Men’s Seeds Through to EIC Quarters as Lazarus and Kandra Gatecrash Women’s Last Eight

All of the top eight men’s seeds made it through to the quarter-finals of the AJ Bell European Individual Championships as England’s Elise Lazarus and Germany’s Sina Kandra caused upsets in the women’s draw as the action got under way at the David Ross Sports Village at the University of Nottingham this week.

In the men’s round two, all of the winners from round one fell as the top eight seeds prevailed to make it through to the quarter-finals with France’s Gregory Gaultier continuing his march towards a tenth EIC title after he overcame England’s Charlie Lee in straight games. England’s James Willstrop also comfortably made his way through to the next round with an 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 win over France’s Sébastien Bonmalais.

The closest to an upset came when Portugal’s Rui Suarez led Raphael Kandra two games to one, but the newly-married German recovered to take the next two games to claim his place in the last eight.

In the women’s event, the top four seeds made their way through to the quarter-finals, with France’s Camille Serme aiming for her sixth EIC title, and there were upsets in the form of England’s Lazarus and Germany’s Kandra – who both made the quarter finals.

Lazarus was the last player to enter the draw, coming in as a replacement for Emily Whitlock just days prior, and was the first player to reach the quarter-finals as she overcame Latvia’s Ineta Mackevica in four games.

“I got a call four days ago from David Campion [England coach] and I was so excited to be in, I gave my mum a big hug!” said Lazarus.

“I played good squash for the first two games but then lost a bit of focus as her game improved. I was down in the fourth too, but managed to get my game back and take that one.

“It’s amazing to be in the quarters, and hopefully I’ve got a few years left playing this tournament. There’s no pressure on me playing Camille [in the quarters], I’ll just give it my best shot.”

Also in the women’s draw, Kandra survived a tough five setter to beat Czech Anna Serme, going behind twice, and was 3-7 down in the fifth but saved two match balls before finally taking the decider 13-11.

“I’ve had a lot of time off and some holidays recently with the wedding,” said Kandra, who recently married Raphael Kandra.

“So I was a bit up and down, I was just hanging in really and a bit lucky to win at the end after Anna made two errors on her match balls.

“I was so happy to win in the end though and I’m looking forward to playing Millie tomorrow.”

Results

Men’s round two
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [9/16] Charlie Lee (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 (30m)
[5/8] Josh Masters (ENG) bt [9/16] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-1: 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7 (36m)
[5/8] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [9/16] Rui Soares (POR) 3-2: 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 (51m)
[3/4] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Balázs Farkas (HUN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (15m)
[3/4] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [9/16] Yuri Farneti (ITA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-7 (27m)
[5/8] Declan James (ENG) bt [9/16] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 (39m)
[5/8] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (32m)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [9/16] Sébastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (32m)

Women’s round two
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Zuzana Kubanova (CZE) 3-0: 11-3, 12-10, 11-0 (20m)
Elise Lazarus (ENG) bt [5/8] Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-1: 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-8 (35m)
[5/8] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Cristina Gomez (ESP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 13-11 (43m)
[3/4] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Elise Romba (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (30m)
[3/4] Coline Aumard (FRA) bt Marija Shpakova (SUI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-3 (17m)
[5/8] Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Nadia Pfister (SUI) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 (22m)
Sina Kandra (GER) bt [5/8] Anna Serme (CZE) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 13-11 (46m)
[2] Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (22m)

Men’s round one
[9/16] Charlie Lee (ENG) bt Ludovico Cipolletta (ITA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-2, 11-6 (21m)
[9/16] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) [walkover] Rozle Langus (SLO)
[9/16] Rui Soares (POR) bt Adam Pelczynski (POL) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 (28m)
Balázs Farkas (HUN) bt Ondrej Uherka (CZE) 3-2: 11-7, 9-11, 15-13, 3-11, 11-8 (80m)
[9/16] Yuri Farneti (ITA) bt Victor Byrtus (CZE) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (32m)
[9/16] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Lukasz Stachowski 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (24m)
[9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Žan Bombek (SLO) 3-0: 11-2, 11-1, 11-2 (18m)
[9/16] Sébastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Dimitri Diamadopoulos (ITA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 (26m)

Women’s round one
Cindy Merlo (SUI) bt Sanne Veldkamp (NED) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 11-3 (18m)
Zuzana Kubanova (CZE) bt Jacqueline Peychar (AUS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (22m)