General News

Nordic Open Round Up Scott loses final 3-1 photos and report

 

Day 3 round up 
 
 
 
Scott lost the final of the Nordic Open  3-1 against the European No1 Victor Byrtus. 
 
Scott had an amazing tournament beating European no.2 Yannick Wilhelmi 3-2 in the semi final. Byrtus was a step too far on this occasion. After a poor start,  Scott won a hard fought second game and despite finishing the stronger in the third - he had allowed Byrtus too great a lead - lost 11- 7. The fourth ran away from Scott quickly and he never re-established himself. It was a good performance but a great performance was needed. 
 
Over all this was a super event for Scott. Next up for Scott, the Belgian Open at the end of the month. 
 
 
 
Brenda finished a credible 6th and Sasha a super 7th, wining her final match 3-2 coming back from 2-0 down! The girls will now have European ranking, a first step in a promising junior career for both of them!!
 
 
 
Denis finished 7 in U13's beating Sutton's Gavin L'Estrange in the final round - revenge for the reverse result in the Mount Pleasant JMO a few weeks ago. I predict that Denis will win this tournament or similar within 2 years!! Matthew also had a great tournament after an unfortunate first round defeat (narrowly beaten 3-2) Matthew proved himself by effectively winning the plate I.e the best of the first round losers finishing 17th.
 
 
 
This tournament was a fantastic learning experience for all our Mount Pleasant juniors! 
 
 
 
 
To view photographs from Nordic Junior Open 2014 click on the following link
 
Day 2 Afternoon
 
Scott, after a hard fought match, has made history for Mount Pleasant and passed a personal milestone by defeating Yannick Wilhelmi 3-2 in the semi-final of the Nordic Open. He plays the final against Europe No.1 Victor Bruytus 
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image.jpegHappy days
 
 
Brenda beat Sasha to play for 5th place tomorrow. Sasha now plays for 7th. A great achievement for both of them. Denis will be playing for 7th in the U13 tomorrow another great performance !
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Day 2 morning
 
 
 
Scott has made into the semi-finals of the Nordic Open, after a super performance to beat his strong Czech opponent. Despite the score being 3-0 to Scott this was a very tough match and we are grateful that it was over in 3. Scott will need all his energy for the number 2 seed Yannick Wilhelmi from Switzerland. This will be his first ever European semi-final.
 
 
 
Unfortunately Dennis, Brenda and Sasha all succumbed to superior players on this occasion. Denis was not so far away losing 3-1 and had a very close fourth game. Denis was giving 2 years to his opponent so his future is very bright indeed. The girls came to this tournament to gauge their progress and learn, now they know what the best U13's in Europe can do and what it is like to play them. They will have learned a lot from this experience. Playing at this level exposes a player's weakness and we now have some clear pointers as to where our weaknesses lie and can start to work on improvements. A top 6 and top 8 finish or better is in the offing, not a bad result at all for the two girls.
 

Henry
 
 
 
 
 
Day I  Round Up
 
Mathew was the first of the Mount Pleasant juniors to play. Unfortunately he lost in a very close  5 game match against a much higher seeded player. Nikita also had very tough match losing 11-9 in the fifth. In fact both Nikita and Matthew were the only players to take their matches to five games in the morning session. Scott played at 11 am and had an easy victory,  over within 15 mins. Tougher matches ahead.  Denis was next on after getting a bye in the first round he won easily 3-0.
 
Unfortunately both Brenda and Sasha were scheduled to play at the same time making it a difficUlt act of bi-location for me to monitor both matches. However we managed to handle it and both girls  ended up winners- 3-0. Not many people win their first round match at a their first  super series event, especially being seeded at the bottom of the draw! Both girls are delighted! Brenda now faces the no.2 seed tomorrow morning, which is an unfortunate consequence of not being seeded. 
 
Scott,  the last player to play today had too much power and quickly wore down his German opponent winning comfortably 3-0. 
 
This all means four of our Mount Pleasant  juniors are  now in the quarter finals of the Nordic Open. 
 
 
 
  

Sent from my iPad

On 9 Oct 2014, at 12:53, Henry Gillanders <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:
 
 
 

Scott, Brenda, Matthew and Sasha head to Nordic Open this weekend

Good luck to the 4 Mount Pleasant Junior squash players Scott Gillandrs, Brenda Li, Matthew Li and Sasha Zheleznyak who are heading to Malmo in Sweden to play in the Nordic Junior Open. This will be the first trip for all players except Scott to a Super Series European ranking event. A good result for Scott would be a semi-final finish in U15's and this is the minimum target for him on this trip. Brenda, who just won the Connacht Junior Open, will be able to measure her development against the top U13's in Europe and we are hopeful of a 1/4 final or better finish on her first time out. Matthew who has been progressing quickly over the past few months will be tested at the Nordic and a last 16 finish would be a great result. Sasha who is a relative latecomer to junior squash but who has been showing great potential in training and local matches will gain valuable experience at this tournament which will stand to her for the future.
Special T-Shirts for our tourng players!
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On 3 Oct 2014, at 15:40, henry gillanders <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:

 
Please see entry form for Irish Junior Open 
 
Be aware that entry closes on Friday 31stOctober 2014
Henry
 

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On 2 Oct 2014, at 16:17, Henry Gillanders <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:
 
 
 
Hi All 
Please see info on Ulster Open. I hope we can repeat our recent successes !
also I still have a number of Mount Pleasant JMO T-Shirts left over. I will bring them down on Sunday and offer for sale at @ €10 each. 
All money collected goes back in to our junior fund!
 
Henry
 
 
Ulster Junior Squash Open 2014
 
 
Belfast Boat Club
 
Enter on- line at
 
 
 
Closing date 10th October 2014