Open des Bretzels RD1: Lemarchand and Baltayan Win On Home Soil

The opening day of the Open des Bretzels saw home wins for Lauren Baltayan and Ninon Lemarchand in Mulhouse.

The Challenger 5 level competition got underway at Espace Squash 3000 on Wednesday. Seven French players were in action in day one, and Baltayan took on compatriot Rose Lucas Marcuzzo.

Baltayan, whose first appearance on Tour came at the Black Ball Squash Open earlier this year, won in straight games to book her place in the second round in Mulhouse. She was on court for just 20 minutes, securing an 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 victory to advance.

Meanwhile, Lemarchand was in action on Court 7, and she took on England’s Olivia Besant. The Englishwoman won the opening game 11-9, but Lemarchand fought back to level the match with a reverse scoreline in the second.

From there, the Frenchwoman was in control of the contest, taking the momentum after winning the second. She went on to drop just 11 more points across the next two games en route to a four-game victory.

Elsewhere on the opening day, the Portuguese duo of Catarina Nunes and Sofia Aveiro Pita both secured wins. Wales’ Chloe Foster, Dutchwoman Juliette Permentier, Spain’s Ona Blasco and Egypt’s Ingy Hammouda were the other women to move through to the second round.

The last 16 of the Open des Bretzels takes place on Thursday, May 4 with the eight seeded players coming into the draw. Live action will be streamed across two Facebook pages, the Espace Squash 3000 page and the Mulhouse Squash page.

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: Open des Bretzels
Juliette Permentier (NED) bt [WC] Elfi Markus (NED) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-3 (20m)
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) bt Emma Hodapp (FRA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (15m)
Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) bt Olivia Besant (ENG) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 (25m)
Catarina Nunes (POR) bt Lilou Brevard-Belliot (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 (18m)
Ona Blasco (ESP) bt [WC] Ines Guyot (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (25m)
Lauren Baltayan (FRA) bt [WC] Rose Lucas Marcuzzo (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (20m)
Sofia Aveiro Pita (POR) bt [WC] Sara Bonmalais (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (20m)
Chloe Foster (WAL) bt Alina Poessl (SUI) 3-2: 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7 (32m)

Second Round Draw: To Be Played Thursday, May 4
[2] Ambre Allinckx (SUI) v Juliette Permentier (NED)
Ingy Hammouda (EGY) v [5] Celine Walser (SUI)
[6] Taba Taghavi (FRA) v Ninon Lemarchand (FRA)
Catarina Nunes (POR) v [4] Lea Barbeau (FRA)
[3] Asia Harris (ENG) v Ona Blasco (ESP)
Lauren Baltayan (FRA) v [7] Nour Ramy (EGY)
[8] Ella Galova (FRA) v Sofia Aveiro Pita (POR)
Chloe Foster (WAL) v [2] Elise Romba (FRA)