Challenger Tour Roundup: France’s Laouenan Loaëc Causes Opening Day Upset In Galway

The Garavan’s Bar West of Ireland Open 2024 got underway yesterday in Galway with 16 players looking to move through to round two in the Challenger 12 event.

France’s Laouenan Loaëc caused the only seeding upset as he defeated Czech’s Ondrej Vorlíce on day one. The 21-year-old started strongly by taking game one 11-5 and looking comfortable on court. Two tiebreak games followed with both players scoring one each but it was the Frenchman who pulled ahead to 2-1. Loaëc dominated the fifth game and stormed to victory, winning 11-2.

England’s Declan James was back in action for the first time since his London Classic heroics. The returning James defeated local player Conor Moran in three games as he hopes to claim another title on route back to the world’s top 40. James will now take on Wales’ No.4 seed Emyr Evans for a quarter final spot.

Irish No.1 Sam Buckley claimed a win over compatriot and former National Champion Sean Conroy to secure his place in round two. Buckley scored the opener 11-8 then hit his stride in the next two games to win 11-5, 11-4 and complete the victory in 46 minutes.

Results: Round One
Laouenan Loaëc (FRA) bt [9/16] Ondrej Vorlícek (CZE) 3-1: 11-5, 11-13, 14-12, 11-2 (52m)
[9/16] Brice Nicolas (FRA) bt [WC] Oisin Logan (IRL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 (33m)
[9/16] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) bt [WC] Michael Creaven (IRL) 3-0: 18-16, 11-4, 11-6 (42m)
[9/16] Sam Buckley (IRL) bt Sean Conroy (IRL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (46m)
[9/16] Declan James (ENG) bt Conor Moran (IRL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (34m)
[9/16] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Rhys Evans (WAL) 3-1: 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6 (51m)
[9/16] Alasdair Prott (SCO) bt [WC] Alex Smith (IRL) 3-1: 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (43m)
[9/16] James Peach (ENG) bt Andes Ling (HKG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 13-11 (54m)

Draw: Round Two
[1] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) v Laouenan Loaëc (FRA)
[6] Noor Zaman (PAK) v [9/16] Brice Nicolas (FRA)
[8] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) v [9/16] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL)
[3] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) v [9/16] Sam Buckley (IRL)
[4] Emyr Evans (WAL) v [9/16] Declan James (ENG)
[7] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) v [9/16] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL)
[5] Finnlay Withington (ENG) v [9/16] Alasdair Prott (SCO)
[2] Martin Svec (CZE) v [9/16] James Peach (ENG)