Kiwis Survive Qualifier at Australian Open

The qualifying rounds of the Australian Open are complete and the Main Draws are set with some tough lineups for our Kiwis.

After the first round of Qualifiers Chris Van Der Salm and Kashif Shuja had relatively straight forward wins in 3. The only kiwi pushed to the limit was Ben Grindrod who had an epic five setter against Mithran Selvaratnam of Malaysia.

In the second round of qualifiers Kashif Shuja secured his place with a win in 3 over Norwegian Adrian Ostbye, there was some tense moments in the second but Shuja managed to hold composure and make his way into the main draw. Chris van Der Salm had a tough first game against Darcy Evans of Australia but he then managed to find his stride and came out to secure the win in 4 and process to the main draw. The only casualty in the qualifying round was Ben Grindrod who went down to Mike Corren in a tough three setter. 

There will be some tough battles to be had in the first round of the main draws with the Lance Beddoes facing the number 3 seed Ryan Cuskelly and Chris Van Der Salm facing second seed Nafiizwan Adnan. Joelle King is the only one guaranteed to head into the second round with a BYE first up.

Good luck to all the kiwis!

Round 1 Qualifier

[6] Chris van der Salm (NZL) bt Courtney West (AUS) - 11-7, 12-10, 11-8

[4] Ben Grindrod (NZL) bt Mithran Selvaratnam (MAS) - 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7

[2] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt Caillin Austin (AUS) - 12-10, 14-12, 11-5

Round 2 Qualifier

[6] Chris van der Salm (NZL) bt [15] Darcy Evans (AUS) - 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8

[4] Ben Grindrod (NZL) lost [L] Mike Corren (AUS) - 4-11, 6-11, 6-11

[2] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt [11] Adrian Ostbye (NOR) - 11-5, 13-11, 11-7

Main Draw - Round 1

Evan Williams vs Robert Downer (ENG)

Kashif Shuja vs Steven Finitsis (AUS)

Lance Beddoes vs (3) Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)

Paul Coll vs Joshua Masters (ENG)

Chris van der Salm vs (2) Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)

(12) Megan Craig vs Selena Shaikh (AUS)

(10) Amanda Landers-Murphy vs Jasmine Chan (Aus)

Danielle Fourie vs (8) Donna Urquhart (Aus)

(2) Joelle King vs BYE