SEEDS FALL IN ALMERE HEAT

Birgit Coufal stops Melissa Meulenbelt in the first round (photo ©Ron Beck )

On an unseasonably warm afternoon in Almere, Holland most everyone was out in the sun.

But for the dedicated squash enthusiasts, Tommy Berden of Holland's TopSquash, was hosting his ninth professional satellite of the season at Squash Almere, with two rounds of WISPA play, and a concurrent amateur event.

In an eventful first round, both the #4 seed, Dagmar Vermeulen and the #5 seed, Daniela Schumann fell in early round action, leaving the draw open for eighth seed Vicky Hynes of England to secure a semifinal berth.

The highlight of the first round was England's Leonie Holt's five game upset of Dutch player Vermeulen while Melissa Meulenbelt put up stiff resistance to Austria's #1 player Birgit Coufal. Coufal's power game and consistency was in the end too much for Meulenbelt's increasingly error prone play and a late-match collapse of confidence.

Margriet Huisman ponders her matchup with Orla Noom in the semis. (photo ©Ron Beck )

Several aspiring Dutch players gathered valuable experience, though few points. Aisling Blake sailed through the quarters, losing only four points in two matches.

Blake will meet Hynes in the top-half semi.

The quarterfinals saw the two young Dutch stars, Margriet Huisman and Orla Noom both win relatively easily, setting up an interesting meeting inthe semifinals.

The two youthful Dutch internationals stand very close in the world rankings (Noom at World #45 and Huisman at World #47) and in their last WISPA meeting, at the Meersquash Open, they staged a no-holes barred 63 minute battle, won by Huisman 9-7 in the fifth game.

Herubo Almere WISPA Open
RESULTS
Quarter finals
[1] Aisling Blake (IRL) bt. Milou van der Heijden (NL) 9-0, 9-2, 9-1
[8] Vicky Hynes (ENG) bt. Leonie Holt (ENG) 9-2, 9-7, 9-1
[3] Margriet Huisman (NL) bt. [6] Birgit Coufal (AUS) 9-3, 9-1, 9-0
[2] Orla Noom (NL) bt. [7] Kerri Shields (IRL) 10-8, 9-1, 9-1

First round results
[1] Aisling Blake (IRL) bt. Daphne Albada Jelgersma (NL) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0
Milou van der Heijden (NL) bt. [5] Daniela Schumann (GY) 9-3, 9-7, 9-7
Leonie Holt (ENG) bt. [4] Dagmar Vermeulen (NL) 9-7, 9-5, 3-9, 8-10, 9-3
[8] Vicky Hynes (ENG) bt. Marissa Lagerweij (NL) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
[6] Birgit Coufal (AUS) bt. Melissa Meulenbelt (NL) 3-9, 9-5, 9-6, 9-0
[3] Margriet Huisman (NL) bt. Ilona Lagerweij (NL) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2
[7] Kerri Shields (IRL) bt. Lisa Kho (NL) 9-0, 9-1, 9-6
[2] Orla Noom (NL) bt. Lisette Eschweiler (NL) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0

Margriet Huisman and refereeing volunteer and world #2 Natalie Grinham talk strategy. (photo ©Ron Beck )