Thursday, March 28, 2024

PSA: Zac zaps Hisham in Calgary as Grant falls to Mueller

David Palmer overcame Scottish No.1 Alan Clyne

RESULTS: PSA International 35 Calgary Winter Club Rocky Mountain Open, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

1st round:
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt Stephane Galifi (ITA) 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (33m)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Andrew McDougall (CAN) 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (45m)
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Alister Walker (ENG) 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 14-12 (76m)
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-2, 11-9, 11-3 (23m)
[Q] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [4] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8 (42m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-13, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5
Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [Q] Robbie Temple (ENG) 11-8, 11-4 ret. (41m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (37m)

Zac Zaps Ashour In Rocky Mountain Upset

Australian qualifier Zac Alexander produced the biggest upset on the opening day of main draw action in the Calgary Winter Club Rocky Mountain Open when he beat Egypt’s No4 seed Hisham Mohd Ashour to secure an unexpected place in the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour International 35 squash event in its second year at Calgary Winter Club in Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta.

The 22-year-old from Brisbane, who took out two higher-ranked players to survive the qualifiers, recorded one of the biggest wins of his career when he recovered from 2/1 down to beat Ashour, the world No17 from Cairo, 11-9, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8 in 42 minutes.

Alexander, ranked 64 in the world, now faces unseeded Nicolas Mueller. The Swiss number one, ranked 35 in the world, also scored a significant upset by beating England’s world No18 Adrian Grant 11-13, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5. The left-hander from London had arrived in Calgary fresh from PSA Tour title success at the Manitoba Open in Winnipeg.

It was a bad day for Englishmen following two further defeats. In his first appearance in Canada since relocating to New York at the beginning of this year, world No19 Alister Walker failed to capitalise on a two-game lead against Tarek Momen and, in a 76-minute marathon, went down 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 14-12 to the Egyptian ranked nine places below.

And London-based qualifier Robbie Temple was forced to quit after two games against Shahier Razik as the Canadian No1 marched into the quarter-finals after his 11-8, 11-4 (ret.) win.

The event’s top two seeds claimed their anticipated quarter-final berths after straight games wins. Dutch favourite Laurens Jan Anjema eased to an 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 victory over Italian Stephane Galifi while US-based Australian David Palmer, the No2 seed, defeated Scottish qualifier Alan Clyne 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.

Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[Q] Zac Alexander (AUS) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) v Shahier Razik (CAN)

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