Sharpes Stuns Walker In Pittsburgh Opener

#PSAWorldTour

England’s Charles Sharpes, the 22-year-old who booked his place in the main draw after coming through two qualification encounters, pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career in the opening round of the Pittsburgh Open 2015, seeing-off World No.21 and number two seed Alister Walker.

Sharpes, the World No.68, put in an impressive performance to complete a straight games victory over the Botswanan former World No.12 and move into the quarter-finals where he will face Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, who pulled off an upset victory of his own to get past No.7 seed Mahesh Mangaonkar.

“That was the best win of my career,” Sharpes said. “I was very pleased with how I played, and I am thrilled to have beaten the world number 21.”

In the top half of the draw Peru’s Diego Elias continues his impressive recent run on the PSA World Tour, pulling off an impressive 3-2 victory over Mexican Alfedo Avila to set up a last eight match-up with Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad.

Results: First Round
[1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [Q] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 14-12, 12-10, 12-10 (83m)
[8] Diego Elias (PER) bt Alfredo Avila (MEX) 3-2: 11-6, 4-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-6 (75m)
[6] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [Q] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 (44m)
[3] Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Campbell Grayson (NZL) 3-2: 6-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3 (80m)
[4] Alan Clyne (SCO) bt [WC] Joel Hinds (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3 (52m)
[5] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-9 (40m)
[Q] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [7] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 3-2: 11-5, 5-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-1 (78m)
[Q] Charles Sharpes (ENG) bt [2] Alister Walker (BOT) 3-0: 13-11, 11-9, 11-4 (42m)

Draw: Quarter-finals
[1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [8] Diego Elias (PER)
[6] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [3] Gregoire Marche (FRA)
[4] Alan Clyne (SCO) v [5] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
[Q] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v [Q] Charles Sharpes (ENG)