Schraglage Squash Open: Beinhard and Rehman Victorious

Austria’s Aqeel Rehman and home favourite Saskia Beinhard have taken the titles at the Schraglage Squash Open powered by VASS, which came to its conclusion at the Pink Power club in Boblingen, Germany on Sunday afternoon.

Rehman came into the men’s Challenger 5 level competition as the No.5 seed, and defeated wildcard Nils Herzberg in the opening round, before then going on to get the better of compatriot, and the event’s No.11 seed, Jakob Dirnberger.

On day three of the competition, the Austrian No.1 played twice, and saw both of his encounters on the glass court go to five. He started in the morning with a surprise win over No.3 seed Valentin Rapp, coming from a game down to win 3-2, before doing the exact same in his semi-final contest, winning the last tow games to down No.6 seed Viktor Byrtus to make it through to the final.

In the final, Rehman came up against England’s Stuart MacGregor, who came into Sunday’s clash full of confidence after taking down the tournament’s top seed in his semi-final match. However, a quick start from the Austrian saw him take a two game lead, and although the Englishman won the third, it was Rehman who was able to regroup to claim the fourth, winning his first Tour title in just over a year.

It was close to the same situation for Beinhard, who came into the women’s Challenger 3 level competition looking for her first victory on Tour since March 2021, and she managed to achieve that feat, winning on home soil for the second time in her career.

The German came into the tournament as the No.2 seed, and defeated wildcard Alina Poessl in straight games to get her campaign underway, before needing to go the distance against Austrian No.1 Jacqueline Peychar in the quarter finals. She led twice, only to see the No.7 seed fight back on both occasions, before she eventually got the job done in just under an hour.

A victory over England’s Katie Wells in the last four saw her through to the final, where she came up against compatriot and No.5 seed Katerina Tycova. The final was a slog between two close friends, with Beinhard taking the first and third games, but seeing her fellow German fight back to level the match on both occasions. Eventually, it was the World No.73 who got the job done, winning the fifth and final game 11-3 to secure her first title of the year, and her second overall on German soil.

*Results: Schraglage Squash Open powered by VASS*
*Men’s Final*
[5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [8] Stuart Macgregor (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5 (47m)

*Women’s Final*
[2] Saskia Beinhard (GER) bt [5] Katerina Tycova (GER) 3-2: 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 4-11, 11-3 (53m)

*Men’s Semi-Finals*
[8] Stuart MacGregor (ENG) bt [1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) 3-1: 3-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (46m)
[5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [6] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) 3-2: 11-5, 6-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-3 (42m)

*Women’s Semi-Finals*
[5] Katerina Tycova (GER) bt [3] Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8 (37m)
[2] Saskia Beinhard (GER) bt [6] Katie Wells (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-7 (26m)

*Men’s Quarter Finals*
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [9] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-3 (18m)
[8] Stuart MacGregor (ENG) bt [4] Robin Gadola (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 12-10 (40m)
[5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [3] Valentin Rapp (GER) 3-2: 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 (60m)
[6] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) bt Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 (44m)

*Women’s Quarter Finals*
[5] Katerina Tycova (GER) bt [1] Nadia Pfister (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 16-14, 11-7 (34m)
[3] Alicia Mead (ENG) bt [8] Polly Clark (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (17m)
[6] Katie Wells (ENG) bt [4] Sofia Mateos (ESP) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 (27m)
[2] Saskia Beinhard (GER) bt [7] Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) 3-2: 14-12, 11-13, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8 (55m)

*Men’s Round Two*
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7 (38m)
[9] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) bt [7] Joeri Hapers (BEL) 3-1: 6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12 (57m)
[8] Stuart MacGregor (ENG) bt [12] Ondrej Vorlicek (CZE) 3-1: 11-6, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 (44m)
[4] Robin Gadola (SUI) bt Julius Benthin (GER) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-2 (21m)
[3] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt [13] Karim Elbarbary (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (38m)
[5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [11] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) 3-1: 11-5, 11-1, 13-15, 11-6 (38m)
[6] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) bt David Bernet (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (37m)
Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) bt Sepehr Etemadpoor (IRI) 3-2: 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7 (56m)

*Women’s Round One*
[1] Nadia Pfister (SUI) bt Tereza Siroka (CZE) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (18m)
[5] Katerina Tycova (GER) bt Lilou Brevard-Belliot (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (17m)
[8] Polly Clark (ENG) bt Stella Kaufmann (SUI) 3-1: 11-9, 11-3, 8-11, 11-5 (31m)
[3] Alicia Mead (ENG) bt Aylin Gunsav (GER) 3-0: 11-4, 12-10, 11-3 (23m)
[4] Sofia Mateos (ESP) bt Catherine Holland (SCO) 3-0: 114, 11-2, 11-3 (19m)
[6] Katie Wells (ENG) bt Anastasiia Kostiukova (UKR) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (27m)
[7] Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) bt Maisara Azlan (MAS) 3-1: 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (37m)
[2] Saskia Beinhard (GER) bt [WC] Alina Posse (SUI) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-2 (15m)

*Men’s Round One*
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt Tobias Weggen (GER) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-4
Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) bt [16] Nils Roesch (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-6
[9] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) bt Lukas Windischberger (AUT) 3-0: 13-11, 11-5, 11-4
[7] Joeri Hapers (BEL) bt [WC] Finn Koch (GER) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-1
[8] Stuart MacGregor (ENG) bt [WC] Fabian Igelbrink (GER) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-3
[12] Ondrej Vorlicek (CZE) bt [WC] Tarek Shehata (EGY) 3-1: 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8
Julius Benthin (GER) bt [10] Valeriy Fedoruk (UKR) 3-: 6-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-5
[4] Robin Gadola (SUI) bt [WC] Jakob Kanel (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-1
[3] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt [WC] Dennis Welte (GER) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-4
[13] Karim Elbarbary (EGY) bt Lewis Anderson (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 12-10
[11] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) bt [WC] Sven Stettler 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-4
[5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [WC] Nils Herzberg (GER) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-4
[6] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) bt [WC] Nils Schwab (GER) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-6
David Bernet (SUI) bt [14] Nilo Vidal (ESP) 3-1: 11-9, 11-2, 9-11, 11-9
Sepehr Etemadpoor (IRI) bt [15] Liam Marrison (CAN) 3-2: 5-11, 12-10, 12-14, 11-9, 12-10
Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) bt [2] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 3-0: 13-11, 11-9, 13-11