Joey Barrington and Yann Perrin battled themselves to a standstill in the Canary Wharf Classic qualifying competition at Wimbledon before the Frenchman won a marathon match 11-9 in the fifth game.
After exactly 100 minutes, Perrin clinched victory to book a place in tomorrow’s qualifying finals of the PSA World Tour International 50 event.
It was a brutal and often physical confrontation with referee Clive Smith called on to make 79 decisions following mid-court collisions.
In the qualifying finals, Perrin meets England’s Chris Simpson, who beat Frenchman Julien Balbo in four games.
Simpson played strong, consistent squash to win the first two games before Balbo hit form in the third. He led 5-1 and 8-4 before Simpson responded with a run of points to hold match ball at 10-9. However, Balbo hit back to win the tiebreak 12-10.
Simpson quickly regained his rhythm to power his way through the fourth game.
An attractive all-English tie is in prospect between tall left-hander Adrian Waller and the stylish Olivier Pett following their victories over Ben Coleman and Nathan Lake respectively.
Robbie Temple meets the top qualifying seed, Egyptian Omar Abdel Aziz, following quick victories by each player against Phillip Bull and Philip Nightingale.
Local favourite Charles Sharpes worked hard against Davide Bianchetti but the wily Italian veteran had too many answers. Despite the clash being over in straight games, the match lasted 66 minutes.
Sharpes wasted a game ball in the first game and was handed a conduct stroke in the second for abusive language towards the referee.
The Surrey star led 9-6 in the third but again Bianchetti hit back to win five points in a row to clinch a place in the qualifying finals.
Bianchetti faces Mark Krajcsak of Hungary, who beat Finland’s No.2 seed Henrik Mustonen in four tough games
1st qualifying round:
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Philip Nightingale (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (29m)
Robbie Temple (ENG) bt Phillip John Bull (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (24m)
Olivier Pett (ENG) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (29m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Ben Coleman (ENG) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 (43m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-2, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4 (60m)
Yann Perrin (FRA) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9 (100m)
Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt Charles Sharpes (ENG) 12-10, 11-4, 11-9 (66m)
Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 (46m)
Qualifying finals line-up:
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) v Robbie Temple (ENG)
Adrian Waller (ENG) v Olivier Pett (ENG)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v Yann Perrin (FRA)
Mark Krajcsak (HUN) v Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
