Chileshe Brothers Set For Second Round Clash at Val De Reuil Normandie

The second of four qualifying events for the 2021-2022 PSA World Championships, the Val de Reuil Normandie, got underway on Thursday, with New Zealand’s Temwa Chileshe setting up a second round contest with his elder sibling at Tennis et Squash Val de Reuil.

This is the second of four qualifying events, following on from the Odense Open, which saw South African No.1 Alexandra Fuller and Hungary’s Balazs Farkas secure their spots at the sport’s premiere event in Cairo in May.

The Val de Reuil Normandie got underway on Thursday, with New Zealand’s Chileshe coming up against one of several French wildcards in the Challenger 5 level tournament, in Guillaume Duquennoy.

Chileshe would come through in three games, but it was a tough match for the Kiwi, as he took a tight first game 11-9. He was then able to carry that momentum through both the second and third games of their contest, taking both by an 11-8 scoreline, to book his place in the second round, where he will face older brother Lwamba, the No.7 seed for the men’s event.

It will be the fifth time that the siblings have faced off on the PSA World Tour, with older brother Lwamba holding a 3-1 advantage over Temwa, including their last meeting, which came in the final of the Northland Open, in their home nation of New Zealand.

“I am feeling good. The first game was tough, an 11-9, but once I got underway and got a bit more confident, I started to play some good squash,” Chileshe said.

“I have played wildcards in the last two tournaments, and it is hard when you don’t know them and you don’t know how they play, but I think I am started to get used to it so at the start, I was a bit less nervous.

“There’s going to be no respect for Lui [Lwamba],” he added jokingly. “It should be good, we are both pretty fair when we play each other and we know each other’s games so well! It is a pretty nice match-up and we haven’t played in a while, we haven’t even trained much because there are so many players at the Nick Matthew Academy, but yeah, I am looking forward to it!”

The biggest story of the women’s event saw wildcard Ninon Lemarchand overcome the challenge of Germany’s Aylin Gunsav, with the 18-year-old Frenchwoman winning in four games, coming back from a game behind to win 3-1 against her more experienced opponent.

She was the first of four French players to make it through to the second round of the competition, with Ana Munos causing a seeding upset in the opening set of matches, as she got the better of Canada’s Hannah Blatt, defeating the World No.150 in a four-game battle, the last of which being won by Munos 16-14.

Elise Romba was the final Frenchwoman to make her way into the second round of the Challenger 5 level tournament, getting the better of compatriot, and wildcard, Kara Lincou. Toufik Mekhalfi will carry the French hopes in the men’s event, after he defeated Ukrainian No.1 Valeriy Fedoruk in a four-game battle. He will now face No.8 seed Emyr Evans in the last 16 of the event.

The Val de Reuil Normandie continues on Friday, March 18, with action from the second round and quarter finals taking place. Action from Courts 1 & 2 will be shown live on the PSA Challenger Tour Livestreams YouTube channel.

Men’s First Round Results: Val de Reuil Normandie
Viktor Byrtus (CZE) bt [WC] Baptiste Bouin (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-2 (22m)
Henrik Mustonen (FIN) bt Edwin Clain (FRA) 3-2: 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9 (54m)
Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) bt Valeriy Fedoruk (UKR) 3-1: 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (47m)
Yannik Omlor (GER) bt [WC] Quint Mandil (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 12-10 (30m)
Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt Valentin Rapp (GER) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-1 (34m)
Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt [WC] Guillaume Duquennoy (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 (34m)
Charlie Lee (ENG) bt Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) 3-1: 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9 (39m)
Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) bt [WC] Manu Paquemar (FRA) 3-1: 11-3, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 (43m)

Men’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Friday, March 18
[2] Robert Downer (ENG) v Viktor Byrtus (CZE)
Henrik Mustonen (FIN) v [5] Ivan Perez (ESP)
[8] Emyr Evans (WAL) v Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA)
Yannik Omlor (GER) v [3] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL)
[4] Timothy Brownell (USA) v Leandro Romiglio (ARG)
Temwa Chileshe (NZL) v [7] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL)
[6] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) v Charlie Lee (ENG)
Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) v [1] Nick Wall (ENG)

Women’s First Round Results: Val de Reuil Normandie
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Kiera Marshall (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-0 (19m)
Elise Romba (FRA) bt [WC] Kara Lincou (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (24m)
Emilia Korhonen (FIN) bt [WC] Lilou Brevard-Belliot (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (17m)
Ana Munos (FRA) bt Hannah Blatt (CAN) 3-1: 11-7, 3-11, 11-4, 16-14 (35m)
Katie Wells (ENG) bt [WC] Rose Lucas Marcuzzo (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (14m)
Katriona Allen (SCO) bt [WC] Oceane Michelot (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-5 (17m)
[WC] Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) bt Aylin Günsav (GER) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (31m)

Women’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Friday, March 18
[1] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v Jacqueline Peychar (AUT)
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v [7] Katie Malliff (ENG)
[8] Alex Haydon (AUS) v Elise Romba (FRA)
Emilia Korhonen (FIN) v [4] Saskia Beinhard (GER)
[3] Marta Dominguez Fernandez (FRA) v Ana Munos (FRA)
Katie Wells (ENG) v [6] Katerina Tycova (GER)
[5] Taba Taghavi (FRA) v Katriona Allen (SCO)
[WC] Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) v [2] Celine Walser (SUI)