Open International Niort Venise Verte 2023: Jenkins & Pragasm Score Upsets On Day One in Niort

There were two upsets on the opening day at the Open International Niort Venise Verte as England’s Miles Jenkins and Malaysia’s Darren Pragasam scored seeding upsets to reach the second round of the Challenger 20 event.

Jenkins was the first upset to take place as he overcame Wales’ Owain Taylor in four games to advance. After taking the first game 11-9, Jenkings was pegged back by Taylor as the Welshman took the second game 11-5. Jenkins recovered well to regain the lead winning 11-8 in the third game and then took a very tight fourth game 11-9 to book his place in the next round.

The other upset of the day came from Malaysia’s Darren Rahul Pragasam, who came back from 2-1 down to defeat Egypt’s Khaled Labib. After losing the third game 11-7, the Malaysian stayed strong and battled hard to regroup and take the next two games 11-9, 11-8.

New Zealand’s Temwa Chileshe came through the other five-set match of the day as he defeated local wildcard Paul Gonzalez after being 2-0 up. After taking the opening game in a tiebreak 12-10, the New Zealander doubled his lead with a convincing 11-5 game two win. His loss in concentration partnered with Gonzalez’s upturn in quality allowed the Frenchman to fight back and levelled the contest after taking the third and fourth games 11-9, 11-7. Chileshe regrouped in game five to take the match in 66 minutes.

Results: Open International Niort Venise Verte 2023 – RD1
[9/16] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt [WC] Paul Gonzalez (FRA) 3-2: 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-3 (66m)
[9/16] James Peach (ENG) bt Matthew Lai (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 6-11, 18-16, 11-3 (48m)
[9/16] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) bt Elijah Thomas (NZL) 3-1: 11-8, 15-13, 9-11, 11-5 (57m)
[9/16] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) bt [WC] Laouenan Loaëc (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 (40m)
[9/16] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) bt Valentin Rapp (GER) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-3 (27m)
Miles Jenkins (ENG) bt [9/16] Owain Taylor (WAL) 3-1: 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9 (69m)
[9/16] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Joeri Hapers (BEL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (34m)
Darren Pragasam (MAS) bt [9/16] Khaled Labib (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 (55m)

Draw: Open International Niort Venise Verte 2023 – RD2
[1] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) v [9/16] Temwa Chileshe (NZL)
[7] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) v [9/16] James Peach (ENG)
[5] Mazen Gamal (EGY) v [9/16] Jakub Solnicky (CZE)
[3] Martin Svec (CZE) v [9/16] Mohamed Nasser (EGY)
[4] Abhay Singh (IND) v [9/16] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA)
[6] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) v Miles Jenkins (ENG)
[8] Edwin Clain (FRA) v [9/16] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL)
[2] Rory Stewart (SCO) v [9/16] Khaled Labib (EGY)