Windsor City Open: Seeds Fall On Quarter Finals Day In Windsor

Quarter finals day of the Windsor City Open produced many surprises as players looked to book their spots in the semi finals of the men’s and women’s events.

In the women’s 9k event No.6 seed Lucie Stefanoni produced a great result as she toppled No.2 seed Laura Tovar in four games. Stefanoni took a 2-0 lead winning both opening games 11-8 and despite losing the third game third game, regrouped strongly to hang tough in the fourth game tiebreak and win 16-14 to reach the final four.

She will be joined by sister and top seed Marina Stefanoni, who needed all five games to defeat home favourite Nikki Todd. Todd took the lead at 2-1 to throw some doubt into the occasion but the top seed prevailed winning both the fourth and fifth games 11-5. They will be joined in the semi-finals by the No.3 and 4 seeds Carooline Fouts and Nour Heikal after they won 3-0 and 3-1.

In the men’s event there was a huge win for No.6 seed Mitchell Kahnert who defeated top seed and compatriot Conor Turk in straight games. Kahnert took the match in less than half an hour, after winning the first game 11-5 he then found his best form to win 11-2 then closed the match out with an 11-8 win.

He will now face another surprise semi-finalist Brett Schille, who overcame No.4 seed Cory McCartney in a five game thriller. Schille took a 2-0 lead in the match, winning 11-6, 11-9 and placed one foot in the final four. McCartney battled back strongly to win 11-8, 11-9 to force a deciding game. Schille regathered his form in the fifth game to run out to an 11-5 victory to move into the next round.

There was also a surprise win for George Crowne who defeated No.2 seed Liam Marrison in four games to advance. Marrison took the opening game 11-4 but couldn’t sustain his form as he lost three close games after that which sent Crowne through to the semi-finals.

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Results: Women’s Quarter finals
[1] Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt [9/16] Nikki Todd (CAN) 3-2: 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5 (38m)
[3] Caroline Fouts (USA) bt [5] Lucia Bautista (COL) 3-0: 11-7, 13-11, 11-7 (30m)
[4] Nour Heikal (EGY) bt [7] Ali Loke (WAL) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (30m)
[6] Lucie Stefanoni (USA) bt [2] Laura Tovar (COL) 3-1: 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 16-14 (38m)

Draw: Women’s semi-final
[1] Marina Stefanoni (USA) v [3] Caroline Fouts (USA)
[6] Lucie Stefanoni (USA) v [4] Nour Heikal (EGY)

Results: Men’s Quarter finals
[6] Mitchell Kahnert (CAN) bt [1] Connor Turk (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (29m)
[5] Brett Schille (CAN) bt [4] Cory McCartney (CAN) 3-2: 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5 (49m)
[3] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) bt [9/16] Abbas Nawaz (CAN) 3-2: 11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 13-11 (38m)
[7] George Crowne (CAN) bt [2] Liam Marrison (CAN) 3-1: 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (41m)

Draw: Men’s Semi-finals
[6] Mitchell Kahnert (CAN) v [5] Brett Schille (CAN)
[7] George Crowne (CAN) v [3] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR)