Burnt Open RD1: Top Seeds All Through

The opening day of the Burnt Squash Open saw the top seeds all safely make it through. The top eight are all into the quarter finals of the Challenger 5 level competition in Lakeville, Connecticut.

The event got underway on Friday afternoon at the Cullman Courts, with Nigerian No.4 seed Babatunde Ajagbe taking on Colombia’s Nicolas Serna. That match was one of just two to go past a third game on the opening day. Ajagbe won in four after 54 minutes to advance to the last eight in Lakeville.

No.7 seed Hamza Sharif was the other man to see his match extended, after falling behind early on to compatriot Salma Hashmi. He lost the first 11-3, but fought back strongly to win in four after just 36 minutes. He will now face the tournament’s No.2 seed, and the highest-ranked player in the draw, in Egypt’s Seif Shenawy.

Top seed Spencer Lovejoy started his campaign strongly, with a confident performance to defeat compatriot Yassin Amir in straight games. Amir gave a good showing of himself in what was his first ever match on the Tour, but Lovejoy was too good, winning 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 to move through to the quarters.

The last eight of the Burnt Squash Open will take place on Saturday, October 15 at the Cullman Courts. The quarter finalists will do battle to move through to the semis on Sunday.

First Round Results: Burnt Squash Open
[1] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) bt Yassin Amir (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (36m)
[6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) bt Aaron Allpress (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-7 (35m)
[8] Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) bt Karamatullah Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-7 (29m)
[4] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) bt Nicolas Serna (COL) 3-1: 11-4, 11-3, 7-11, 11-4 (54m)
[3] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt [WC] Callan Venkatesan (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (44m)
[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt Petr Nohel (CZE) 3-0: 11-5, 14-12, 11-8 (43m)
[7] Hamza Sharif (PAK) bt Salman Hashmi (PAK) 3-1: 3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (36m)
[2] Seif Shenawy (EGY) bt Ricardo Lopez (MEX) 3-0: 11-8, 16-14, 11-9 (47m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, October 15
[1] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) v [6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY)
[8] Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) v [4] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR)
[3] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) v [5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS)
[7] Hamza Sharif (PAK) v [2] Seif Shenawy (EGY)