HSC International QF: Herrera Joins Top Three Seeds

Colombia’s Andres Herrera caused the sole upset on quarter finals day in Houston, as he downed the tournament’s No.4 seed to gatecrash the semi-finals.

The Colombian is the No.8 seed for the Challenger 10 level competition, and he took on American Spencer Lovejoy in the last eight on Friday. He found himself two games ahead after winning the second on a tie-break, before Lovejoy fought back to win the third. However, the World No.134 regrouped to win the fourth to book his place in the semis.

He will now take on top seed Muhammad Asim Khan on Saturday afternoon, after the Pakistan got the better of wildcard Mohamad Zakaria. The 15-year-old Egyptian had already caused two upsets in the early rounds on his Tour debut, but a solid performance from the Pakistani was enough to take a straight games win.

The other semi-final will see No.2 seed Andrew Douglas take on No.3 seed Alfredo Avila on Saturday afternoon in Houston. Douglas got the better of Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan to make the last four, while the Mexican defeated Canadian Connor Turk in straight games.

The HSC International Squash Open semi-finals will take place on Saturday, December 3, with the last four going head-to-head to reach the final on Sunday afternoon in Houston.

Quarter Final Results: HSC International Squash Open
[1] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt [WC] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (41m)
[8] Andres Herrera (COL) bt [4] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) 3-1: 11-5, 12-10, 3-11, 11-7 (67m)
[3] Alfredo Avila (MEX) bt [7] Connor Turk (CAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (23m)
[2] Andrew Douglas (USA) bt [6] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) 3-1: 11-4, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 (50m)

Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, November 3
[1] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) v [8] Andres Herrera (COL)
[3] Alfredo Avila (MEX) v [2] Andrew Douglas (USA)