Danny Gamble Open RD1: Seeds All Through To Quarters

The opening round of the Danny Gamble Open went to seeding, with the eight seeds all safely making it through to the quarter finals.

The only match of the evening’s play to be extended past three games featured tournament wildcard Hayley Openshaw-Blower. The wildcard won the opening game 11-8, but Isabel McCullough, an England junior, was able to fight back to restore parity.

She did so with an 11-5 scoreline in the second before then winning the third game 11-3 to lead for the first time. The fourth was much closer, with Openshaw-Blower fighting back to 9-10 down, before a stroke on match ball gave McCullough the victory.

The Englishwoman will now take on top seed Au Yeong Wai Yhann, after the Singaporean No.1 defeated Portugal’s Mariana Ventura Martins in straight games, dropping just 11 points in a confident victory.

Elsewhere, McCullough will be joined in the quarter finals by four other Englishwoman in Canterbury. Saran Nghiem downed South Africa’s Savannah Ingledew, while Amelie Haworth overcame compatriot Olivia Besant. Asia Harris and Katie Wells will now face each other in the last eight after winning their respective first round matches.

Scotland’s Alison Thomson and Katriona Allen complete the quarter final line-up, after the pair defeated Korea’s Shin Yujin and fellow Scot Catherine Holland, respectively, to advance to the last eight.

The quarter finals of the Danny Gamble Open will take place on Saturday, May 27, with the last eight doing battle for places in the semis. You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. Live scores are available on the PSA World Tour website here.

First Round Results: The Danny Gamble Open
[1] Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) bt Mariana Ventura Martins (POR) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (19m)
[8] Isabel McCullough (ENG) bt [WC] Hayley Openshaw-Blower (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-9 (31m)
[6] Katie Wells (ENG) bt Jasmin Kalar (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-1, 11-3 (18m)
[3] Asia Harris (ENG) bt Nika Urh (SLO) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 (26m)
[4] Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt Savannah Ingledew (RSA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-8 (40m)
[5] Katriona Allen (SCO) bt Catherine Holland (SCO) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-1 (16m)
[7] Amelie Haworth (ENG) bt Olivia Besant (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (21m)
[2] Alison Thomson (SCO) bt Shin Yujin (KOR) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (23m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, May 27
[1] Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) v [8] Isabel McCullough (ENG)
[6] Katie Wells (ENG) v [3] Asia Harris (ENG)
[4] Saran Nghiem (ENG) v [5] Katriona Allen (SCO)
[7] Amelie Haworth (ENG) v [2] Alison Thomson (SCO)