CATELLA SWEDISH OPEN 2003 - 1ST ROUND jm HOLDER CRASHES OUT AT FIRST HURDLE Upset of the first day of the Catella Swedish Open was Rodney Durbach of South Africa and number 34 in the world, beating defending champion Ong Beng Hee from Malaysia and number 8 in the world. Durbach found himself 6-10 down in the first game but then won 6 straight points to go 12-10 up. He then extended his advantage to take the first game 15-12. The second game was even tighter with Durbach playing some of his best squash to take it 15-13. Ong looked beaten but showed his character as he stepped forward and attacked the front court with devastating effect to win the third game comfortably 15-9. Rodney came back strongly in the fourth and always looked favourite with a healthy lead at 11-8 and 13-11. He tried to win a little too cheaply though and made a couple of crucial errors to let Beng Hee back in and level the match, taking the 4th game 15-13. Durbach then found himself 6-10 down once again in the fifth game. Could it be coincidental or was it fate? Beng Hee played 2 inexplicable errors to llet Rodney back in. At 11-11 it was anyone's match. At 13-13 Beng Hee played a loose shot off a tight forehand from the South African to give Durbach match ball. He only needed one chance and finished off with a delightful drop shot on the backhand which Beng Hee could not retrieve. The champion was out! A delighted Durbach unsurprisingly told the crowd how much he was enjoying the tournament and even putting up with the cold that a South African cannot be used to! He was the only qualifier of this year's tournament to make it past the first round. There was nearly another upset in the very first match of the day when qualifyer, Mika Monto also took a 2-0 lead against Englishman, Simon Parke. Parke's comebacks are legendary though, and Monto was unable to take advantage of his lead. Parke came back to win 3 straight games and see the Fin off after and hour and a half 3-2. Other matches went true to form with Scotsman Martin Heath seeing off the brilliant young Englishman James Willstrop 3-1. Fellow Scotsman John White disposed of local favourite Daniel Forslund 3-0 but Forslund pushed the world number 4 to play some great squash. Daniel showed the packed Linkoping Arena why he has dominated the domestic Swedish scene for the last decade with some classy squash of the highest standard. Both Graham Ryding of Canada and Australian Stewart Boswell went through to the quarter finals in straight games, beating Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) and Jean Michel Arcucci (France) respectively. Former British Open finalist Paul Price of Australia was beaten 3-1 by Egyptian Amr Shabana. Last years Swedish Open finalist, Olli Tuominen from Finland also failed to make the second round, losing 3-0 to Australian Joe Kneipp. There won't be too many tournaments played this season where both of last years finalists fall at the first hurdle. Full results: John White (Scotland) beat Daniel Forslund (Sweden) 15/14 15/9 15/13 Amr Shabana (Egypt) beat Paul Price (Australia) 15/13 15/10 13/15 15/9 Rodney Durbach (South Africa) beat Ong Beng Hee (Malaysia) 15/12 15/13 9/15 13/15 15/13 Joseph Kneipp (Australia) beat Olli Tuominen (Finland) 15/12 15/11 15/12 Simon Parke (England) beat Mika Monto (Finland) 12/15 12/15 15/13 15/5 15/11 Martin Heath (Scotland) beat James Willstrop (England) 15/9 15/12 14/15 15/9 Graham Ryding (Canada) beat Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) 15/13 15/10 15/10 Stewart Boswell (Australia) beat Jean Michel Arcucci 15/7 15/13 15/12 Go Back