As expected most of the qualifying finals in the North American Open were tough fights. Mathieu Castagnet (pic) of France overcame Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly in the longest match. After a 122 minutes encounter (8-11, 14-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9) the Frenchman became the lowest-ranked player to qualify. 21 minutes shorter was the match of Malaysian Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan, when he beat Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad 11-9, 8-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-6 after 101 minutes of play. Us interest where secured by US squash star Julian Illingworth, when he overcame US team-mate Christopher Gordon in a 71-minute clash, triumphing 17-15, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9. Other qualifying finals: Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) bt Joel Hinds (ENG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (56m); Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (58m); Martin Knight (NZL) bt Dylan Bennett (NED) 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (72m); Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt Siddharth Suchde (IND) 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 (65m); Yann Perrin (FRA) bt Zac Alexander (AUS) 13-11, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 (92m).
