Vicky Vanquishes Local Hopes In Irish Open Qualifiers

Irish hopeful and world number 45 Laura Mylotte suffered a surprise defeat to crash out of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open at the final qualifying stage of the WISPA World Tour squash event in Dublin. Up against England's Vicky Hynes, the 32-year-old from Galway carried a weight of expectation in front of her home crowd at the Fitzwilliam Club. The pair could not be separated for most of the match and it was destined for a deciding fifth game.

However it was Hynes who proved the stronger and coasted through the final game to record a 6-9, 10-8, 7-9, 9-7, 9-0 in 61 minutes. England's Fiona Moverley, Malaysia's Delia Arnold and Hong Kong's Elise Ng also won their final qualifying matches to earn a much sought after place in the main draw.

In the men's $25,000 PSA Tour event qualifying finals, Welshman Rob Sutherland defeated New Zealander Joshua Greenfield 4-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 to set up a first round clash with compatriot Alex Gough, the title-holder and fourth seed.

Sutherland is joined in the main draw by fellow qualifiers Romain Tenant of France, Englishman Tom Richards and Malaysian Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan.

Scotland's John White, the world number 15, is top seed in the men's event and faces Frenchman Julien Balbo in the opening round.

In the women's draw Ireland's Madeline Perry will start as number four seed as she attempts to win her fourth successive Irish Open title. Now world number 14, Perry is up against it this year after dropping down the rankings recently. English pair Vicky Botwright and Alison Waters, seeded one and two, respectively, head up a strong field in this year's event.

Men's qualifying finals:
Romain Tenant (FRA) bt Bernardo Samper (COL) 11-10 (3-1), 11-6, 11-3 (31m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Shaun le Roux (ENG) 11-4, 11-10 (2-0), 11-3 (26m)
Rob Sutherland (WAL) bt Joshua Greenfield (NZL) 4-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (34m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Ben Ford (ENG) 11-4, 11-7, 6-11, 8-11, 11-10 (2-0) (90m)

Women's qualifying finals:
Elise Ng (HKG) bt Lauren Selby (ENG) 9-2, 9-7, 7-9, 7-9, 9-5 (75m)
Delia Arnold (MAS) bt Joelle King (NZL) 9-5, 10-8, 9-0 (40m)
Vicky Hynes (ENG) bt Laura Mylotte (IRL) 6-9, 10-8, 7-9, 9-7, 9-0 (61m)
Fiona Moverley (ENG) bt Celia Allamargot (FRA) 10-8, 10-8, 8-10, 9-1 (56m)