Heath Repulses Alarçon
April 9, 2004 © 2004 by Howard Harding     [Lichtenstein draw/results]

Evans Sets Up All-Welsh Clash In Liechtenstein

Welsh qualifier David Evans upset the seedings in the Interlingua Liechtenstein Squash Open when he beat his long-time English rival Simon Parke, the No7 seed, in an 89-minute first round marathon in Vaduz, Lichtenstein.

Both players are former world number threes who are fighting back to form after injury setbacks. Evans, the British Open champion in 2000 now outside the world's top 50, fought back from a game down to beat Parke 11-15 15-13 15-9 15-10.

The 29-year-old from Pontypool now faces another familiar face in the quarter-finals when he takes on No2 seed Alex Gough in an all-Welsh clash. Newport-born Gough, now based in Berkshire in England, ended local interest in the event with a 15-7 15-13 15-13 dismissal of Switzerland's Lars Harms in exactly one hour.

Brazilian Rafael Alarçon looked set to pull off a remarkable upset when he fought back from 0/2 down to take his match against third-seeded Scot Martin Heath into a fifth game decider. Alarçon was beaten in the final qualifying round, but made it into the main draw as a 'lucky loser' when Finnish seed Olli Tuominen withdrew on the eve of the tournament.

Heath ultimately prevailed 15-12 17-14 8-15 10-15 15-9 in 97 minutes to earn a quarter-final clash with Spain's 8th seed Borja Golan, who defeated the Australian event organiser John Williams 15-6 15-13 15-8.

RESULTS: Interlingua Liechtenstein Squash Open, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

1st round:
[1] Paul Price (AUS) bt [Q] Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) 15-14, 15-9, 8-15, 15-11 (74m)
[5] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [Q] Eric Galvez (MEX) 15-11, 15-13, 15-13 (72m)
[3] Martin Heath (SCO) bt Rafael Alarcon (BRA) 15-12, 17-14, 8-15, 10-15, 15-9 (97m)
[8] Borja Golan (ESP) bt John Williams (AUS) 15-6, 15-13, 15-8 (46m)
[6] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt Laurens-Jan Anjema (NED) 15-9, 15-5, 15-5 (50m)
[4] Rodney Durbach (RSA) bt Hisham Moh'd Ashour (EGY) 12-15, 15-10, 15-8, 13-15, 15-12 (67m)
[Q] David Evans (WAL) bt [7] Simon Parke (ENG) 11-15, 15-13, 15-9, 15-10 (89m)
[2] Alex Gough (WAL) bt [Q] Lars Harms (SUI) 15-7, 15-13, 15-13 (60m)

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