Seedings Don't Hold Up in Cologne

Inexplicably seeded 10th and 16th, Simon Rosner, lately a PSA event regular, and Low Lee Wern, Asian Jr. Champion, made mincemeat of the seedings as they collected Germany Junior Open crowns last weekend in Cologne.

Simon Rosner wins in Cologne (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert)

Junior seedings are notoriously difficult to get right, especiallyin fields attracting elite international entrants who don't have much playing history against each other.

In this case, it was strange to find Rosner seeded 4th in the upcoming World Jr Men's and 10th in this event on his home soil.

There were major upsets allo over in the Pioneer Junior Open Squash Championships when Germany's tenth seed Simon Rosner claimed the men's U19 title and Malaysia's Low Wee Wern, the 16th seed, secured the women's U19 crown in the established European Squash Federation Junior Circuit event in Cologne, Germany. Meanwhile, unseeded Annie Au of Hong Kong ploughed through the 64 player field to reach the finals.

Rosner, the 18-year-old European Junior Champion from Wurzburg, made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals when he despatched top-seeded Dane Kristian Frost Olesen 9-2, 9-5, 9-3.  After defeating England's Lewis Walters, the fifth seed, in the semi-finals, Rosner went on to crush sixth seed Bart Ravelli, from the Netherlands, 9-0, 9-4, 9-1 in the final.

The victory will boost Rosner's confidence for next week's Prince World Junior Championship in New Zealand, where he is the fourth seed.

The other U19 event saw the collapse of reigning women's European Junior champion Camille Serme, the top seed and runner-up in Cologne last year.  The 17-year-old from France was unable to capitalise on a two-game lead against Low Wee Wern, who went on to win 7-9, 1-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-6 to reach a surprise quarter-final.

Low, a 15-year-old from Penang who became the Asian Junior (U19) Champion last month, was taken to four games by two English opponents – Deon Saffery and Emma Chorley – in the next two rounds before triumphing 9-3 9-4 9-6 in the final against Hong Kong's unseeded Annie Au.

RESULTS:         Pioneer Junior Open Squash Championships, Cologne, Germany 

Men's U19 4th round:
[1] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt Abdul Rahman Al Malki (QAT)            9-6, 1-9, 9-4, 9-0
[10] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [9] Lennart Osthof (GER)                             9-1, 9-0, 9-4
[5] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [13] Jonathan Barnes (FRA)                           9-6, 9-3, 9-1
[4] Edward Charlton (ENG) bt Valentin Quan (USA)                                9-1, 9-0, 9-0
[6] Bart Ravelli (NED) bt [12] Carsten Schoor (GER)                                10-8, 9-0, 9-3
[3] Karim Dabaah (ENG) bt Antonio Gonzalez Salas (MEX)                     9-4, 9-4, 2-9, 9-4
[11] Maxime Moriamez (FRA) bt [8] Will Newnham (ENG)                      9-6, 9-2, 9-5
[2] Petr Martin (CZE) bt Maximiliano Camiruaga (CHI)                             10-8, 9-4, 9-3

    Quarter-finals:
[10] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [1] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN)                    9-2, 9-5, 9-3
[5] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [4] Edward Charlton (ENG)                            9-5, 9-0, 9-4
[6] Bart Ravelli (NED) bt [3] Karim Dabaah (ENG)                                   6-9, 9-1, 9-8, 9-4
[11] Maxime Moriamez (FRA) bt [2] Petr Martin (CZE)                            9-6, 4-9, 9-0, 2-9, 9-4

    Semi-finals:
[10] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [5] Lewis Walters (ENG)                              9-0, 9-4, 9-7
[6] Bart Ravelli (NED) bt [11] Maxime Moriamez (FRA)                           9-5, 9-4, 10-9

    Final:
[10] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [6] Bart Ravelli (NED)                         9-0, 9-4, 9-1 

Women's U19 3rd round:
[16] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [1] Camille Serme (FRA)                           7-9, 1-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-6
[8] Deon Saffery (ENG) bt Joey Chan (HKG)                                           9-1, 9-0, 9-5
[5] Emma Chorley (ENG) bt [12] Melissa Meulenbelt (NED)                     9-3, 9-7, 9-4
[4] Pamela Hathway (GER) bt [13] Lenka Vlkova (CZE)                           9-3, 9-1, 9-1
[6] Neha Kumar (CAN) bt [11] Jasmin Ballman (SUI)                                9-3, 7-9, 9-0, 10-9
Annie Au (HKG) bt [14] Shin Nga Leung (HKG)                                      9-7, 2-9, 9-6, 9-5
[7] Nour Mohsen (EGY) bt Logan Greer (USA)                                        9-6, 9-4, 9-5
[2] Lucie Fialova (CZE) bt Lisa Kho (NED)                                              9-3, 10-9, 9-2

    Quarter-finals:
[16] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [8] Deon Saffery (ENG)                             7-9, 9-3, 9-2, 9-1
[5] Emma Chorley (ENG) bt [4] Pamela Hathway (GER)                           10-8, 9-2, 10-9
Annie Au (HKG) bt [6] Neha Kumar (CAN)                                             9-2, 9-3, 9-0
[7] Nour Mohsen (EGY) bt [2] Lucie Fialova (CZE)                                   9-7, 7-9, 9-6, 9-3

    Semi-finals:
[16] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt [5] Emma Chorley (ENG)                           9-6, 0-9, 10-8, 9-2
Annie Au (HKG) bt [7] Nour Mohsen (EGY)                                            2-9, 9-5, 9-3, 9-0

    Final:
[16] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt Annie Au (HKG)                                 9-3, 9-4, 9-6