Quarter Finals report
Chris Fuller bt Michael Harris 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-13, 11-9 (85 mins)
Harris made an explosive start with a series of cross court nicks and fantastic attacking play to lead 8-1. Fuller tightened up and chipped away at his lead with Harris still going for his shots but making a number of errors, an 8-1 lead soon turned into 9-9. Fuller played the last two points well to take the game 11-9. The second followed a similar pattern with Harris looking to attack but at this point but he was being forced to do so from uncomfortable positions, Fuller taking this game 11-6. The third saw a noticeable change of tactics from Harris who seemed more content to extend the rallies and wait for his opportunity. This paid dividends as he took as he took a tight game 12-10 and also snuck the fourth 13-11. At 8-5 in the final game it looked like Harris might just complete the turnaround, but Fuller found a number of winners amongst his patient play to recover and take the match 11-9.
Josh Masters bt Ben Ford 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (28 mins)
It was clear that Ben was struggling from yesterday’s five setter and also seemed to pick up a niggle at the start of the match. Whilst it lasted we were treated to an array of fantastic shot making and countless rolling nicks.
Patrick Rooney bt Mark Fuller 4-11, 12-10, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6 (65 mins)
Several big momentum swings in this excellent quarter final. Fuller looked by far the sharper player to take the first 11-4 and we wondered if Rooney’s journey from qualifying had taken it out of him. However he dug in impressively, and gave Fuller less opportunities, taking the second 12-10. Rooney built a big lead in the third and stayed strong to give himself a 2-1 advantage. Another big shift saw Fuller take the fourth game 11-4 and it looked like Rooney was spent. The fifth game was neck and neck to 5-5 before Fuller made 2 or 3 uncharacteristic errors to give Rooney a lead which he never relinquished.
Jan Van Den Herrewegen bt Tristan Eysele 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (42 mins)
At 11-5 and 6-0 up Jan was playing some excellent squash and looked like he would be cruising into the semi finals, Eysele looking shattered from his run this far. Not for the first time this week he knuckled down and just kept going, getting everything back and started to mount attacks of his own. He recovered to lead 8-7, but just like yesterday Jan played the big points very well, winning the second 11-9. The third saw some long rallies, both players covering a lot of ground and was even to 7-7. It looked for a second as though Eysele’s hard work may pay off and that Jan may be beginning to tire, but he again shored things up at the business end of the game to complete a 3-0 win.