England Players To The Fore In Wolverhampton Qualifiers

All but four of the players who will contest the men's and women's qualifying finals in the inaugural Wolverhampton Open at the Wolverhampton LT&SC in the English West Midlands city of Wolverhampton are from the host nation.

Chris Simpson, the 2005 European Junior Champion who signed-off a highly successful junior career in February when he retained the Men's Under 19 title at the British Junior Championships, put in a polished performance to beat compatriot Chris Tasker-Grindley 11-9 11-7 11-10 (2-0).

The 19-year-old who represented Guernsey in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne after making his Commonwealth debut four years earlier in Manchester, will now play Cheshire's Andrew Whipp, who defeated fellow Englishman Sam Miller 4-11 11-3 11-4 11-5.

Other English players to reach the final qualification round in the biggest club-based squash championships in the UK were 2004 European Junior Champion Laurence Delasaux, the Yorkshireman who triumphed over Darren Lewis 11-5 11-6 11-3, and Essex's Lee Drew, who needed over an hour to overcome Frenchman Matthew Castagnet 10-11(0-2) 11-4 11-2 11-10(4-2).

Reigning European Junior Champion Simon Rosner, from Germany, recorded a comfortable 11-5 11-1 11-5 win over Richard Birks of England, whilst Jesse Engelbrecht of Zimbabwe triumphed over Chris Truswell 11-5 11-3 11-7 to earn his place in the last eight of the qualifying tournament.

Lotte Eriksen is the only non-English player fighting for a qualifying place in the women's draw. The 19-year-old from Stavanger in Norway, who recently moved to Sweden to train with national coach John Milton, beat Dutch player Milja Dorenbos 9-5, 9-4, 3-9, 9-4 - and will now face England's Emma Beddoes for a place in the first round.

Beddoes, a former British Junior Champion from nearby Warwick, beat Cambridgeshire's Carrie Hastings 9-6, 9-0, 9-6.

Birmingham-based Vicky Hynes, making her competitive return to the Women's World Tour having recently given birth to her first child, defeated compatriot Susannah King 9-2 9-2 9-5, whilst Deon Saffery, Laura Hill, Kirsty McPhee and Lauren Siddall all completed straight game victories over Leonie Holt, Charlotte Delsinne, Christina Di Sacco and Anna-Carin Forstadius, respectively.

Emma Chorley, from Bridgwater in Somerset, was taken to five games by South African Adel Weir before eventually winning 9-0 9-10 9-5 6-9 10-8.

Men's 1st qualifying round:
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Richard Birks (ENG) 11-5, 11-1, 11-5
Scott Arnold (AUS) bt Rob Sutherland (WAL) 11-7, 5-2 ret.
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Chris Tasker-Grindley (ENG) 11-9, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0)
Andrew Whipp (ENG) bt Sam Miller (ENG) 4-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5
Laurence Delasaux (ENG) bt Darren Lewis (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-3
Lee Drew (ENG) bt Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 11-2, 11-10 (4-2)
Jonathan Harford (ENG) bt Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-6
Jesse Engelbrecht (ZIM) bt Chris Truswell (ENG) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7

Women's 1st qualifying round:
Kirsty McPhee (ENG) bt Cristina di Sacco (ITA) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
Laura Hill (ENG) bt Charlotte Delsinne (FRA) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2
Vicky Hynes (ENG) bt Susannah King (ENG) 9-2, 9-2, 9-5
Emma Chorley (ENG) bt Adel Weir (RSA) 9-0, 9-10, 9-5, 6-9, 10-8
Emma Beddoes (ENG) bt Carrie Hastings (ENG) 9-6, 9-0, 9-6
Lotte Eriksen (NOR) bt Milja Dorenbos (NED) 9-5, 9-4, 3-9, 9-4
Deon Saffery (ENG) bt Leonie Holt (ENG) 9-1, 10-8, 9-2
Lauren Siddall (ENG) bt Anna-Carin Forstadius (SWE) 9-3, 9-1, 9-5