Eight Aussies through to the second round of the Australian Open after an action-packed opening day in Sydney

Local fans will have plenty to cheer for tomorrow, as five more Australian players advanced to the second round of the 2022 City Tattersalls Club Australian Open after an action-packed opening day at the PSA Challenger 30 event in Sydney.

Rhys Dowling, Alex Haydon, Jess Turnbull, Rachael Grinham and Joseph White made it through to the second round joining fellow Australians Donna Lobban, Sarah Cardwell and Rex Hedrick, who will make their tournament debut tomorrow with the rest of the seeded players.

Defending Australian Open champion Rhys Dowling confessed to some first-round nerves ahead of his opening match. “It’s the biggest tournament of my year and the biggest tournament in Australian squash,” he explained, adding that he was happy to keep the momentum going into the second round after taking a convincing 3-0 win against the 17-year-old Western Australian Oscar Curtis,

Dowling will face tough opposition tomorrow, going against the no.1 seed Miguel Rodriguez (COL). The Australian said he will approach the match with a nothing-to-lose attitude, glad to see top international players return to the Australian Open after the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s good for the spectators, good for the tournament organizers and good for the sponsors.

“Of course it’s going to be a tough task to defend my Championship. But I'm just happy to go up against the top players in the world, especially the number one seed, Miguel. He's just an absolute machine on the court, so it's gonna be hard, hard work!”

In the same portion of the men’s draw, it took Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) 45 minutes to overcome the resistance of Welshman Owain Taylor in three close games, with Tom Walsh (ENG) and Ryunosuke Tsukue (JAP) also claiming straight-game wins against Amaad Fareed (PAK) and Wee Ming Hock (MAS) respectively.

In the lower part of the draw, Valentin Rapp (GER) dropped a game in an otherwise convincing performance against Temwa Chileshe (NZL), keeping the kiwi scoreless in the second game and closing off 11-2 in the fourth for a 3-1 win.

Joseph White was the last Aussie to secure a spot in the round of 16, proving too strong over three games for Lwamba Chileshe (NZL), while Aussie wild card Nicholas Calvert did not have any answer for Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR), who also took their match in three games. Simon Herbert (ENG) rounded up the group of athletes qualified for the second round defeating Zahir Shah (PAK) 3-0 in just over 20 minutes.

In the women’s draw, Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) and Nadia Pfister (SUI) kept spectators on the edge of their seats in a roller coaster ride where the two opponents exchanged leads all the way to the decider. Eventually, it was the Austrian who came from behind to turn the match around from 1-2 to 3-2 and win in five.

Former world no. 1 Rachael Grinham had to call on her class and experience to withstand the challenge of another Australian wild card, 18-year-old compatriot Sophie Fadaely.

Fadaely was first off the blocks, building an early lead and eventually taking the opening game 13-11, leaving the 2020 Australian Open winner to chase.

Grinham took control of the court and secured the second and third game, giving up only seven points in the process, but Fadaely produced another valiant effort in the fourth game. With the players tied at 7, the young Aussie was just a few points short of forcing a decider, but Grinham won four consecutive rallies to claim the game and the match at 3-1.

“I haven’t been playing Sophie in a while and obviously she’s improved a lot,” said Grinham after the match. “I was down five points pretty quickly in the first game so it got a bit stressful. I was lucky that I did actually settle into that first game. But it was a close match and I really felt it could go either way,” she said.

In the third All-Australian match of the day, Jessica Turnbull made it through to the last 16 at the expense of young wild-card Erin Classen in three games. Earlier in the day, Alex Haydon had already joined the Australian contingent in the second round, overcoming Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) also in straight games.

Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Salma Eltayeb (EGY) took a comfortable 3-0 win against young Australian Sze Yu Lee, while it took just 20 minutes for Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) to defeat Noor ul Huda, with the New Zealander only conceding five points for a commanding 3-0. Finally, Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) defeated Akari Midorikawa (JPN) 3-1 and Katerina Tycova (GER) got the better of Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) 3-0 in the last matches of the day.

The 2022 City Tattersalls Club Australian Open continues tomorrow with the second round, starting at 1pm AEDT. All the action from the Sydney University Sport and Fitness Centre will be streamed live on the PSA Challenger Tour’s YouTube channel, with live scoring also available from the PSA World Tour website.


First Round Results:

Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt Oscar Curtis (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 (23m)
Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) bt Owain Taylor (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (45m)

Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) bt Nadia Pfister (SUI) 3-2: 11-4, 8-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9 (46m)
Alex Haydon (AUS) bt Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 3-0: 13-11, 12-10, 11-3 (27m)

Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Amaad Fareed (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 13-11, 11-6 (31m)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JAP) bt Wee Ming Hock (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3 11-5 (32m)

Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt Sze Yu Lee (AUS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-7
Jessica Turnbull (AUS) bt Erin Classen (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (26m)

Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt Nicholas Calvert (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-9  (30m)
Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-1: 11-8, 11-0, 9-11, 11-2 (47m)

Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Sophie Fadaely (AUS) 3-1: 11-13, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7 (33m)
Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) bt Noor ul Huda (EGY) 3-0: 11-1, 11-3, 11-1 (20m)

Joseph White (AUS) bt Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (41m)
Simon Herbert (ENG) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (21m)

Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) bt Akari Midorikawa (JPN) 3-1: 11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5
Katerina Tycova (GER) bt Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) 3-0: 14-12, 11-7, 11-6 (29m)