White Oaks RD1: Schille and Kahnert Through On Home Soil

The opening day of the White Oaks Court Classic was a good one for the home hopes. Canadians Tyson Schille and Mitchell Kanhart both made it through to the second round in St Catharines.

The Challenger 5 level competition got underway on Tuesday evening at The Club at White Oaks. Due to some late withdrawals, there were only five matches on the opening night.

There were still victories for two Canadians on Tuesday though, with the first seeing Tyson Schille take down compatriot Charles De La Riva. The World No.690, whose only previous appearance on Tour came at this event last season, took a tight first game 11-9. He then lost the second game to the higher-ranked De La Riva, but the young Canadian fought back to win in four.

Schille is joined in the last 16 by compatriot Mitchell Kanhart, who took victory an all-Canadian battle. He defeated Matthew Henderson in straight games, winning 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 in 23 minutes to advance to the second round, where he will face No.7 seed George Crowne.

Elsewhere on the opening day, there were wins for Colombia’s Santiago Orozco, Egyptian Mahmoud Abouelleil and Pakistan’s Rafi Khan. The Colombian will now face the tournament’s top seed, and home favourite, Nick Sachvie, in the second round on Wednesday evening.

The second round of the White Oaks Classic will see the seeded players make their bows in the competition. All of the action from the White Oaks Club in St Catharines will be streamed live on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel. You can also keep up to date with live scores from the event here.

First Round Results: White Oaks Court Classic
Santiago Orozco (COL) bt Jason Sano Herring (JPN) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5 (47m)
Tyson Schille (CAN) bt Charles De La Riva (CAN) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 11-8 (35m)
Mahmoud Abouelleil (EGY) bt Ali Ud Din (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 5-1 rtd (18m)
Rafi Khan (PAK) bt Arham Izhar (CAN) 3-2: 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7 (39m)
Mitchell Kahnert (CAN) bt Matthew Henderson (CAN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (23m)

Second Round Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, October 12
[1] Nick Sachvie (CAN) v Santiago Orozco (COL)
Tyson Schille (CAN) v [6] Cory McCartney (CAN)
[5] Miled Zarazua (MEX) v Mahmoud Abouelleil (EGY)
Leo Vargas (MEX) v [3] Salah Eltorgman (CAN)
[4] Liam Marrison (CAN) v Rafi Khan (PAK)
Elijah Thomas (NZL) v [8] Rowan Damming (NED)
[7] George Crowne (CAN) v Mitchell Kahnert (CAN)
Jayden Shortt (CAN) v [2] Michael McCue (CAN)