Third seed Rasmus Nielsen claimed the inaugural PSA McWil – Vitarade Gdansk Open title in Poland without dropping a game – yet, remarkably, the Dane scored his success without ever meeting a higher-seeded opponent in the PSA World Tour Challenger 5 event at Fitness Authority in Gdansk.
It was in the semi-finals that Nielsen defeated Lucas Serme, the unseeded Frenchman who removed Germany’s top seed Jens Schoor in the previous round.
And in the final, the 28-year-old from Odense faced another unseeded opponent Chris Fuller, an Englishman who made his breakthrough in the other semi where he dismissed second-seeded Frenchman Joan Lezaud in straight games.
But Nielsen, ranked 111 in the world, was too strong for Fuller in the final – beating the 20-year-old world No 158 from Kettering 11-1, 12-10, 11-4 in 42 minutes.
The win gives Nielsen the third PSA Tour title of his career.
Nielsen (2nd from right) and runner-up Fuller pictured at the trophy presentation
Final:
[3] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt Chris Fuller (ENG) 11-1, 12-10, 11-4 (42m)
Semi-finals:
[3] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (30m)
Chris Fuller (ENG) bt [2] Joan Lezaud (FRA) 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (28m)
Quarter-finals:
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [1] Jens Schoor (GER) 11-5, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7 (43m)
[3] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt [Q] Patrick Miescher (SUI) 11-2, 11-7, 13-11 (26m)
Chris Fuller (ENG) bt [4] Bart Ravelli (NED) 15-13, 11-9, 11-8 (33m)
[2] Joan Lezaud (FRA) bt [Q] Andrew Birks (ENG) 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10 (44m)
1st round:
[1] Jens Schoor (GER) bt Reiko Peter (SUI) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Marcin Karwowski (POL) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4
[Q] Patrick Miescher (SUI) bt Steven London (ENG) 13-11, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10
[3] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt [Q] Johan Bouquet (FRA) 11-5, 11-3, 12-10
[4] Bart Ravelli (NED) bt Kim Are Killingberg (NOR) 11-3, 11-3, 5-11, 11-4
Chris Fuller (ENG) bt [Q] Carsten Schoor (GER) 11-6, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4
[Q] Andrew Birks (ENG) bt Matias Tuomi (FIN) 11-8, 11-4, 11-7
[2] Joan Lezaud (FRA) bt Sebastian Weenink (NED) 11-5, 6-11, 14-12, 11-13, 11-9
Qualifying finals:
Johan Bouquet (FRA) bt Michael Harris (ENG) 2-11, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10
Patrick Miescher (SUI) bt Wojciech Nowisz (POL) 11-2, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4
Andrew Birks (ENG) bt Neeraj Aggarwal (AUS) 11-4, 11-2, 11-6
Carsten Schoor (GER) bt Zbynek Standera (CZE) 11-3, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3
1st qualifying round:
Johan Bouquet (FRA) bt Karamatullah Khan (PAK) 11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6
Michael Harris (ENG) bt Jonathan Geekie (SCO) 11-6, 11-8, 11-3
Patrick Miescher (SUI) bt Kamil Dominiak (POL) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7
Wojciech Nowisz (POL) bt Will John (WAL) 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9
Andrew Birks (ENG) bt Daniel West (ENG) 7-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-8
Neeraj Aggarwal (AUS) bt Lukasz Stachowski (POL) 12-10, 11-9, 12-10
Zbynek Standera (CZE) bt Maciek Maciantowicz (POL) 11-6, 11-2, 11-7
Carsten Schoor (GER) bt Martin Mosnik (SLO) 11-7, 8-11, 9-10 ret.
