RESULTS:    Dutch Open Squash Championship, Rotterdam, Netherlands

1st round:
[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (52m)
[7] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [Q] Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 (67m)
[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Steve Finitsis (AUS) 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (33m)
[6] Tom Richards (ENG) bt Piedro Schweertman (NED) 11-4, 11-5, 4-11, 11-7 (40m)
[8] Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Chris Ryder (ENG) 5-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (69m)
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Kashif Shuja (NZL) 12-14, 5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (75m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt [5] Joey Barrington (ENG) 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 7-5 ret. (60m)
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (35m)


Laurens Jan Anjema led local interest into the quarter-finals of the Dutch Open Squash 2009 after despatching Swiss qualifier Nicolas Mueller in straight games in the opening round of the $40,000 PSA World Tour championship at Victoria Squash in Rotterdam.

Showing no signs of the pressure of being the home favourite, the 2004 champion from The Hague was in impressive form as he defeated Mueller 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 in 35 minutes. 

"I felt exactly the right level of nervousness," said the 26-year-old top seed. "I was relaxed but knew it was important.  It felt good and I hope I can keep that feeling for the rest of the week."

Anjema's quarter-final opponent is the only unseeded player left in the draw, after Germany's Simon Rosner upset fifth seed Joey Barrington. After a tough three and a half games that took exactly an hour, the Englishman retired injured - cumulative rather than anything dramatic - with Rosner leading 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 7-5.

Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the third seed from Malaysia, opened proceedings with a comfortable 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 win over Australian qualifier Steve Finitsis - and will meet young Englishman Tom Richards for a place in the semi-finals after the 23-year-old from Surrey denied local wildcard Piedro Schweertman in four games.

Iskandar was surprised at the pace of his match: "After watching the matches last night, I was waiting for the ball to start dying, but it never did, it was so fast," said the Sarawak-born 27-year-old.  "That's a good start though, to get off in three in half an hour, I can look forward to the rest of the tournament now."

Richards started well against Schweertman, who took his time to get going but gave the Englishman a hard time of it in the third game.  "You could see he got confident, he got a lot of balls back and hit some great shots, made it difficult for me - which is what I expected," said Richards.  "I'm glad to get through.  Now it's my training partner Azlan - we always hit together when we're in London, so it should be interesting."

There was further Dutch disappointment when the previous night's hero Dylan Bennett fell narrowly short against Davide Bianchetti, the seventh seed from Italy.  After a slow start, Bennett found his range and took the match to a decider, which the fiery Italian narrowly won. 

"I struggled in the first two, I just couldn't get it past him," said Bennett. "Tommy [Berden] kept telling me I had to find a way to get the ball deep, and I did that in the third and fourth, and he got frustrated. Overall I'm happy.  Considering where I was ten days ago, it's a big improvement."

Bianchetti meets second seed Cameron Pilley, the 2008 runner-up who won an entertaining match against fellow Aussie Ryan Cuskelly.  Although they both hail from New South Wales, they had strangely never played a serious match against each other before.

The top half of the draw is completed by England's Daryl Selby and USA number one Julian Illingworth, both of whom survived five-game encounters.  Selby needed all his determination to suppress the racket skills of New Zealand's Kashif Shuja, while Illingworth had to come from two games down to beat England's Chris Ryder.

"I was annoyed losing the first game from so far up," said Selby.  "But I have to give a lot of credit to Kashif, he played really well and put me under a lot of pressure.  I was proud of myself mentally, of how I dug in though," he added.

Illingworth was similarly relieved to progress:  "I'm happy to get through.  This is the first time I've made the second round of a four or five star event, so it will be good to get a match against one of the top boys - probably Daryl, but I wouldn't be too disappointed if a qualifier upset him!"

Quarter-final line-up:
[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [7] Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v [6] Tom Richards (ENG)
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [8] Julian Illingworth (USA)
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Simon Rosner (GER)

For more details, visit the tournament website www.dutchopensquash.nl

RESULTS: Dutch Open Squash Championship, Rotterdam, Netherlands

1st round:

[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (52m)

[7] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [Q] Dylan Bennett (NED) 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 (67m)

[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Steve Finitsis (AUS) 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (33m)

[6] Tom Richards (ENG) bt Piedro Schweertman (NED) 11-4, 11-5, 4-11, 11-7 (40m)

[8] Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Chris Ryder (ENG) 5-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (69m)

[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Kashif Shuja (NZL) 12-14, 5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (75m)

Simon Rosner (GER) bt [5] Joey Barrington (ENG) 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 7-5 ret. (60m)

[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (35m)

Anjema Rallies Into Rotterdam Quarters

Laurens Jan Anjema led local interest into the quarter-finals of the Dutch Open Squash 2009 after despatching Swiss qualifier Nicolas Mueller in straight games in the opening round of the $40,000 PSA World Tour championship at Victoria Squash in Rotterdam.

Showing no signs of the pressure of being the home favourite, the 2004 champion from The Hague was in impressive form as he defeated Mueller 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 in 35 minutes.

"I felt exactly the right level of nervousness," said the 26-year-old top seed. "I was relaxed but knew it was important. It felt good and I hope I can keep that feeling for the rest of the week."

Anjema's quarter-final opponent is the only unseeded player left in the draw, after Germany's Simon Rosner upset fifth seed Joey Barrington. After a tough three and a half games that took exactly an hour, the Englishman retired injured - cumulative rather than anything dramatic - with Rosner leading 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 7-5.

Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the third seed from Malaysia, opened proceedings with a comfortable 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 win over Australian qualifier Steve Finitsis - and will meet young Englishman Tom Richards for a place in the semi-finals after the 23-year-old from Surrey denied local wildcard Piedro Schweertman in four games.

Iskandar was surprised at the pace of his match: "After watching the matches last night, I was waiting for the ball to start dying, but it never did, it was so fast," said the Sarawak-born 27-year-old. "That's a good start though, to get off in three in half an hour, I can look forward to the rest of the tournament now."

Richards started well against Schweertman, who took his time to get going but gave the Englishman a hard time of it in the third game. "You could see he got confident, he got a lot of balls back and hit some great shots, made it difficult for me - which is what I expected," said Richards. "I'm glad to get through. Now it's my training partner Azlan - we always hit together when we're in London, so it should be interesting."

There was further Dutch disappointment when the previous night's hero Dylan Bennett fell narrowly short against Davide Bianchetti, the seventh seed from Italy. After a slow start, Bennett found his range and took the match to a decider, which the fiery Italian narrowly won.

"I struggled in the first two, I just couldn't get it past him," said Bennett. "Tommy [Berden] kept telling me I had to find a way to get the ball deep, and I did that in the third and fourth, and he got frustrated. Overall I'm happy. Considering where I was ten days ago, it's a big improvement."

Bianchetti meets second seed Cameron Pilley, the 2008 runner-up who won an entertaining match against fellow Aussie Ryan Cuskelly. Although they both hail from New South Wales, they had strangely never played a serious match against each other before.

The top half of the draw is completed by England's Daryl Selby and USA number one Julian Illingworth, both of whom survived five-game encounters. Selby needed all his determination to suppress the racket skills of New Zealand's Kashif Shuja, while Illingworth had to come from two games down to beat England's Chris Ryder.

"I was annoyed losing the first game from so far up," said Selby. "But I have to give a lot of credit to Kashif, he played really well and put me under a lot of pressure. I was proud of myself mentally, of how I dug in though," he added.

Illingworth was similarly relieved to progress: "I'm happy to get through. This is the first time I've made the second round of a four or five star event, so it will be good to get a match against one of the top boys - probably Daryl, but I wouldn't be too disappointed if a qualifier upset him!"

Quarter-final line-up:

[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [7] Davide Bianchetti (ITA)

[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) v [6] Tom Richards (ENG)

[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [8] Julian Illingworth (USA)

[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Simon Rosner (GER)

For more details, visit the tournament website www.dutchopensquash.nl