Sekisui Open RD1: Wildcard Roesch Breaks Into Last 16

It was a busy opening day at the Sekisui Open in Kriens, Switzerland, and there was one surprise result, as local wildcard Nils Roesch made his way through to the second round of the Challenger 10 level competition.

The Sportpark Pilatus plays host to the tournament the week, and Roesch was one of several wildcards taking part in the event. He came up against Austrian No.1 Aqeel Rehman in his opening match of the competition, and went all the way to a deciding game.

Roesch, who sit 130 places below the Austrian in the World Rankings, fell behind after the first game, but won the next two by 11-6 scoreline to hold the advantage in the contest. Rehman won the fourth to send it into a decider, but it was the World No.245 who won it in five, causing an upset to move though to the last 16. He will now face England’s No.7 seed Curtis Malik for a place in the quarter finals.

Czech Republic’s Viktor Byrtus had a scare in his first round match against another of the tournament’s wildcards, in Cedric Kuchen, as the Swiss player came back from behind twice to send the match into a deciding fifth game. It was eventually Byrtus that took the win, though, coming through in 49 minutes to set up a clash with top seed Edmon Lopez in the second round.

The longest match of the opening round saw Germany’s Valentin Rapp and Frenchman Toufik Mekhalfi do battle for more than hour, with the German coming from 2-1 down, after losing a third game tie-break, to win 3-2. He won the last two games 11-8 and 11-2 to advance, and will now face Portuguese No.1, and the event’s No.3 seed, Rui Soares, in the last 16.

Along with Roesch, two more Swiss men made it into the second round, as Yannick Wilhelmi and Robin Gadola both won their opening matches of the tournament in straight games.

There were no surprises in the women’s draw, with all of the players win the 9/16 seeding bracket safely making it through to the second round. Only one of those dropped a game, with Scotland’s Katriona Allen having to come from behind to win 3-1, including taking the fourth and final game on a lengthy tie-break, eventually winning it 17-15 to book her place in the second round, where she will now face No.6 seed, Spaniard Marta Dominguez Fernandez.

The opening day saw eight different nationalities take wins in the women’s first round, with the likes of England’s Millie Tomlinson, Frenchwoman Kara Lincou and Austria’s Jacqueline Peychar all safely into the last 16 of the competition.

The second round of the Sekisui Open takes place on Wednesday, April 6 at the Sportpark Pilatus in Kriens, Switzerland, where the quarter finalists will be decided.

Men’s First Round Results: Sekisui Open
Viktor Byrtus (CZE) bt [WC] Cedric Kuchen (SUI) 3-2: 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 (49m)
Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt Lukas Windischberger (AUT) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-9 (26m)
[WC] Nils Roesch (SUI) bt Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8 (54m)
Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt David Zeman (CZE) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 (35m)
Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) 3-2: 12-10, 7-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-2 (63m)
Robin Gadola (SUI) bt [WC] Tim Roesch (SUI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-1 (20m)
Charlie Lee (ENG) bt Edwin Clain (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (31m)
Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) bt Ondrej Vorlicek (CZE) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (21m)

Men’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, April 6
[1] Edmon Lopez (ESP) v Viktor Byrtus (CZE)
Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) v [8] Yannik Omlor (GER)
[7] Curtis Malik (ENG) v [WC] Nils Roesch (SUI)
Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) v [4] Martin Svec (CZE)
[3] Rui Soares (POR) v Valentin Rapp (GER)
Robin Gadola (SUI) v [6] Jakub Solnicky (CZE)
[5] Ivan Perez (ESP) v Charlie Lee (ENG)
Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) v [2] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY)

Women’s First Round Results: Sekisui Open
Kara Lincou (FRA) bt Sara Stockli (SUI) 3-0: 11-1, 11-5, 11-1 (13m)
Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) bt Stephanie Muller (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-3 (20m)
Klara Moller (DEN) bt [WC] Stella Kaufmann (SUI) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (19m)
Sofia Mateos (ESP) bt [WC] Alina Poessl (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-1, 11-3 (16m)
Aylin Gunsav (GER) bt Sofie Hausknotzova (CZE) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (24m)
Katriona Allen (SCO) bt Caroline Bachem (SUI) 3-1: 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 17-15 (38m)
Tamara Holzbauerova (CZE) bt [WC] Norina Malbasic (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (24m)
Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt Caroline Lyng (DEN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (18m)

Women’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, April 6
[1] Cindy Merlo (SUI) v Kara Lincou (FRA)
Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) v [8] Rana Ismail (EGY)
[7] Lea Barbeau (FRA) v Klara Moller (DEN)
Sofia Mateos (ESP) v [4] Nadeen Kotb (EGY)
[3] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) v Aylin Gunsav (GER)
Katriona Allen (SCO) v [6] Marta Dominguez Fernandez (ESP)
[5] Torrie Malik (ENG) v Tamara Holzbauerova (CZE)
Millie Tomlinson (ENG) v [2] Malak Khafagy (EGY)