Shuja, Grindrod Qualify in Christchurch

Kiwis Kashif Shuja and Ben Grindrod have advanced to the main draw of the Christchurch International Open in a busy opening night of qualifying matches.

Grindrod was on the court first against Englishman Pablo Rawden.  In a neck and neck match that was played almost point for point throughout, Grindrod seemed able to capitalise on the big points to pull clear towards the end of each set.  Rawden’s impressive ability to hold and deceive his opponent at the front of the court earned him several winners per set, but Grindrod’s relentless retrieving and physicality seemed to frustrate his English opponent.

In the other 6pm match, local hope Chris van der Salm was shaded by top seeded qualifier Tristan Eysele of South Africa.  Playing his trademark volleying game, van der Salm looked comfortable early, taking the first game and earning two game balls at 10-8 in the second.  However, Eysele seemed slowly to change his tactics and gradually wrested the ascendency away from van der Salm to progress to the main draw in 37 minutes.

Former WR#36 Kashif Shuja was comfortable against local qualifier Michael Pittams, needing just 28 minutes to earn his way through to the main draw.  Shuja seemed intent on making a statement in the first set, bulldozing his way to a 7-0 lead before relinquishing a point.  Pittams’ pluck, and some generous interpretations of the ‘play must be continuous’ rule by the referee, allowed him to fight his way back to 11-6.  It was more of the same in the second, before Shuja underlined the relevance of his nickname (the Abbottabad Locomotive) to steam into the main draw with a comfortable three sets to love scoreline.

The final match of the night was by far the closest, with Malaysian Hannan Tarmidi needing five sets to beat Finn Tatu Knuutila.  It was all fireworks to begin with, with Knuutila serving up a varied array of winners with remarkable accuracy to take the opening game 11-1.  From there, Tarmidi gradually worked his way back, and the match developed into an arm wrestle.

First round Christchurch International Open matches commence from 5.30pm tomorrow (Friday 20 June) at Burnside Squash Club, with Burnside Open matches to be played at the same time.  A great deal of good quality squash will be on offer throughout the weekend, free of charge to spectators. The full draw can be found here: http://www.psaworldtour.com/page/TournamentDetails/0,,13121~2386,00.html.

Qualifying Final Results

(1) Tristan Eysele (RSA) bt (7) Chris van der Salm (NZL) 8-11 13-11 11-9 11-8 (37 minutes) - plays JP Brits
(4)  Ben Grindrod (NZL) bt (5) Pablo Rawden (ENG) 11-8 11-7 12-10 (34 minutes) - plays Jan Koukal
(3)  Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt Michael Pittams (NZL) 11-6 11-6 11-2 (28 minutes) - plays Jaako Vahaama
(2)  Hannan Tarmidi (MAS) bt Tatu Knuutila (FIN) 1-11 11-7 7-11 11-4 11-7 (50 minutes) - plays Adeen Idrakie