Challenger Tour Round-Up: Evans Upsets Khan, Nicolas Stays Hot

Oregon Open 

Emyr Evans upset No.1 seed Faraz Khan at the Oregon Open, reaching the biggest final of his career in the process. 

The No.3 seed has played in three 10k finals before, but will now compete for his first PSA Challenger Tour 15 title, after coming from a game down to topple the American. 

Khan had taken the opening game 11-9, but it was largely one-way traffic from there, as the Welshman raced through the next three games, never dropping more than five points to secure victory. 

He will now play another American in the final in the form of Spencer Lovejoy, who came through an epic five-game tussle with Muhammad Ashab Irfan. 

Lovejoy looked to be heading into the final without much trouble after taking a two-game lead in just over 20 minutes, and then finding himself 3-1 up in the third. 

The 19-year-old hit back, though, claiming 10 of the next 12 points to win game three 11-5, before securing the fourth by the same scoreline to send the match into a decider. 

Once again, Lovejoy appeared to be heading into the final with three match balls at 10-7, but Irfan came back from the brink to level at 10-10. 

He then saved another two match balls at 11-10 and 12-10 down, but it would be sixth time lucky for Lovejoy, who finally converted an opportunity to secure victory. 

Evans and Lovejoy will now meet for the first time ever on the PSA Tour, but the Welshman is under no illusions about what sort of test he is expecting. 

“Spencer is physically strong and has a different style of play than Faraz Khan, who deploys a short and open game,” he said after his win. 

“I have to be patient and I’m very much looking forward to our match.” 

PSA Gradignan 

French teenager Brice Nicolas continued his impressive run at the PSA Gradignan, beating Ivan Perez to reach the semi-finals. 

Nicolas had already beaten one seed to reach the last eight, knocking out fellow Frenchman Toufik Mekhalfi 3-0, and followed that up with another impressive performance against the Spanish No.4 seed, running out a 3-1 winner in a match that lasted 79 minutes. 

He will now play experienced Egyptian Mazen Gamal in the second semi-final, with the potential for an all-French men’s final still on the cards. 

That’s because the first semi-final will see No.3 seed Edwin Clain take on top seed Curtis Malik. 

Malik had to overcome a tricky test against local wild card Joshua Phinera in his quarter-final, coming from a game down to win 3-1, while Clain saw off Ammar Altamimi in three hard-fought games. 

Photo credit: Squash Francais

You can stay up to date with all the results on the PSA Tour here. 

Featured photo credit: Brandon Davis