France Gears Up for Niort International

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The Open International Niort Venise Verte, PSA M5 main draw gets under way on Thursday November 12 with a number of breathtaking clashes on the cards in France.

Czech No.1 Jan Koukal is favourite to take his first title since July’s Madeira International as he aims to recover from a qualifying round exit last time out at the Grays Norwegian Open.

The World No.121 has the joint third highest tally of PSA World Tour titles of all current professional players with 33, putting him level with World No.2 Nick Matthew.

Another title win would see Koukal make that spot his own and would cut down the gap between himself and World Champion Ramy Ashour who has 37 to his name. He goes head-to-head with compatriot Daniel Mekbib in round one.

France’s Geoffrey Demont is also in action and is looking to go one better than his runner-up finish at last week’s Goodlife Open where he missed out on the title after a defeat by Tom Ford.

Demont’s solitary PSA World Tour title actually came at Koukal’s expense last September at the Romania PSA International and the 24-year-old could be required to draw on that experience in Niort. He will play Auguste Dussourd for a place in the quarter-final.

Baptiste Masotti is also hunting for the title on home soil but has only progressed past the first round once in his last six PSA World Tour events.

He did break up that unwanted streak with a runner-up finish at the Suez Helsinki Summer Challenger but will be looking for greater things this time around. Masotti kickstarts his tournament against England’s Richard Williams in the opening round.

Asim Khan is seeded fourth and could be a dark horse for the title if he plays to his potential. The 19-year-old makes his first appearance outside of Asia and plays local qualifier Yann Perrin in the first round.

Main Draw: PSA M5, Open International Niort Venise Verte, Niort, France
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) v Daniel Mekbib (CZE)
[WC] Adrien Grondin (FRA) v [5] Jaakko Vähämaa (FIN)
[6] Hugo Varela (ESP) v Claudio Pinto (POR)
[Q] Yann Perrin (FRA) v [4] Asim Khan (PAK)
[3] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Richard Williams (ENG)
[Q] Christophe Andre (FRA) v [7] Ahmed Hussein (EGY)
[8] Bernat Jaume (ESP) v [Q] Johan Bouquet (FRA)
[Q] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) v [2] Geoffrey Demont (FRA)