Canada Cup: Masotti Battles Past Kandra in Five

Frenchman Baptiste Masotti completed a sensational comeback against World No.30 Raphael Kandra as he overturned a two-game deficit to reach round two of the Troilus Gold Canada Cup taking place in Toronto.

World No.40 Masotti looked to be heading out of the PSA World Tour Silver tournament after Kandra took the opening two games 12-10, 11-8 to put one foot in the last 16 at the Ontario Racquet Club.

But Masotti, who shot to prominence with a surprise run to the quarter-finals of the CIB Egyptian Squash Open, PSA World Tour Platinum event in October, recaptured the sort of form he displayed in Cairo to take the next three games without reply, winning 10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-6 after 76 minutes of action to set up a round two clash with No.5 seed Mazen Hesham.

India’s Ramit Tandon and Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam also claimed wins over higher-ranked opposition, with World No.52 Tandon beating World No.24 Campbell Grayson, while Aslam, the World No.50, bridged an 11-place gap in the rankings to oust Scotland’s Alan Clyne.

Tandon is rewarded with a round two fixture against English veteran Daryl Selby, while Aslam will do battle against French No.8 seed Mathieu Castagnet.

The rest of the first round matches went to seeding, although England’s Declan James was troubled by wildcard Michael McCue, eventually coming through to win in four games. The World No.21 will contest his last 16 clash with the in-form Welshman Joel Makin.

Round two fixtures begin at 12:00 on Saturday February 22, with the likes of World Champion Tarek Momen, World Championship runner-up Paul Coll and World No.7 Diego Elias all getting their tournaments under way.

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Results – First Round: 2020 Troilus Gold Canada Cup
[9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Edmon Lopez (ESP) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (35m)
[9/16] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Yip Tsz Fung (HKG) 3-0: 15-13, 11-2, 11-6 (31m)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt [9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-2: 10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-6 (76m)
[9/16] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Victor Crouin (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 (28m)
[9/16] Declan James (ENG) bt [WC] Michael McCue (CAN) 3-1: 11-5, 11-3, 11-13, 11-3 (46m)
Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt [9/16] Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-2: 11-8, 11-9, 2-11, 6-11, 11-7 (58m)
Ramit Tandon (IND) bt [9/16] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 3-1: 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (44m)
[9/16] Nicolas Müller (SUI) bt Ben Coleman (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (39m)

Draw – Second Round
[1] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
[7] Cesar Salazar (MEX) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
[5] Mazen Hesham (EGY) v Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
[3] Diego Elias (PER) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[4] Joel Makin (WAL) v Declan James (ENG)
[8] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v Tayyab Aslam (PAK)
[6] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Ramit Tandon (IND)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) v Nicolas Müller (SUI)