Gaultier In Crushing Defence Opening In Prague

Defending men's champion Gregory Gaultier made light work of his opening challenge in the European Individual Championships when he crushed Russian qualifier Andrey Bratter 9-0 9-0 9-0 in the first round of the European Squash Federation (ESF) event in Prague, Czech Republic.

The top-seeded Frenchman now meets Scotland's Stuart Crawford, a 9/16 seed who defeated Ivan Djordjevic, from Serbia and Montenegro, 9-2 9-3 9-4.

Vanessa Atkinson, the world champion from the Netherlands who is top seed in the women's event, had a bye in the first round - but faces a surprise opponent in the second round after Scotland's unseeded Frania Gillen-Buchert pulled off the only upset of the day when she beat Olga Ertlova, a 9/16 seed from the Czech Republic, 9-2 9-0 9-2.

Men's 1st round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Andrey Bratter (RUS) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
[9/16] Stuart Crawford (SCO) bt Ivan Djordjevic (SCG) 9-2, 9-3, 9-4
[9/16] Martin Stepan (CZE) bt Atilla Dobai (SVK) 9-1, 9-1, 9-6
[5/8] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Marek Zvoncek (SVK) 9-1, 9-0, 9-0
[5/8] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt Andre Haschker (GER) 3-9, 9-0, 9-4, 9-0
[9/16] Gerhard Schedlbauer (AUT) bt Alexei Severinov (RUS) 9-4, 9-1, 9-0
[9/16] Andras Torok (HUN) bt Pavel Sladecek (CZE) 9-5, 9-3, 9-4
[3/4] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Robert Dobai (SVK) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
[3/4] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [Q] Oleksandr Molodukha (UKR) 9-1, 9-1, 9-1
Domagoj Spoljar (CRO) bye
[9/16] Klemen Gutman (SLO) bt Marton Szaboky (HUN) 9-7, 9-5, 9-0
[5/8] Laurent Elriani (FRA) bt [Q] Alexander Pavulans (LAT) 9-3, 9-2, 9-1
[5/8] Dylan Bennett (NED) bt Harry Gordon Leitch (SCO) 9-5, 9-3, 9-5
[9/16] Stefan Leifels (GER) bt Josef Desira (MLT) 9-2, 9-0, 9-6
[9/16] Milos Pokorny (CZE) bt Damir Bezan (SLO) 9-5, 9-6, 9-7
[2] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [Q] Dmytro Shcherbakov (UKR) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2

Women's 1st round:
[1] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bye
Frania Gillen-Buchert (SCO) bt [9/16] Olga Ertlova (CZE) 9-2, 9-0, 9-2
[9/16] Celia Allamargot (FRA) bt Lucie Fialova (CZE) 9-3, 9-5, 6-9, 9-4
[5/8] Pamela Pancis (AUT) bt Vaso Karasava-Hambides (CYP) 9-7, 9-0, 9-3
[5/8] Ellen Petersen (DEN) bt Lotta Vuorela (FIN) 9-2, 9-3, 9-1
[9/16] Milja Dorenbos (NED) bt Linda Hruzikova (SVK) 9-3, 9-4, 9-3
[9/16] Laurence Bois (FRA) bt Aneta Paprnakova (SVK) 9-4, 9-5, 9-2
[3/4] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) bt Edina Szombati (SVK) 9-1, 9-2, 9-1
[3/4] Pamela Nimmo (SCO) bt Ekatarina Glinchikova (RUS) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
[9/16] Kathrin Rohrmueller (GER) bt Ayten Kececi (TUR) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0
[9/16] Katharina Witt (GER) bt Zuzana Vackova (CZE) 9-3, 9-0, 9-0
[5/8] Line Hansen (DEN) bt Petra Vihar (SLO) 9-5, 9-1, 9-2
[5/8] Olga Puigdemont Sola (ESP) bt Louise Philip (SCO) 9-3, 9-1, 9-0
[9/16] Margriet Huisman (NED) bt Henrieta Kollathova (SVK) w/o
[9/16] Soraya Renai (FRA) bt Birgit Coufal (AUT) 9-2, 10-8, 5-9, 9-7
[2] Linda Elriani (ENG) bye