Kinetic Men’s Challenger RD1: Azan and Lepper Down Seeds

Malaysia’s Asyraf Azan and New Zealand’s Anthony Lepper caused upsets on the opening day of the Kinetic 5k Challenger in Florida on Tuesday.

Lepper faced off against No.7 seed Saeed Abdul, and he went two games up against the Pakistani at the Kinetic Indoor Racquet Club. However, Abdul fought back, winning both the third and fourth games by an 11-5 scoreline to send the match into a deciding game. The Kiwi regrouped, winning the fifth 11-9 to score an upset win after 63 minutes of action.

In the top half of the draw, Azan came up against No.8 seed Jamie Ruggiero, who was playing on home soil. Two tight games went the way of the Malaysian, including taking the second on a tie-break 13-11. The American fought back to win the third, but Azan claimed the fourth to take a 3-1 victory. He will now face Guatemala’s Alejandro Enriquez, the No.3 seed, in the last eight.

Elsewhere on the opening day, England’s Tom Walsh had to survive a five-gamer against India’s Veer Chotrani. The No.2 seed found himself 2-1 down to the Indian, but was able to fight back to win in five, claiming the deciding game 11-6.

The quarter finals of the Kinetic 5k Challenger will take place on Wednesday, November 16, with the last eight doing battle to try and reach the semi-finals. You can keep up to date with live scores from the tournament here.

First Round Results: Kinetic 5k Challenger (Men’s)
[1] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Ewan Harris (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-3 (27m)
[6] Jeremias Azana (ARG) bt William Donnelly (NZL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (26m)
Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt [8] Jamie Ruggiero (USA) 3-1: 11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 11-7 (43m)
[3] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA) bt Elijah Thomas (NZL) 3-1: 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (49m)
[4] Ricardo Toscano (GUA) bt Alex Arader (USA) 3-1: 12-14, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (45m)
Anthony Lepper (NZL) bt [7] Saeed Abdul (PAK) 3-2: 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 5-11, 11-9 (63m)
[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt Muhammad Ibrahim Noorani (PAK) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-4 (22m)
[2] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Veer Chotrani (IND) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6 (61m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, November 16
[1] David Baillargeon (CAN) v [6] Jeremias Azana (ARG)
Asyraf Azan (MAS) v [3] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA)
[4] Ricardo Toscano (GUA) v Anthony Lepper (NZL)
[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) v [2] Tom Walsh (ENG)