor Byrtus (CZE) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (32m)
[2] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt Yuri Farneti (ITA) 3-2: 11-13, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-3 (69m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, November 9
[1] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v [6] Rory Stewart (SCO)
[7] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) v Simon Herbert (ENG)
[3] Borja Golan (ESP) v Ben Smith (ENG)
[5] Rui Soares (POR) v [2] Auguste Dussourd (FRA)