Top Seeds Breeze Through in Christchurch Qualifying

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All but one of the seeded players at the Doubledot Media Christchurch International Open, PSA Challenger 10 tournament progressed through to the next round in New Zealand as the qualifying draw got off to an auspicious start.

The surprise of the day was local lad Joe Williams who upset the number eight seed Jason van der Walt in a dramatic five-game-thriller. The highly-favoured van der Walt got off to a good start and won the first game before Williams came haring back in the second. World No.355 van der Walt went 2-1 up after victory in the third game but lost out on securing the win with a tie-break defeat in the fourth which damaged his confidence and allowed Williams to take the fifth game and the match.

Williams advances to the final round of qualifying where he will have to come up with an even bigger upset as he faced top seed Matias Tuomi who received a bye in the first round.

Kashif Shuja is also through to the final round after he beat Luke Jones. The Kiwi will do battle against Ben Grindrod for a place in the main draw after the 21-year-old eliminated Jackson Beresford in straight games.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Muhammad Hannan overcame Jayden Millard to set up a final qualifying round clash with Courtney West while Evan Williams dispatched Tim Preston 3-0. He will face-off against second seed Mark Fuller after the Englishman progressed courtesy of a bye.

Results – First Qualifying Round: Doubledot Media Christchurch International Open 2015
(1) Matias Tuomi (FIN): bye
(L) Joe Williams (NZL) bt (8) Jason van der Valt (NZL) 3-2: 9/11, 11/8, 6/11, 15/13, 11/9 (58 min)
(7) Courtney West (AUS) Sion Wiggin (NZL) 3-1: 10/12, 11/7, 11/4, 11/8 (39 min)
(4) Muhammad Hannan (MAS) bt (L) Jayden Millard (NZL) 3-0: 11/9, 11/4, 11/6 (20 min)
(3) Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt Luke Jones (NZL) 3-1: 11/8, 11/8, 12/14, 11/7 (37 min)
(5) Ben Grindrod (NZL) bt (L) Jackson Beresford (NZL) 3-0: 11/2, 11/7, 12/10 (21 min)
(6) Evan Williams (NZL) bt (L) Tim Preston (NZL) 3-0: 11/8, 11/1, 11/3 (17 min)
(2) Mark Fuller (ENG) – bye

Draw – Final Qualifying Round
(1) Matias Tuomi (FIN) v (L) Joe Williams (NZL)
(7) Courtney West (AUS) v (4) Muhammad Hannan (MAS)
(3) Kashif Shuja (NZL) v (5) Ben Grindrod (NZL)
(6) Evan Williams (NZL) v (2) Mark Fuller – (ENG)