Challenger Tour Round-Up: Seeds Crash Out in Vancouver & Costa Rica

Richardson Wealth Van Lawn Open  

Four seeds went crashing out of the Richardson Wealth Van Lawn Open on day two, with Salah Eltorgman keeping Canadian hopes alive in the process. 

Eltorgman was playing No.3 seed Tang Ming Hong of Hong Kong in round two, but controlled much of the match to run out a 3-0 winner in 45 minutes. 

The Canadian will now play another Kong Kong player in the quarter-finals, in the shape of Chung Yat Long, who himself caused an upset to reach the last eight. 

The World No.162 came through a marathon matchup with No.5 seed Joseph White, overturning a 2-1 deficit to edge a 75-minute battle against a player ranked more than 70 places higher than him. 

There were also upsets for Jorge Gomez and Sebastian Salazar, who beat Wong Chi Him and Alejandro Reyes respectively, but there were no such problems for either of the top two seeds. 

Top seed Nathan Lake needed just 25 minutes to get past Andes Ling 3-0, while second seed Faraz Khan beat Canada’s Liam Marrison 3-1. 

No.6 seed Perry Malik is also through, but only after surviving a 75-minute marathon of his own, coming through 3-2 against Hong Kong’s Ho Ka Hei. 

SACC Costa Rica Open 

The top seeds went out in both the men’s and women’s draw on quarter-finals day at the SACC Costa Rica Open. 

Men’s No.1 seed Rowan Damming had reached at least the semi-finals in his last eight PSA Tour events, but came up short of that mark this time around, going down 3-0 to No.5 seed Alejandro Enriquez of Gautemala. 

Damming’s defeat followed an equally big upset in the women’s draw, where top seed Ineta Mackevica fell to a 3-0 loss at the hands of Egypt’s Habiba Hani in just 19 minutes. 

No.2 seed Torrie Malik also went out, losing a tense, five-game match to No.4 seed Alex Haydon, after the pre-tournament withdrawals had thrown the two seeds together earlier than they would normally have expected. 

Malik and Mackevica’s defeats mean 18-year-old American Caroline Fouts is the highest-remaining seed, and will have her sights set on a first ever PSA Tour final. 

RGSA Open De Squash 

Diego Gobbi continued his quest for glory on home soil, cruising into the RGSA Open De Squash quarter-finals. 

The No.1 seed made light work of Argentina’s Dylan Tymkiw in round two, needing just 23 minutes to win 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 and set up an all-Brazilian matchup with Vinicius Torres Berbel. 

All but one of the other seeds made it through as well, with Paraguay’s Damian Casarino the only exception, losing out to unseeded Chilean Lucas Pérez. 

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