04-Mar, Quarter-Finals
[1] George Parker (Eng) 3-1 [7] Mike Harris (Eng) 11-5, 11-13, 11-3, 11-9 (52 mins)
Tristan Eysele (SA) 3-0 Nick Mulvey (Eng) 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 (36 mins)
[5] Joe Green (Eng) 3-1 [3] Dougie Kempsell (Sco) 12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 (68 mins)
[6] Ben Ford (Eng) 3-0 [Q] Emyr Evans (Wal) 11-3, 11-3, 11-7 (27 mins)
Dylan Younger reports
ONLY one of the top four seeds remains going into the penultimate day of a pulsating Northumbria Open.
Shock of the day came in the game of the day on court one, as third seed Dougie Kempsell was edged out 3-1 by a fast and furious Joe Green after 68 minutes of tenacious squash.
And with Joel Hinds and Jaako Vahamaa already having been toppled by Emyr Evans and Tristan Eysele respectively in the first round, it leaves top seed George Parker as clear favourite going into Saturday’s semi-finals.
Parker had lost a tight second game against Mike Harris, to leave their quarter-final tied at 1-1, but he won a comfortable third (11-3) and kept his nerve at the business end of the fourth to take it 11-9 and register a solid 3-1 win.
After that it was a case of here come the upsetters on Court 1, with two players going head-to-head who had both defied the odds to knock out seeded opponents in Round One.
Hertfordshire’s Nick Mulvey – conqueror of Norwegian champ Adrian Ostbye – lost 11-9 in the first to Eysele – and the South African stayed on top form to take a more comfortable second (11-6) and close out the third (11-9) for a 3-0 win which was a lot more competitive than that scoreline suggests.
Still, Eysele was on top form and played some clinical winners, making a few less errors than his opponent as he booked a semi slot against Parker.
The second semi will be contested by Hertfordshire’s Green and Londoner Ben Ford– the fifth and sixth seeds respectively. Ford – three months short of his 41st birthday – showed his customary court craft as he saw off young Welshman Emyr Evans 3-0 in under half an hour.
The Bexley Club coach will surely face a tougher challenge against Green in the last four, though. The determined 21-year-old kept his nerve thoughout a competitive and occasional contentious encounter with Scottish No 3 Kempsell on the glassback, taking all three of his winning games by just two points to eke out an impressive 3-1 win.
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