Bremer Schlüssel: Wildcard Omar ElKattan Causes Upset On Day One

Event wildcard and World No.230 Omar ElKattan scored the only upset in round one of the Bremer Schlüssel 2023 as he joined seven 9/16 seeds in progressing through to round two of the Challenger 10 event in Bremen, Germany.

One of the event wildcards, ElKattan, has been ranked as highly at World No.120 in the past and showed his high skill level again as he took on Czech Republic’s Jakub Solnicky for a place in round two. The Egyptian started in spectacular style, racing out to a shock 2-0 lead against World No.117 Solnicky. The Czech battled back strongly however and managed to draw level after taking games three and four. ElKattan was not to be denied however as he secured the fifth game winning 11-5.

The Bremen crowd were treated to a home winner on day one as Valentin Rapp secured a confident 3-0 win over England’s Lewis Doughty. The German took a competitive first game 11-8 before settling into his rhythm to win 11-3, 11-5 in the following two games. He now faces top seed Mazen Gamal in the next round.

A trio of British players also made their way through to the second round as Wales’ Elliot Morris Devred and Owain Taylor defeated wildcard Heiko Schwarzer and Ondrej Vorlicek respectively, whilst England’s Stuart Macgregor overcame compatriot Noah Meredith in straight games. Morris Devred now faces Switzerland’s Yannick Wilhelmi, Taylor faces fellow Brit James Peach and Macgregor will square up against No.4 seed Mahesh Mangoankar.

The second round action will be available to watch here. With play starting at 12:00 (GMT+2).

You can also keep up with daily reports on the PSA Challenger Tour Facebook and Twitter channels.

Results: Bremer Schlüssel 2023 – Round One
[9/16] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 (28m)
[9/16] Robin Gadola (SUI) bt Nilo Vidal (ESP) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 (30m)
[9/16] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) bt [WC] Heiko Schwarzer (GER) 3-1: 11-3, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7 (36m)
[9/16] Stuart Macgregor (ENG) bt Noah Meredith (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 (33m)
[WC] Omar ElKattan (EGY) bt [9/16] Jakub Solnicky (CZE) 3-2: 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-5 (43m)
[9/16] Owain Taylor (WAL) bt Ondrej Vorlícek (CZE) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (34m)
[9/16] Andes Ling (HKG) bt Laszlo Godde (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 12-10 (33m)
[9/16] Khaled Labib (EGY) bt [WC] David Zeman (CZE) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 (23m)

Draw: Bremer Schlüssel 2023 – Round Two
[1] Mazen Gamal (EGY) v Valentin Rapp (GER)
[7] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) v Robin Gadola (SUI)
[5] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) v Elliott Morris Devred (WAL)
[4] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v Stuart Macgregor (ENG)
[3] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) v Omar ElKattan (EGY)
[8] James Peach (ENG) v Owain Taylor (WAL)
[6] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) v Andes Ling (HKG)
[2] Simon Herbert (ENG) v Khaled Labib (EGY)