2005 ST LOUIS OPEN
	Reports Draw/Results Qualifier 1, 1 Qualifer 1, 2 Qualifier day 2 Qualifier final Round 1 Quarters Semis Final Preview Photos: venue photos qual day 1 qual day 2 1st round quarters 1 quarters 2 semi 1 semi 2 final PSA Profiles

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TOO MANY COW BELLS [The St Louis Open Main Draw]

Day Two Final Qualifying Results:

Stewart Boswell (AUS) def Simon Parke (ENG) 11-4 11-4 11-6
Matthew Giuffre (CAN) def Scott Handley (ENG) 11-6 7-11 11-7 11-9
Raj Nanda (AUS) def Greg La Mude (RSA) 11-9 10-11(1-3) 11-6 8-11 11-7
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) def Eric Galvez (MEX) 11-10(3-1) 11-4 8-11 3-11 11-8
[see separate report for Nanda / La Mude match]

Eric Galvez and Laurens Jans Anjema covered every inch of the court. (Photo ©2005 Debra Tessier) more qualifier final photos

SCRAMBLING ERIC
The night's highlight was the entertaining and acrobatic contest that pitted two young PSA pros, Eric Galvez from Mexico and Laurens Jan Anjema from Holland.

The form book said that Anjema should win going away, but to the knowledgeable American fan, who has seen Galvez play before, there is a lot of ability and talent there.

It was a very physical contest from the outset, with lots of hard hitting and lots of brute power on display. At the end of the day, Anjema's discipline and competitive experience stood him well, but not before Galvez stretched and dove to all corners of the Galleria court, forcing Anjema into a 1 hour 25 minute battle. It was Anjema's opportunity to advance, but Galvez left his imprint on the tournament and the crowd.

GIUFFRE STAYS FOCUSED

Greg La Mude just falls short on Friday night (Photo ©2005 Debra Tessier)

The St Louis Open Venue stands in the midst of a grand public mall, the Galleria. It's an uncontrolled environment, and tonight a few Friday night happy-hour revelers were playing cow bells loudly and often while Matt Giuffre engaged in tense battle with England's Scott Hanley. Giuffre and Handley successfully tuned out the bells, but Giuffre has his game tuned up to a higher level as he out-pointed Handley in four.

Simon Parke once told me that his goal was for his opponent to always believe that he was going to be able to reach the next shot and extend the rally. That belief was always going to dishearten his opponent.

Well, the days of lengthy long-rallied battles between Simon Parke and Peter Nicol are several years in the rear-view mirror.

Parke came out tonight with the goal of extending Stewart Boswell. The trouble was, a host of errors from Parke short circuited his strategy and caused him so much frustration that he interrupted the contest several times to uncharacteristically kick the racquet around the court.

So the resurgent Boswell moves into the main draw.

The last match of the evening saw local pro Greg La Mude put up a terrific battle with Dutch-based Raj Nanda. Nanda snuck through in a long five games, only to face Peter Nicol in the first round.

 

The Aussie players turnout in full force to watch Stewart Boswell and Simon Parke (Photo ©2005 Debra Tessier)

Matthew Giuffre and Scott Handley (Photo ©2005 Debra Tessier)

Final qualifier photos

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[St Louis Open Draw]