Pembroke Management Open de Montreal: Endo and Vorlícek Score Five-Game Upsets

Tomo Endo and Ondrej Vorlícek both came through five-game battles to knock out [9/16] seeds on day one of the Pembroke Management Open de Montreal. 

Opening play on court one at the Club MMA Sportif, Endo put his athleticism on full display across the first two games, throwing himself around the court as he established a two-game lead over France’s Macéo Levy. 

But with the crowd behind him, Levy hauled himself level to send the match into a decider, which proved to be a nail-biter. 

The Frenchman edged in front and looked as though he may be heading for victory, but Endo clawed his way back and brought up match ball at 10-9, taking his first opportunity with a smart boast to set up a second-round clash with top seed Greg Lobban. 

Vorlícek, meanwhile, knocked out former top-50 player Christopher Gordon, overturning a 2-1 deficit to book his place in the last 16. 

The Czech player, who is a full-time student in Prague, struggled to gain control in the early exchanges, but the momentum shifted in games four and five, as Vorlícek made his youthful advantage count. 

The 23-year-old, 14 years his opponent’s junior, stepped up his game as Gordon’s legs slowed down, powering through the last two games for the loss of just six points overall. 

Australia’s Joseph White also came through a long, five-game test against the USA’s Mohamed Nabil, needing 75 minutes to complete the win. 

A long first rally set the tone for what was to follow, and there was no shortage of drama and tension on court throughout, with White eventually edging a match in which the referee was heavily involved. 

There were more comfortable wins in round one for England’s Finnlay Withington and the highest-ranked Canadian player in day-one action, Liam Marrison. 

19-year-old Withington swept aside France’s Laszlo Godde in less than half an hour, while Marrison beat fellow Canadian Abbas Nawaz 11-9, 11-7, 12-10. 

Round two begins at 6pm ET/11pm GMT, with Lobban against Endo the first of three matches streaming live on the Squash Quebec Facebook page, followed by home favourite David Baillargeon against White and then Vorlícek versus second seed Nathan Lake. 

You can stay up to date with all the results from the Pembroke Management Open de Montreal here.