ALBUM PHOTO
Demie
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-1 [6] Baptiste Masotti 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (71m)
The crowd may be backing home favourite Paul Coll, but Baptiste Masotti is doing his best to conduct the crowd at the Isaac Theatre Royal 😅#NZOpen pic.twitter.com/TyYzpshM9O
— SQUASHTV (@SquashTV) March 8, 2025
Quarts de Finale
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-0 [5] Sebastien Bonmalais 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 (49m)
[6] Baptiste Masotti3-1 Auguste Dussourd 5-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-5 (63m)
In the second match of the day, No.6 seed Baptiste Masotti came back from a game down to get the better of French compatriot Auguste Dussourd. The pair had not met on the PSA Squash Tour for three years, a 3-1 win for Dussourd during the 2022 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions.
World No.35 Dussourd had made an uneven start to his New Zealand Open campaign, struggling during an opening match win against fellow Frenchman and World No.85 Edwin Clain before impressing in a come-from-behind victory over Scottish No.4 seed Greg Lobban in round two.
Today, Dussourd made a fast start to his second all-French match in four days, taking game one 11-5. Masotti, though, did not panic. In a tense second game, the World No.25 showed his grit to clinch a tie-break win 12-10 and then moved ahead with an 11-9 win in game three.
Masotti was able to bring his tactical nous into the match in game four, dragging Dussourd around court and punishing him in the corners as he brought the contest to an end with an 11-5 win to become the first male player into the semi-finals.
Afterwards, Masotti said: “I need to find a way to start my matches better! Two days ago, my first game was awful and today it was awful again. I was playing one of my best friends and it’s never easy to play one of your best friends.
“We started playing squash at the same place and we played the French Nationals in a small club. Playing in front of you guys in this venue and when we look back at what we were when we were young, it’s already a victory. It’s amazing to play here.
“His coach knows me so well and he knows I’m going for it, fortunately today I was on fire!
“At 9-9 I hit the nick and then this lucky bounce to the back of the court. Today was meant to be mine, and I’m so happy to be playing a semi final here tomorrow. I’ve heard it’s going to be crowded!”
Second Tour
[6] Baptiste Masotti 3-1 Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 (45m)
Auguste Dussourd 3-1 [4] Greg Lobban (SCO) 4-11, 16-14, 11-8, 11-9 (68m)
[5] Sébastien Bonmalais 3-1 Henry Leung (HKG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (45m)
The second match of the day also featured a comeback, as French World No.25 Baptiste Masotti battled back to overcome Egyptian World No.47 Yahya Elnawasany. Elnawasany impressed in yesterday’s opening round at Christchurch Squash Club, making short work of Australia’s Joseph White in a straight games victory.
The 23-year-old carried that momentum through into today’s matchup, getting in front of Masotti at every opportunity as he caught Masotti off guard with an 11-3 win.
Masotti read his opponent far better in game two and, combined with greater accuracy from his racket, struck back to find parity as he took the second game 11-9 having survived a late fightback from Elnawasany.
The Frenchman continued to grow in confidence as the match wore on, with Masotti taking game three 11-7 and then completing the comeback with a routine 11-3 win in game four. After the match, Masotti spoke of how he had been dealing with the stress of playing at the highest level.
“The last match I played, in Pittsburgh, I was not very happy with myself and last week I was in New Caledonia to play an invitational tournament, so it was a bit tough to go back to the Professionals before the match so I was a bit stressed. He’s a good player and I wanted to go short too much, and so I couldn’t find my length. I’m glad that I found a way to come back in the second stronger and I’m quite happy with the last three games where I found my length more and made the court bigger for him.
“It’s very difficult [managing stress] because in every match it’s different, you know? So when you think that you’ve fixed some stresses from the previous matches, when it comes to the match, there is different kind of stress coming and you feel like you cannot fix it.
“But I’m working with a mental coach as well, and I try to work every day on my on my breathing exercises and trying to do it on court when I’ve got time. I’m way less stressed now because in my personal life, everything is fine. So it takes the stress off.”
In the last match of the first session, Auguste Dussourd dug deep to topple No.4 seed Greg Lobban for the second time this season. Dussourd’s progress through to round two had been a rocky one, with the Frenchman taken to five games by compatriot Edwin Clain yesterday.
Today, he was much improved, taking the game to Lobban, whom he had beaten 3-2 in this season’s Qatar Classic. It looked like World No.19 Lobban was on his way to revenge as the Scottish No.1 dominated the first game 11-4. Dussourd, however, struck back in an epic second game.
The Frenchman went two game balls down at 8-10 but refused to go down, saving both before he and Lobban traded game balls in a tense tie break. After seeing two game balls come and go, Dussourd converted the third, drawing level with a 16-14 win.
Coming through that tie break appeared to give the World No.35 confidence, and he moved into the lead for the first time with an 11-8 victory.
Lobban made a strong start to game four and at 9-6 up looked like he was forcing a fifth game. Once again, Dussourd’s perseverance came to the fore. As he had in tough spots in games two and three, the 29-year-old held his nerve under extreme pressure, scoring four points without reply to snatch victory in four games and reach the quarter-final.
Afterwards, Dussourd said: “Today, when I got into the court, I said ‘I won’t focus on the result, I win or lose at the end. Today, it’s not what matters.’ It was more that I wanted to play a full game and move myself. As I said yesterday I was not moving well, I wanted to run, to fight for everything, to fight.
“I remembered being 0-2 down in Qatar and coming back, so I knew I could get another chance even if I lost [the huge second game].”
Sebastien Bonmalais maintained his perfect streak over Henry Leung to secure a quarter-final place in New Zealand. The Frenchman has never dropped a single game to the Hong Konger, and he maintained that record by claiming a 3-0 triumph in the final men’s match of the day.
Both players entertained the crowd at the Isaac Theatre Royal with high quality rallies throughout, which favoured Bonmalais as he looked the more comfortable to take the first 11-9. The World No.26 continued to look slick in the second, taking it 11-5 to make it a commanding lead over Leung.
Leung, who came through a five-game battle with Daniel Poleeshchuk yesterday, made the desired start to the third as he ramped up his game to go 6-1 up.
However Bonmalais remained composed despite trailing, bringing it back to 6-6 as he went on to close out the match and extend his unbeaten streak over Leung on the PSA Squash Tour.
“I feel happy. I feel happy to be through today,” he said afterwards. “I like the court – it’s a nice court and a nice venue. It’s a really nice environment and I think I played well – I had a good first game and a good second game, I was accurate, made some good shots and I was keeping it tight and not leaving it in the middle as I know he [Henry Leung] is good if you leave it in the middle.
“In the third game, the ball was a bit more dead which suits him more, he started to attack a bit more and after 6-1 down I knew I had to push to try to win this game and close it in three.”
Premier Tour
Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-1 Enora Villard 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-2 (35m)
Auguste Dussourd 3-2 Edwin Clain 13-11, 9-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7 (64m)
Dussourd went into today’s match having recorded comfortable 3-0 victories over Clain in the pair’s previous two meetings, but was made to work hard for the win today.
Clain attacked confidently from the beginning, keeping Dussourd guessing with his creativity.
Dussourd managed to eke out a lead after taking game one 13-11, only for Clain to fire back to take a suprise 2-1 lead over the too-passive Dussourd with 11-9, 11-5 wins.
Dussourd, who admitted after the match worrying about another first round exit after a 3-0 defeat to Raphael Kandra in the Houston Open in February, played more positively in the fourth game, levelling with an 11-4.
The decider lacked rhythm as both men aimed to hit quickfire winners early on before the two settled.
Dussourd, though, was able to marshal himself and saw out the fifth game 11-7 to move through to round two.
Afterwards, Dussourd said: “I messed up in Houston, I was so disappointed after Houston. I just thought if you lose this, you still have nine days to wait until the Australian Open and that would be really tough mentally. I thought ‘It’s better to push one day than having nine horrible days!’
Odense
Finales
[2] Toufik Mekhalfi 3-0 Sam Buckley (IRL) 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (36m)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) 3-2 [4] Lauren Baltayan 3-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (53m)
Demies
[4] Lauren Baltayan 3-2 [8] Tanvi Khanna (IND) 11-4, 6-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-6 (53m)
[2] Toufik Mekhalfi 3-1 [8] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (51m)
Quarts de Finale
[4] Lauren Baltayan 3-0 [5] Lowri Roberts (WAL) 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (19m)
[2] Toufik Mekhalfi 3-0 Darren Pragasam (MAS) 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 (27m)
Second Tour
[2] Toufik Mekhalfi3-0 Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (34m)
[3] Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) 3-1 Macéo Levy 11-2, 11-8, 7-11, 14-12 (69m)
[9/16] Sam Buckley (Irl) 3-2 [7] Melvil Scianimanico 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10
