Masters Mows Down Makin in Melbourne

#PSAWorldTour

England’s Joshua Masters produced a sublime performance to upset number three seed Joel Makin in the opening round of the Greater Shepparton City Council International, PSA M5 tournament as the main draw got off to an electric start.

The World No.188 is ranked 74 places behind Makin in the World Rankings and the Welshman certainly looked like the higher-ranked player as he dominated the opening stages of the encounter. Masters forced his way back into contention impressively to level things up before a number of high-octane rallies between the pair resulted in the score being two games apiece as the match headed into a dramatic fifth game showdown.

Maidstone-born Masters kept up his momentum to secure an 11-5 win in the final game and advance through to the second round.

Alex Eustace will meet the Englishman there after he defeated Omar Bahgat in straight games while Jong Myoung Park stunned Malaysian Tour Squash V victor Addeen Idrakie to win in three.

Kush Kumar, who we recently named as one of our potential stars of the future, is also through to round two after a superb victory over seventh seed Jonathan Maloney. The talented teenager controlled the match and a flurry of attacking squash paid dividends and ensured his progress through to the next stage of the tournament where he will face Martin Svec who stormed past Mohamed Abdelkalek.

Top seed Jaymie Haycocks and Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam will also compete in the next round after they defeated Wildcard Tyler Hawkins and Ben Coates, respectively. Haycocks will do battle with Shahzad Khan after he saw off Rohan Toole while Aslam is set to meet Mithran Selvaratnam who dispatched Steven Liu.

Results – First Round: Greater Shepparton City Council International 2015
[1] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) bt [WC] Tyler Hawkins (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-1
[Q] Shahzad Khan (PAK) bt Rohan Toole (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-8
[Q] Roee Avraham (ISR) bt Rhys Dowling (AUS) 3-2: 5-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8
[Q] Jong Myoung Park (KOR) bt [6] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-1: 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9
Kush Kumar (IND) bt [7] Jonathan Maloney (ENG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 13-11
Martin Svec (CZE) bt [Q] Mohamed Abdelkalek (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-1, 11-3
Alex Eustace (AUS) bt [Q] Omar Bahgat (EGY) 3-0: 11-1, 11-6, 11-7
Joshua Masters (ENG) bt [3] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-2: 4-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5
[4] Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt Alex Noakes (ENG) ret.
[Q] Jaejin Yoo (KOR) bt Connor Sheen (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8
Ko Youngjo (KOR) bt Ondrej Uherka (CZE) 3-1: 11-3, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6
[8] Valentino Bon Jovi Bong (MAS) bt Joel Luca (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-1, 11-2
[5] Douglas Kempsell (SCO) bt David Clegg (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-3
[Q] Khaled Zahran (EGY bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-6
[Q] Mithran Selvaratnam (MAS) bt Steven Liu (MAC) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6
[2] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Ben Coates (ENG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 13-11

Draw – Second Round
[1] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) v [Q] Shahzad Khan (PAK)
[Q] Roee Avraham (ISR) v [Q] Jong Myoung Park (KOR)
Kush Kumar (IND) v Martin Svec (CZE)
[Q] Omar Bahgat (EGY) v Joshua Masters (ENG)
[4] Joshua Larkin (AUS) v [Q] Jaejin Yoo (KOR)
Ko Youngjo (KOR) v [8] Valentino Bon Jovi Bong (MAS)
[5] Douglas Kempsell (SCO) v [Q] Khaled Zahran (EGY)
[Q] Mithran Selvaratnam (MAS) v [2] Tayyab Aslam (PAK)