Challenger Tour Round-Up: French Hopes Over in Cognac, Zendejas Wins in Denver

Cognac Open

Teenage duo Brice Nicolas and Melvil Scianimanico both went out in the quarter-finals, ending French hopes at the Cognac Open.

Both players had sprung upsets in the previous round, with Nicolas winning an all-French battle against No.3 seed Edwin Clain, while 18-year-old Scianimanico came from two games down to stun top seed Mazen Gamel, but neither was able to back it up in the last eight.

Playing No.6 seed Matthew Lai, Nicolas went down 3-1 in the day’s penultimate match, leaving home hopes resting with Scianimanico.

He was unable to fare any better, though, losing 3-0 to fifth seed Jakub Solnicky in 40 minutes, with all three games finishing 11-9.

Lai and Solnicky will now meet for a place in the final, while the top half of the draw will see the No.2 seed play the No.8 seed in the semi-finals.

No.2 seed Daniel Poleshchuk needed only 21 minutes to brush aside Khaled Labib 3-0, and will play another Egyptian, Mohamed Nasser, in the last four.

Nasser also won his quarter-final 3-0, but found a much sterner test in England’s Robert Downer, who pushed him hard in a match that lasted nearly an hour.

Grizzly Bear Bourbon Mile High 360 Squash Classic

The Grizzly Bear Bourbon Mile High 360 Squash Classic got underway yesterday, with wild card Jacques Swanepoel causing the biggest upset on day one.

The South African is unranked on the PSA Tour, but put in a stunning performance to beat World No.300 Muhammad Ibrahim Noorani of Pakistan, dropping only seven points in the entire match.

The other standout story from round one was a victory for 17-year-old Carlos Zendejas, who beat 46-year-old Armando Olguin 3-0 in an all-Mexican battle.

Not only is Zendejas 29 years younger than his opponent, but also came into the match ranked 167 placed below him in the world rankings, yet showed few signs of that disparity, running out 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 winner.

Day two will see the seeds enter play, with No.1 seed Cesar Salazar set to play Mark Broekman of England, while second seed Faraz Khan will face Pakistan’s Saeed Abdul.

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