Odense Open QF: Unseeded Khafagy and Coleman Into Last Four

The unseeded duo of England’s Ben Coleman and Egypt’s Malak Khafagy are into the last four at the Odense Open in Denmark.

On day two of the Challenger 10 level competition, Khafagy downed the women’s top seed, Cindy Merlo. That set her up for a clash with England’s Torrie Malik in the last eight at the Odense Squash Club on Thursday.

The pair were level after two games, with the Englishwoman having levelled up the contest. Both the third and fourth games were tight, but it was Khafagy who won each of them by an 11-9 scoreline to advance to the semi-finals. She will now take on No.4 seed Marta Dominguez Fernandez after the Spaniard beat England’s Alicia Mead in the last eight.

Finnish No.1 Emilia Soini had to fight from the brink in her quarter final contest. She found herself two games down against Malaysia’s Xin Ying Yee, but fought back brilliantly to win the third and fourth games 11-6. The fifth game went all the way to a tie-break, with both players having opportunities. In the end, Soini claimed it 13-11 to book her semi-final berth. She will now face New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts in the last four after the Kiwi downed No.3 seed Nadia Pfister.

England’s Ben Coleman and Welshman Owain Taylor both took down seeds on the second day in Odense. The pair came up against each other in the last eight on Thursday, and it was Taylor who took the opening game 12-10. From there, though, Coleman was in complete control. He dropped just nine points in total over the next three games to secure a 3-1 victory, and to move through to the semis.

The Englishman will now face Scotland’s Rory Stewart, the No.3 seed, on Friday evening. Stewart was in great form to defeat Swiss No.3 Yannick Wilhelmi in straight games. The other semi-final will see top seed Balazs Farkas and Spain’s Bernat Jaume face off, after both won in three on quarter finals day.

You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. Action from Odense is being streamed throughout the week on the Odense Squash Club YouTube channel.

Men’s Quarter Final Results: Odense Open
[1] Balazs Farkas (HUN) bt [7] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 (31m)
[5] Bernat Jaume (ESP) bt Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 (39m)
[3] Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 3-0 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (42m)
Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Owain Taylor (WAL) 3-1: 10-12, 11-3, 11-2, 11-4 (57m)

Men’s Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, March 10
[1] Balazs Farkas (HUN) v [5] Bernat Jaume (ESP)
[3] Rory Stewart (SCO) v Ben Coleman (ENG)

Women’s Quarter Final Results: Odense Open
Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt [8] Torrie Malik (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 (42m)
[4] Marta Dominguez Fernandez (ESP) bt [7] Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-1: 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (41m)
[6] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) bt [3] Nadia Pfister (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)
[2] Emilia Soini (FIN) bt [5] Xin Ying Yee (MAS) 3-2: 10-12, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 13-11 (40m)

Women’s Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, March 10
Malak Khafagy (EGY) v [4] Marta Dominguez Fernandez (ESP)
[6] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) v [2] Emilia Soini (FIN)