Atlanta Open RD2: Tsukue and Shenawy Down Seeds

The second day of the Atlanta Open saw a couple of surprises, as Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue and Egypt’s Seif Shenawy advanced to the last eight.

The Challenger 10 level tournament, which is being played at the Concourse Athletic Club in the Sandy Springs region of Atlanta, saw the seeds come into the competition on Thursday evening.

Japan’s Tsukue took on Colombia’s Juan Camilo Vargas, the tournament’s No.3 seed, in the second round, and he took a two-game lead following a 12-10 win in the second game. The Colombian fought back to level the contest, but Tsukue regrouped to win the fifth 11-7, to move through to the last eight.

The other surprise on the second day was Egypt’s Seif Shenawy beating Argentinian No.1 Leandro Romiglio. Shenawy downed the event’s No.4 seed in straight games, winning 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 to book his quarter final spot in Atlanta.

Elsewhere, the top two seeds safely made it through. Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon defeated Malaysian Sanjay Jeeva in straight games, while the USA’s Timothy Brownell dropped just 11 points in a rout of England’s Mark Broekman.

Brownell will be joined in the quarter finals by compatriot Christopher Gordon, who had to go the distance to beat Colombia’s Edgar Ramirez Bautista. Gordon led on two occasions, after winning both the first and third games, but Bautista fought back both times. The American came through to win the fifth game 11-6 to advance.

The quarter finals of the Atlanta Open will be played on Friday, April 21, and you can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

Second Round Results: Atlanta Open
[1] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (45m)
[7] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) bt Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) 3-2: 9-11, 11-5, 11-3, 8-11, 11-3 (59m)
[8] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt Edgar Ramirez Bautista (COL) 3-2: 11-6, 11-13, 11-7, 2-11, 11-6 (71m)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [3] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 3-2: 11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 7-11, 11-7 (70m)
Seif Shenawy (EGY) bt [4] Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (48m)
[5] Zahed Salem (EGY) bt Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 3-2: 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7 (62m)
[6] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Spencer Lovejoy (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (41m)
[2] Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Mark Broekman (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-1, 11-5 (28m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, April 21
[1] David Baillargeon (CAN) v [7] Addeen Idrakie (MAS)
[8] Christopher Gordon (USA) v Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN)
Seif Shenawy (EGY) v [5] Zahed Salem (EGY)
[6] Ivan Yuen (MAS)  v [2] Timothy Brownell (USA)