Scheel & Gaessler Boost German Hopes In Losone
Qualifying finals:
David Barnett (ENG) bt Ryan Thompson (NAM) 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-10 (2-0) (48m)
Patrick Gaessler (GER) bt Andre Haschker (GER) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (35m)
Friedrich Scheel (GER) bt Mohamed Elkeiy (EGY) 11-3, 10-11 (2-4), 9-11, 11-3, 11-8 (60m)
Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt Stuart Crawford (SCO) 11-5, 11-3, 7-11, 4-11, 11-9 (74m)
Germans Patrick Gaessler and Friedrich Scheel won through the qualifying finals of the Losone Swiss Squash Classic to secure places in the main draw of the PSA Tour event in its third year at the Squash Center in Losone, Switzerland.
Scheel produced the biggest upset of the day, fighting his way back against Mohammed Elkeiy of Egypt from two games to one down to win 11-3, 10-11 (2-4), 9-11, 11-3, 11-8 in 60 minutes. The 22-year-old from Paderborn meets Brazil's No2 seed Rafael F Alarcon, the defending champion, in the first round.
German National Team members Patrick Gaessler and Andre Haschker fought it out together - but 22-year-old Gaessler proved too strong, comfortably winning in three games to stretch his winning run against Haschker to five matches in recent meetings.
In the last match between Arthur Gaskin and Stuart Crawford, Irishman Gaskin saw his two love lead whittled back to two all. At 9-9 all in the decider, Gaskin played a backhand crosscourt volley-nick off Crawford's serve and followed it up with a fine backhand drop winner to book his place in the first round.
Updated 1st round draw:
[1] Eric Galvez (MEX) v Yann Perrin (FRA)
[8] Luca Mastrostefano (ITA) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[3] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) v [Q] Patrick Gaessler (GER)
[5] Julian Illingworth (USA) v [Q] Arthur Gaskin (IRL)
[7] Badr Abdel Aziz (SWE) v [Q] David Barnett (ENG)
[4] Scott Handley (ENG) v Raj Nanda (AUS)
[6] Julien Balbo (FRA) v Tony James (AUS)
[2] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) v [Q] Friedrich Scheel (GER)