Heroes Austrian Open RD1: Home Hopes Extinguished In First Round

Four Austrians took to the court on the opening day at the Heroes Austrian Open, but they all fell to higher-ranked opposition.

The Challenger 10 level competition got underway on Wednesday at the Heroes Squash Bar in Graz, Austria, and four of the eight matches featured home hopes.

Austrian No.1 Aqeel Rehman took on the Czech Republic’s Viktor Byrtus for a place in the last 16 of the event. Rehman fought from behind twice, winning both the second and fourth games to level the contest, including taking the fourth on a tie-break 14-12. Byrtus was able to clinch victory with an 11-8 scoreline in the fifth to knock out the Austrian, though.

The three wildcards for the tournament were also beaten on the first day in Graz. The Welsh duo of Emyr Evans and Owain Taylor defeated Austria’s Lukas Windischberger and Jakob Dirnberger, respectively, while South African No.1 Dewald van Niekerk downed Daniel Lutz in straight games.

Elsewhere on the opening day, the English duo of James Peach and Finnlay Withington advanced. Peach downed compatriot Robert Downer in three, while Withington had to go the distance against India’s Velavan Senthilkumar. He lost a two-game lead, but regrouped to win the fight comfortably to move through to the second round.

The Czech Republic’s Daniel Mekbib and Israel’s Daniel Poleshchuk were the other two players to win on the opening day, with the eight seeds coming into the draw in Thursday’s round of 16.

The second round of the Heroes Austrian Open will take place on Thursday, June 1. Action from Graz is being streamed throughout the week on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel, where you can watch Challenger Tour action, and interviews with rising stars. 

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: Heroes Austrian Open
Emyr Evans (WAL) bt [WC] Lukas Windischberger (AUT) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 (28m)
Viktor Byrtus (CZE) bt Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 3-2: 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 12-14, 11-8 (65m)
James Peach (ENG) bt Robert Downer (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (29m)
Finnlay Withington (ENG) bt Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-2: 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 4-11, 11-3 (50m)
Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) bt [WC] Daniel Lutz (AUT) 3-0: 12-10, 11-4, 11-6 (44m)
Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Miko Aijanen (FIN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 (29m)
Owain Taylor (WAL) bt [WC] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) 3-1: 11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 11-2 (36m)
Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 3-1: 6-11, 13-11, 11-9, 12-10 (47m)

Second Round Draw: To Be Played Thursday, June 1
[1] Mazen Gamal (EGY) v Emyr Evans (WAL)
Viktor Byrtus (CZE) v [7] Ben Smith (ENG)
[8] Ivan Perez (ESP) v James Peach (ENG)
Finnlay Withington (ENG) v [4] Martin Svec (CZE)
[3] Abhay Singh (IND) v Dewald van Niekerk (RSA)
Daniel Mekbib (CZE) v [6] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN)
[5] Simon Herbert (ENG) v Owain Taylor (WAL)
Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) v [2] Bernat Jaume (ESP)