Crawford & Swartz Stage Mighty Upsets In Oslo

Scotsman Stuart Crawford and South African Tenille Swartz staged sensational upsets on the opening day's play in the Grays Oslo Open to oust the top men's seed and No2 women's seed, respectively, in this new Tour event at the Myrens Sportssenter in the Norwegian capital.

Unseeded Crawford beat English favourite Tom Richards 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-4 in 35 minutes. The 25-year-old Scottish international from Edinburgh will now face Yann Perrin, the No8 seed from France who defeated English qualifier Neil Hitchens 11-6, 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7.

A qualifier is guaranteed a place in the last four after both Romain Tenant and Shaun le Roux upset higher-ranked opponents in the first round. Frenchman Tenant defeated Egypt's No3 seed Amr Ramzy Swelim 11-10 (2-0), 11-8, 11-9, while Englishman le Roux took out compatriot David Barnett 11-10 (2-0), 4-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9 in a 65-minute marathon.

Tenille Swartz is continuing to demonstrate her considerable promise on the women's international circuit. The 19-year-old won her first WISPA title earlier this month in only her second Tour outing, then last week became the first player outside the top 100 to qualify for the World Open.

Swartz's scalp in Oslo was Annelize Naude, the world No14 from the Netherlands, whom she beat 9-3, 9-5, 4-9, 10-8.

The teenager goes on to face Elise Ng after the unseeded 25-year-old from Hong Kong pulled off the only other women's upset by beating England's No7 seed Georgina Stoker 7-9, 9-4, 9-6, 9-4.

Men's 1st round:
Stuart Crawford (SCO) bt [1] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-4 (35m)
[8] Yann Perrin (FRA) bt [Q] Neil Hitchens (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7
[Q] Romain Tenant (FRA) bt [3] Amr Ramzy Swelim (EGY) 11-10 (2-0), 11-8, 11-9 (33m)
[Q] Shaun le Roux (ENG) bt David Barnett (ENG) 11-10 (2-0), 4-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9 (65m)
[6] Luke Margan (AUS) bt Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 11-7, 11-4, 11-8
[4] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [Q] Jens Schoor (GER) 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (22m)
[7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Rene Mijs (NED) 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8 (82m)
[2] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Andre Haschker (GER) 11-4, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0) (30m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt Kirsty McPhee (ENG) 9-0, 9-4, 9-1
[8] Aisling Blake (IRL) bt [Q] Margriet Huisman (NED) 9-2, 9-0, 9-4
[3] Lauren Briggs (ENG) bt [Q] Lauren Siddall (ENG) 9-7, 9-7, 9-4 (32m)
[5] Samantha Teran (MEX) bt Tara Mullins (CAN) 10-9, 8-10, 9-5, 9-1 (52m)
[6] Louise Crome (NZL) bt Lotte Eriksen (NOR) 9-5, 9-5, 9-3
[4] Tegwen Malik (WAL) bt [Q] Emma Chorley (ENG) 9-2, 9-0, 9-3 (29m)
Elise Ng (HKG) bt [7] Georgina Stoker (ENG) 7-9, 9-4, 9-6, 9-4
[Q] Tenille Swartz (RSA) bt [2] Annelize Naude (NED) 9-3, 9-5, 4-9, 10-8