Cannon Kirk Gillen Markets Irish Squash Open Day Two: Seeds Tumble in Dramatic Second Round

Nine seeds went crashing out on a dramatic second day at the Cannon Kirk Gillen Markets Irish Squash Open, with home hopeful Hannah Craig among those to cause an upset and reach the quarter-finals.

Craig was the only Irish player left standing after round one, with the Emerald Isle’s other four representatives all falling at the first hurdle, but standing in her way of a quarter-final berth was No.7 seed Yasshmita Jadish Kumar. 

Kumar is ranked 17 places above Craig in the world, but was comfortably second best on the green show court at Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, particularly after losing a tight first game 15-13, going on to win only six points in each of the next two. 

Craig’s reward for victory is a matchup with top seed Nada Abbas, who avoided an upset herself against New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts, but was made to work hard early on, saving a game ball at 10-9 in the first before running away with things from there. 

Kiera Marshall and Karina Tyma also recorded impressive wins over seeded players, knocking out Rana Ismail and Nadia Pfister respectively, but the most dramatic victory of the day went to Germany’s Katerina Tycova. 

At two games up inside just 25 minutes against eighth seed Anna Serme, it looked as though Tycova was heading for a straightforward win, but after dropping the next two games, she suddenly found herself on the brink of defeat at 10-6 down in the fith. 

Somehow, though, she clawed her way back level, with Serme then hitting a pair of tins in the tie break to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 

In the men’s draw, Jonah Bryant and Mohamed Zakaria both showcased their burgeoning talents with impressive displays. 

Bryant has been in remarkable form of late, winning his last two Challenger Tour events, with the European U19 Individual Championships title in between. 

He carried that momentum into yesterday’s win over Viktor Byrtus, and picked up where he left off there by racing through game one against Finnlay Withington today for the loss of just two points. 

Withington responded well to take the second 11-7, but Bryant wrestled back control in game three and ultimately closed out a 3-1 win in little more than half an hour. 

Zakaria, meanwhile, swept aside Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan 3-0, not dropping more than seven points in any game, and would perhaps have expected to play No.3 seed Todd Harrity in the last eight. 

Instead, though, he will face another Pakistani player in Noor Zaman, who stunned the American in the day’s final match on the show court, winning 3-1 in 44 minutes. 

Harrity’s defeat followed a five-game loss for English No.7 seed Ben Smith, who went down 3-2 to Ivan Perez in 75 minutes, with the speedy Spaniard using the red-hot court to his advantage throughout. 

Elsewhere, the top two men’s seeds – Nick Wall and George Parker – were both made to earn their quarter-final spots, beating James Willstrop and Perry Malik 3-1 respectively, while Emily Whitlock and Torrie Malik – seeded two and three in the women’s draw – also progressed. 

Results: Women’s Round Two 
[1] Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 (29m) 
Karina Tyma (POL) bt [6] Nadia Pfister (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (28m) 
[5] Asia Harris (ENG) bt Lea Barbeau (FRA) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (34m) 
Kiera Marshall (ENG) bt [4] Rana Ismail (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 12-10, 11-13, 11-7 (41m) 
[2] Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Alison Thomson (SCO) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (31m) 
Katerina Tycova (GER) bt [8] Anna Serme (CZE) 3-2: 11-7, 11-5, 3-11, 9-11, 12-10 (57m) 
Hannah Craig (IRL) bt [7] Yasshmita Jadish Kumar (MAS) 3-0: 15-13, 11-6, 11-6 (34m) 
[3] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt Lowri Roberts (WAL) 3-1: 11-3, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5 (30m) 
 

Results: Men’s Round Two 
Jonah Bryant (ENG) bt [8] Finnlay Withington (ENG) 3-1: 11-2, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4 (36m) 
Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt [5] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (43m) 
Declan James (ENG) bt [6] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 13-11 (47m) 
[4] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) 3-0: 11-5, 16-14, 11-6 (57m) 
[1] Nick Wall (ENG) bt James Willstrop (ENG) 3-1: 11-2, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 (40m) 
Ivan Perez (ESP) bt [7] Ben Smith (ENG) 3-2: 6-11, 11-3, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8 (75m) 
Noor Zaman (PAK) bt [3] Todd Harrity (USA) 3-1: 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 (44m) 
[2] George Parker (ENG) bt Perry Malik (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 12-10 (45m)