Maspeth Squash Open RD1: Trio Of Shocks In Opening Round

The opening day of the Maspeth Squash Open saw a trio of surprises, and a different venue due to inclement weather conditions.

The tournament was due to being at the Maspeth Squash steel court, but due to rain in the area, the first day of the event was moved indoors, to the Harvard Club of New York.

There, a trio of surprises were played out, as India’s Abhishek Agarwal, Brazil’s Vinicius Leao Rodrigues and Canadian Brett Schille all took down seeded opposition to reach the quarter finals of the Challenger 5 level competition.

Schille took on compatriot, and No.3 seed, Connor Turk, in the first round. The World No.202, playing in just his seventh tournament, won in straight games, including taking the third on a tie-break to seal the deal, moving through to the last eight, where he will face another Canadian, in No.5 seed Liam Marrison.

Brazil’s Rodrigues also won in straight games in his opening round contest. He got the better of No.7 seed Ricardo Toscano, beating the Guatemalan in just 25 minutes. He won 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 to advance to the quarter finals.

The other unseeded winner on the opening day was India’s Abhishek Agarwal, who came through a tough five-gamer with No.8 seed Babatunde Ajagbe. The Nigerian went 2-1 up after winning the third on a tie-break 15-13, but Agarwal stayed strong, and dropped just five more points across the rest of the contest to win 3-2, and to advance.

Elsewhere, Austrian No.1 Aqeel Rehman had to come from two games down to stay alive in the competition. He found himself behind against Pakistan’s Muhammad Farhan Hashmi, but fought back brilliantly, winning the next three games to the loss of just 13 points in total. He ran out a 3-2 winner in the end, after 48 minutes of action.

Top seed Tom Walsh was among the other winners on day one in Maspeth, with a comfortable straight goes victory over Zahir Shah. Egypt’s Mohamed Nabil and Mexico’s Leo Vargas complete the quarter final line-up.

The quarters of the Maspeth Squash Open take place on Friday, June 23, and you can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

First Round Results: Maspeth Squash Open
[1] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-4 (24m)
Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt [8] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) 3-2: 11-6, 8-11, 13-15, 11-2, 11-3 (56m)
Vinicius Leao Rodrigues (BRA) bt [7] Ricardo Toscano (GUA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 (24m)
[4] Mohamed Nabil (EGY) bt [WC] Felipe Pantle (USA) 3-1: 11-4, 11-13, 13-11, 12-10 (45m)
Brett Schille (CAN) bt [3] Connor Turk (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (35m)
[6] Liam Marrison (CAN) bt Nicolas Serna (COL) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-7 (36m)
[6] Leo Vargas (MEX) bt Luis Quisquinay (GUA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (31m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) 3-2: 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (48m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, June 23
[1] Tom Walsh (ENG) v Abhishek Agarwal (IND)
Vinicius Leao Rodrigues (BRA) v [4] Mohamed Nabil (EGY)
Brett Schille (CAN) v [6] Liam Marrison (CAN)
[6] Leo Vargas (MEX) v [2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT)