Hauts des France RD1: Wildcard Etchechoury Leads Surprise Wins

The opening day of the PSA des Hauts de France saw an array of surprise results in Lille on Wednesday evening, with Argentinian wildcard Pilar Etchechoury making her way into the second round of the Challenger 5 level competition.

Etchechoury, who was born in Argentina but now resides in Madrid, Spain, took on Ukraine’s Anastasiia Kostiukova on the opening day of the competition, and the pair were level after two games, with the Ukrainian winning the second on a tie-break. However, from there, it was the World No.429 who took control, winning the last two games by an 11-6 scoreline to move through to the second round, where she will now face England’s No.3 seed Torrie Malik.

There were two other surprise results in the women’s event on Wednesday, with Malaysia’s Yasshmita Jadishkumar and the Czech Republic’s Sofie Hausknotzova making it into the last 16. They got the better of England’s Katie Cox and Romanian No.1 Kincso Szasz, respectively, to advance.

In the men’s draw, Frenchman Baptiste Bouin also scored a surprise win, in what was the longest match of the day’s play. He was on court for 86 minutes against Englishman Lewis Doughty, eventually coming through in five games, having gone two games down. He won the third on a tie-break to stay in the contest, before then winning the fourth and fifth games to book his spot in the second round.

England’s Noah Meredith joins Bouin in making it to the last 16, after he surprised Zimbabwean No.1 Blessing Muhwati, also in five games. Meredith lost the first on a tie-break, and then found himself 2-1 down, but fought back to win in five, after just 44 minutes in what was a quick-fire contest. He will now face No.3 seed Jakub Solnicky in the second round.

The second round of the PSA des Hauts de France will take place across two venues in Lille, France on Thursday, August 25, with the seeded players starting their campaigns in the French city. You can follow live scores from the Squash De L’Arbonnoise right here.

Men’s First Round Results: PSA des Hauts de France
David Zeman (CZE) bt [WC] Maceo Levy (FRA) 3-1: 12-10, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8
Edwin Clain (FRA) bt [WC] Guillaume Duquennoy (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 12-10
Perry Malik (ENG) bt Hasnaat Farooqi (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-0, 11-3, 11-7
Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) bt [WC] Lowie Delbeke (BEL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-7
Noah Meredith (ENG) bt Blessing Muhwati (ZIM) 3-2: 11-13, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 11-7 (44m)
Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) bt Laouenan Loaec (FRA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-9 (34m)
Baptiste Bouin (FRA) bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-2: 9-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-7 (86m)
Vinicius Leao Rodrigues (BRA) bt [WC] Antoine Allard (BEL) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-3

Men’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Thursday, August 25
[1] Ryosei Kobayashi (JPN) v David Zeman (CZE)
Edwin Clain (FRA) v [6] Mohamed Nasser (EGY)
[8] Sam Buckley (IRL) v Perry Malik (ENG)
Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) v [4] Sergio Garcia Pollan (ESP)
[3] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) v Noah Meredith (ENG)
Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) v [7] Viktor Byrtus (CZE)
[5] Andres Herrera (COL) v Baptiste Bouin (FRA)
Vinicius Leao Rodrigues (BRA) v [2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT)

Women’s First Round Results: PSA des Hauts de France
Katerina Tycova (GER) bt Tereza Siroka (CZE) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-3
Taba Taghavi (FRA) bt Ana Munos (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-5
Elise Romba (FRA) bt [WC] Chloe Crabbe (BEL) 3-1: 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4
[WC] Pilar Etchechoury (ARG) bt Anastasiia Kostiukova (UKR) 3-1: 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6
Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) bt Lilou Brevard-Belliot (FRA) 3-1: 11-3, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6 (23m)
Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt Katie Cox (ENG) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (31m)
Sofie Hausknotzova (CZE) bt Kincso Szász (ROM) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (15m)
Kara Lincou (FRA) bt Olivia Besant (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (11m)

Women’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Thursday, August 25
[1] Nardine Garas (EGY) v Katerina Tycova (GER)
Taba Taghavi (FRA) v [7] Bruna Marchesi Petrillo (BRA)
[8] Alina Bushma (UKR) v Elise Romba (FRA)
[WC] Pilar Etchechoury (ARG) v [3] Torrie Malik (ENG)
[4] Ambre Allinckx (SUI) v Ninon Lemarchand (FRA)
Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) v [5] Katriona Allen (SCO)
[6] Lea Barbeau (FRA) v Sofie Hausknotzova (CZE)
Kara Lincou (FRA) v [2] Alicia Mead (ENG)