by Ian Marshall, Editor

Host nation brothers Laurens and Robin Devos emerged the players to qualify with in addition to Cédric Nuytinck, Egypt’s Omar Assar, Ukraine’s Kou Lei and Germany’s Bastian Steger alongside Sweden’s Anton Källberg and Kristian Karlsson completing the names of those who had received invitations.

Win a close contest and confidence blossoms, it is a well-worn phrase. Most certainly it applied to Cédric Nuytinck, he beat Germany’s Bastian Steger, the defending champion, by the very minimal seven game margin in the opening round (9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-9).

A testing hurdle overcome, a place in the semi-finals booked. Cédric Nuytinck accounted for Omar Assar, the top seed (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7), the first round winner in opposition to Laurens Devos (11-9, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4), prior to overcoming Kristian Karlsson (11-6, 10-12, 13-11, 11-9, 11-4) to arrest the title.

Earlier, in the opposite half of the draw, Kristian Karlsson had beaten Robin Devos (12-10, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9), prior to restoring national pride. He beat Kou Lei in a full distance seven games encounter (9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 15-17, 11-5), the opening round victor in opposition to Anton Källberg (11-6, 11-6, 12-10, 14-12, 11-4).

Success for Cédric Nuytinck and success very much on home soil, he hails from the Flanders region of Belgium as opposed to many of his predecessors who are from Wallonia, the French speaking part of the country.

40th Flanders Ostend Open: Masters – Results (Saturday 11th August)

40th Flanders Ostend Open: Class Events – Roll of Honour (Saturday 11th August)

40th Flanders Ostend Open: Class Events – Roll of Honour (Friday 10th August)