Ostrava Squash Open QF: Peach Continues Impressive Form

Having made the finals of his last two tournaments, including winning the Austrian Open in Salzburg, England’s James Peach has continued his solid run of form into the Ostrava Squash Open, to take out the No.2 seed and make it through to the semis of the Challenger 5 level competition.

Peach came into the tournament as the No.6 seed, and came through his opening match of the competition against compatriot Jordan Warne in straight games. He took on No.2 seed Jakub Solnicky in the quarter finals in Ostrava, and he had to survive a comeback from the home favourite to move through to the last four.

The Englishman held a comfortable two-game lead, as he dropped just ten points across those opening two games, but Solnicky fought back, winning the third on a tie-break 12-10. He then also won the fourth to send the match into a decider, but it was Peach who eventually came through to win, after 63 minutes of action, to book his spot in the semi-finals.

He will now face the unseeded Czech Ondrej Vorlicek in the last four, after the home hope overcame another unseeded player, in England’s Noah Meredith, in the quarters. The pair had both taken down seeded opposition to make the quarters, with Vorlicek getting the better of the Englishman in straight games to advance through to the semis on home soil.

The other match of the semi-finals will see top seed Diego Gobbi take on No.4 seed Marek Panacek for a place in the final. Gobbi is yet to drop a game so far in the tournament, while Panacek had to fight his way past compatriot Viktor Byrtus to make the last four. He found himself 2-1 down against his fellow Czech, but fought back to win the last two games 11-3 and 11-4, respectively, to make the semis in Ostrava.

The semi-finals of the Ostrava Squash Open will take place on Saturday, August 6, with the last four going head-to-head for spots in the finals. All of the action from Sportovni Centrum Fajne will be shown live on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel from 17:00 (GMT+1), while you can also keep up to date with live scores from the tournament on the PSA World Tour’s website.

Quarter Final Results: Ostrava Squash Open
[1] Diego Gobbi (BRA) bt [8] Marc Lopez (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-6 (23m)
[4] Marek Panacek (CZE) bt [5] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) 3-2: 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4 (62m)
Ondrej Vorlícek (CZE) bt Noah Meredith (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (36m)
[6] James Peach (ENG) bt [2] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 3-2: 11-6, 11-4, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9 (63m)

Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, August 6
[1] Diego Gobbi (BRA) v [4] Marek Panacek (CZE)
Ondrej Vorlícek (CZE) v [6] James Peach (ENG)