Rauf Moves into Seattle Open Quarter-Final

#PSAWorldTour

Pakistan’s Ismail Rauf sealed a spot in his first ever PSA World Tour quarter-final after defeating number four seed Angus Gillams in round one of the Samson Seattle Open, PSA M10 tournament.

Rauf took the first game in comfortable fashion and, despite a revival from Gillams that saw the Englishman level things up by taking the second, Rauf held firm to claim an 11-3, 12-14, 11-7, 11-4 victory.

The 19-year-old is rewarded with a quarter-final fixture against Finland’s Matias Tuomi who swept to victory against Malaysia’s Valentino Bong.

Elsewhere, Vikram Malhotra, who memorably came through qualifying to win the Betty Griffin Memorial Florida Open three months ago, has secured a place in the last eight courtesy of a win over Leandro Romiglio. The Argentinian pushed Malhotra hard in games one and three but the Indian World No.125 had too much in the tank and pushed on to prevail. Malhotra will face off with Nathan Lake in the next stage after Cheltenham-based Lake eliminated Charlie Johnson.

Top seed Tom Ford got his tournament off to a flawless start by romping to victory against wildcard Sohail Jahan Khan in a three-game salvo. Ford, who hails from Worcester in England, will line up against Shahjahan Khan for a place in the semi-final.

Number three seed Andrew Schnell was another victor after he came through a three-game affair with Nick Sachvie in an all-Canadian fixture. Ashley Davies will lock horns with Schnell in the next round after the Englishman downed Auguste Dussourd.

Results – First Round: Samson Seattle Open 2016
[1] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [WC] Sohail Jahan Khan (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-4
[5] Shahjahan Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) 3-0: 12-10, 11-3, 11-7
[8] Ashley Davies (ENG) bt [Q] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 14-12, 11-8
[3] Andrew Schnell (CAN) bt [Q] Nick Sachvie (CAN) 3-0: 11-3, 14-12, 11-7
[Q] Ismail Rauf (PAK) bt [4] Angus Gillams (ENG) 3-1: 11-3, 12-14, 11-7, 11-4
[7] Matias Tuomi (FIN) bt Valentino Bong (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-7
Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt [6] Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-9
[2] Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Charlie Johnson (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-8

Main Draw – Quarter-Final
[1] Tom Ford (ENG) v [5] Shahjahan Khan (PAK)
[8] Ashley Davies (ENG) v [3] Andrew Schnell (CAN)
[Q] Ismail Rauf (PAK) v [7] Matias Tuomi (FIN)
Vikram Malhotra (IND) v [2] Nathan Lake (ENG)