Czech Open: Kandra Ends Mueller Reign to Set up Rooney Final

Raphael Kandra ended Nicolas Mueller’s reign at the Czech Open, beating the two-time defending champion 3-0 in the semi-finals.

Mueller, champion in Brno for each of the last two years, had looked on course to retain his crown after easing through his first two matches without dropping a game. 

Kandra, though, had other ideas, dominating a one-sided matchup that took just 29 minutes, with the German dropping just 12 points in total. 

Speaking after the win, Kandra said: “We have been rivals for many years and played a lot of matches against each other, so mentally I knew I had to stay strong.  

“My gameplan worked well today and my shots were hitting the targets. Sometimes it doesn’t need more.” 

To lift the trophy, Kandra will have to record a first ever PSA Tour win over England’s Patrick Rooney, who came through a five-game thriller against No.3 seed Yahya Elnawasany. 

Rooney had to do things the hard way after falling 2-1 down three games into what was an attacking matchup. 

He opened a crucial gap midway through the fourth, moving from 3-3 to 9-3 in less than three minutes, and set up a decider soon after. 

The fifth was a back-and-forth affair, with nothing to separate the players at 6-6, before Rooney pulled clear by winning the next three rallies, and closed out victory a few moments later. 

“I’m really happy to be through to my first 30k final,” he said. 

“That was a tough, attacking match from both of us I thought and we both were digging deep midway through.  

“I played him two weeks ago in the Bundesliga and the game scores went the exact same way so maybe that gave me a good idea of how to play him today.” 

The women’s final will see the top two seeds go head-to-head, with Asia Harris contesting her second straight final. 

The 18-year-old finished as runner-up in the recent Swiss Open, but has a chance to go one better in Brno, after seeing off Tessa ter Sluis 3-0, in a match that featured two tie breaks. 

No.1 seed Haya Ali had a much more straightforward passage into the final, cruising past unseeded Pole Sofi Zrazhevska in just 21 minutes. 

Zrazhevska had upset No.4 seed Alison Thomson to reach the final four, but was no match for the 19-year-old Egyptian, who lost only 10 points across all three games. 

Results: Men’s Semi-Finals 

[4] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [1] Nicolas Müller (SUI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-1 (29m) 
[2] Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt [3] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 4-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 (68m) 

Results: Women’s Semi-Finals 

[1] Haya Ali (EGY) bt Sofi Zrazhevska (POL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (21m) 
[2] Asia Harris (ENG) bt [3] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) 3-0: 12-10, 11-4, 14-12 (31m) 

Draw: Men’s Final 

[4] Raphael Kandra (GER) v [2] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 

Draw: Women’s Final 

[1] Haya Ali (EGY) v [2] Asia Harris (ENG)