Hopkin Downs Creed to Reach Wimbledon Open Main Draw

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Australian World No.111 Matthew Hopkin came up with a stunning comeback to overturn a two-game deficit against top qualifying seed Peter Creed in the final qualifying round of the Wimbledon Club Squash Squared Open, PSA M25 tournament.

Hopkin looked to be heading out of the event at the qualifying stage after a scintillating start from Welshman Creed saw him race out of the traps to quickly build up a 2-0 advantage. However, a tenacious showing from Hopkin in the third saw the 24-year-old claw a game back on the tie-break before the man from Brisbane upped his game further to take the next two games without reply, wrapping up a 5-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-9 triumph to eliminate an opponent who is 39 places above him in the world rankings.

He is set to face South Africa’s Shaun Le Roux in the first round of the main draw as Hopkin looks to maintain the form that saw him capture the Suez Helsinki Winter Challenger crown on his last PSA World Tour outing.

There was also another big upset in World Junior Champion Youssef Soliman’s fixture against second qualifying seed Richie Fallows, with Soliman recovering from a game down to earn the win in five. The 19-year-old Egyptian will meet Declan James in the next round as the Englishman looks to rediscover his winning touch having won four straight PSA World Tour events towards the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, George Parker came through on home soil against Carlos Cornes Ribadas and will face Ben Coleman in the opening round with a quarter-final clash against either Soliman or James up for grabs.

Joshua Masters was the other victor in the final round of qualifying thanks to his straight games victory over Jan van den Herrewegen and his reward is a main draw meeting with Finland’s Henrik Mustonen.

Result – Final Qualifying Round: Wimbledon Club Squash Squared Open 2016
[8] Matthew Hopkin (AUS) bt [1] Peter Creed (WAL) 3-2: 5-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-9
Joshua Masters (ENG) bt Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-4
[3] George Parker (ENG) bt [7] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-3
Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt [2] Richie Fallows (ENG) 3-2: 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9

Main Draw – First Round
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v [WC] Robert Downer (ENG)
Jens Schoor (GER) v [6] Joe Lee (ENG)
[5] Ben Coleman (ENG) v [Q] George Parker (ENG)
[Q] Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [3] Declan James (ENG)
[4] Shaun Le Roux (RSA) v [Q] Matthew Hopkin (AUS)
[Q] Joshua Masters (ENG) v [8] Henrik Mustonen (FIN)
[7] Charles Sharpes (ENG) v Tayyab Aslam (PAK)
Farhan Zaman (PAK) v [2] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)