Challenger Tour Round-Up: Jeeva Upsets Hometown Favourite Baillargeon in Montreal

Pembroke Management Open de Montreal 

Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva caused a major upset on quarter-finals day at the Pembroke Management Open de Montreal, ending home interest by knocking out Canada’s David Baillargeon. 

Backed by a vocal home crowd, Baillargeon came out with intent in game one, looking to implement his hard-hitting style in this all-lefty battle, but the unseeded Malaysian countered well, using his lob to good effect in slowing the tempo down. 

He took game one 11-9 and soon had a two-game lead, clinching the second by the same scoreline on a cheeky reverse boast. 

Jeeva’s speed had proved to be a deciding factor in the first two games, with his impressive front-court retrievals forcing Baillargeon into errors, and that speed continued to play its part in game three, as some long, drawn-out rallies ensued. 

The Montreal crowd did their best to cheer their hometown hero back into the contest, but it would ultimately be in vain, as the World No.99 closed out victory to set up a semi-final with another southpaw, Nathan Lake. 

No.2 seed Lake came through a tough test against fellow Englishman Finnlay Withington, winning 3-1 in 40 minutes. 

Withington is still just 19 years of age and is among the most talented young stars in the game, but it was perhaps Lake’s experience that shone through in this one, particularly in game one, which Lake took 12-10 after being 8-5 down. 

The second was more one-sided, finishing 11-4 to Lake, but Withington kept his hopes alive by taking game three, albeit only after seeing his first four game balls saves by the 31-year-old. 

Undeterred, Lake regained control in game four, bringing up four match balls when a diving effort from Withington fell short, closing out victory just moments later. 

The top half of the draw followed the seedings, with top seed Greg Lobban set to play No.4 seed Tom Walsh in the semi-finals, after both players came through in three. 

Lobban saw off the threat of Emyr Evans, winning all three games 11-7, after Walsh had downed French No.6 seed Toufik Mekhalfi 11-4, 12-10, 11-4. 

The semi-finals get underway at 2pm ET/7pm GMT on Saturday, February 10^th, with both matches streaming live on the Squash Quebec Facebook page. 

Squash on Fire Wild Card Challenge 

Seven of the eight seeded players made it through to round two in the women’s draw at the Squash on Fire Wild Card Challenge. 

The women’s competition is a 16-player field meaning there are no first-round byes, so all 16 players were in action. 

Top seed Alina Bushman of Ukraine, Egyptian’s Amina El Rihany, Mexico’s Diana Gasca and the USA’s Allie Stoddard all recorded a bagel on their way to straight-game wins, while No.2 seed Menna Walid had to work slightly harder for her victory over Margaret Gerety, but still came through in three. 

There will, however, be no place in the quarter-finals for No.7 seed Noorena Shams of Pakistan. The 26-year-old was comfortably beaten by local player Uma Patnaik, losing 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 in just 10 minutes. 

The men’s draw features 24 players meaning the top eight seeds did have byes, but there were no major upsets in the opening round, with all eight of the [9/16] seeds winning through, Jahangir Naseem being the only one needing more than three games. 

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