Challenger Events
Challenger Tour Round-Up: Lobban and Lake into Montreal Final
Pembroke Management Open de Montreal
Top seed Greg Lobban came from behind to reach the Pembroke Management Open de Montreal final, where he will play No.2 seed Nathan Lake.
The Scot was playing fourth seed Tom Walsh in the first semi-final, and dropped the opening game 11-8, with a few unforced errors proving costly.
He found his feet in game two, though, with Walsh making some mistakes of his own in amongst some heated calls and even a moment of comedy involving the referee, when the Englishman started to argue his case before a decision had been made.
A win in game two shifted the momentum in Lobban’s favour, and he carried that momentum into the third, extending the rallies and keeping his error-count down to put himself within one game of victory, although only after seeing his first three game balls saved.
Game four was arguably the best of the match, with the rallies getting longer and the attrition getting higher, but ultimately, it was the Scot who came out on top, hitting a beautiful, rolling, cross-court nick to book his spot in the final.
His opponent in that final will be another Englishman, in Lake, who had a more straightforward outing on semi-finals day.
The southpaw was looking to avoid the same unwanted fate as home favourite David Baillargeon, who had lost to unseeded Malaysian Sanja Jeeva in the quarter-finals, but Lake settled any nerves there might have been by winning game one 11-6.
That perhaps took the wind out of Jeeva’s sails, and Lake dominated proceedings from there, losing just five more points in the match to reach the 19th final of his PSA Tour career.
You can watch the Open de Montreal final live on the Squash Quebec Facebook page from 2pm ET/7pm GMT today.
Squash on Fire Wild Card Challenge
Top two seeds Alina Bushma and Menna Walid will compete for a spot in the Bronze-level Squash on Fire event, after reaching the women’s final of the Squash on Fire Wild Card Challenge.
Ukraine’s Bushma – the No.1 seed – needed all five games to see off Egypt’s Amina El Rihany, overturning a 2-1 deficit to win in 61 minutes.
Meanwhile, Walid – a winner of three Tour titles already this season – put a disappointing second game behind her to deny the USA’s Eliza Schuster, winning 11-7, 3-11, 11-5, 11-3 in less than half an hour.
In the men’s draw, the semi-finals and final will all take place on Sunday, with both round two and the quarter-finals having taken place on Saturday.
Round two featured one of the more dramatic matches we’ve seen on tour this year, with Andres Herrera and Cesar Segundo Corona going toe-to-toe for almost 100 minutes.
No.4 seed Herrera was two games up but later found himself facing a match ball at 10-9 down in the fifth, after losing games three and four.
He somehow saved it, scrambling around the court in a breathtaking rally in which Segundo Corona seemed in complete control, before eventually getting over the line a few moments later in the tie break.
The day would ultimately end in defeat for the Colombian, though, as he lost out in the last eight to Abdul Malik Khan, who set up an all-Pakistani semi-final with top seed Muhammad Asim Khan.
The second semi-final will also feature a Pakistani player, in the form of No.3 seed Muhammad Ashab Irfan, who will play Czech second seed Daniel Mekbib.
You can stay up to date with all the scores from the PSA Challenger Tour here.
