Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Day One – As It Happens

The Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation gets underway today, with eight matches taking place on the show court at the Bow Valley Athletic Club.

All eight matches will be played on the glass court, and you can watch live on SQUASHTV from 12:00 (GMT-7).

We’ll be bringing all the results and reactions from the day, while you can follow the live scores on the PSA Live Scores page.

Speedy start for Soares in opener

Portugal’s Rui Soares got the event off to an entertaining start with a well-earned win over Egypt’s Mazen Gamal.

World No.61 Soares, who came to Calgary looking to end a three-match losing streak, looked relatively comfortable against the World No.73, taking control early on as he targeted the front right well to pull away from 6-6 in game one to take the opener 11-6.

The Portugal No.1 maintained the momentum in game two, moving into a 2-0 lead with an 11-8 win before completing the win in straight games by clinching the third 11-9.

Afterwards, Soares said: “I loved it last year. It’s my third time in Calgary; everyone is so nice and it’s such a good venue.

“I like playing here and looking forward to the second round.

“I’m looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow [against Swiss World No.38 Dimitri Steinmann].”

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Rui Soares (POR) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (31m)

Balazs Beats Battling Reyes

In the second match of the day, Hungary’s Farkas Balazs booked his spot in the second round with a 3-0 win over Mexico’s Alejandro Reyes.

World No.52 Balazs took the lead with comfortable 11-6 win in game one and looked to be coasting when 8-4 up in game two, only to lose concentration as Reyes battled back to earn a game ball.

The Hungarian clung on, though, saving two game balls to eventually double his lead with a 13-11 victory.

After the tight battle of the second game, the third was a far more simple affair for the higher ranked player, with Balazs breezing through with an 11-1 win.

“It’s always good to be back. I try to enjoy it every year, every match and every point,” Balazs said.

“I started well in the second game and had the lead, but I tried to win easy points. At this level, it’s not possible and I gave him a lot of cheap points.

“It was really hard to come back and I felt under pressure at 9-9. I’m really happy I found a way back and in the third I didn’t want to make the same mistake. I just wanted to start well and put him under pressure.”

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Farkas Balazs (HUN) bt Alejandro Reyes (MEX) 3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-1 (35m)

Tsukue Takes Down Local Hero

In a fast-paced encounter, Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue made short work of Canadian tournament wildcard and Bow Valley Athletic Club pro Connor Turk.

The two players put on a show in the opening game, with the boisterous crowd wowed by the creativity on display as Tsukue took the lead with an 11-8 win.

Turk appeared to be struggling with a knock after the first game, with the 30-year-old struggling with his movement towards the front as the Japan No.1 booked his spot in the second round with a pair of comfortable 11-3 wins.

Tsukue will face another home player in the second round, Canadian No.8 seed David Baillargeon.

Afterwards, Tsukue said: “Today was not so good from me. I’m just focusing on tomorrow’s match against a home favourite. I’m just going to do my best!”

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [WC] Connor Turk (CAN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 (24m)

Harrity Pleased With “Mental Toughness” After Beating White

USA’s Todd Harrity continued his fine form of late with a hard-fought straight gamewin over Australia’s Joseph White to set up a second round tie with top seed and World No.2 Diego Elias.

In a match defined by lengthy rallies, former US No.1 Harrity was able to consistently apply pressure, with the 33-year-old taking a 2-0 lead after two 12-minute games, the second of those an impressive comeback from Harrity, who came back from 4-9 down to win 11-9.

The World No.53 then dominated the third game, dragging World No.99 White around the court as he put the match to bed with an 11-2 win.

After the match, Harrity said: “I’m very happy with how I played. I had never played him before but I had heard how strong he was. I was trying to mix up the pace as much as I could.

“Winning that second game was huge and I’m so happy I stayed strong, stuck to it and didn’t give up.

“I’ve been working on my mental toughness and I played really well today.

“I’m trying to trust myself as much as I can. When I try to make it too perfect, that’s when the tins come!”

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Todd Harrity (USA) bt Joseph White (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-2 (35m)

Walsh Reaches Maiden Silver Second Round

In the first match of the evening session, England’s Tom Walsh overcame Colombia’s Edgar Ramirez to reach the second round of a Silver-level event for the first time.

After struggling to find his targets early on in the contest, World No.67 Walsh eventually settled against the World No.130 and took the opening game 11-8.

The Englishman then doubled his lead after a competitive 11-9 game two win, with the 24-year-old’s backhand a reliable source of points.

Walsh looked well set to cruise into the second round when he took a 10-4 lead, only for Ramirez to chip away at the deficit with four unanswered points.

Eventually, though, Walsh was able to break the Colombian’s resistance, with Ramirez clipping the tin after a lung-busting rally at 10-8, much to Walsh’s relief.

“I’ve got my ranking up to get into these types of events. I guess I’m considered a ‘good draw’ in these kind of events at the moment, which is a bit tough mentally so I knew I had an opportunity to get the win.

“It was never comfy; even when I was 10-4 up it was edgy. It was an edgy performance today but I’m very relieved to get that last point and I’m very happy.”

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Edgar Ramirez (COL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (41m)

Wilhelmi overcomes dangerous Jeeva

In one of the best matches of the day, Switzerland’s World No.64 Yannick Wilhelmi got the better of Malaysian World No.88 Sanjay Jeeva

Wilhemi deservedly took the lead with an 11-6 win in game one.

Jeeva, however, fought back hard in game two, with the Malaysian catching Wilhelmi off guard with some unorthodox attacking play as he levelled after coming through a tie break, 12-10.

Having seen his lead chalked off, Wilhelmi recovered well, winning several points through drives as he reclaimed the advantage with an 11-7 win in game three before settling the encounter with an 11-6 win in game four.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. It’s a great venue and great people here,” Wilhemi said.

“It’s a fast court so the ball is travelling fast, which is quite difficult for me, especially against someone like Sanjay who is tricky at the front. 

“I’m happy I was able to get on top.” 

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-1: 11-6, 10-12, 11-7, 11-6 (54m)

Poleshchuk Cruises Through

In a one-sided encounter, Israel’s Daniel Poleshchuk reached a Silver-level second round for the first time in his career after cantering to victory over Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam.

Aslam, playing just his second PSA World Tour match since the 2022 US Open after a lengthy spell out injured, struggled with the pace of the game, with Poleshchuk in total control throughout.

The Israeli cruised into the lead with an 11-7 win in game one, which was soon followed by 11-3 and 11-5 wins as he booked his spot in round two in just 24 minutes.

After the match, Poleshchuk said: “First, I would like to thank Tayyab. He’s a great player and hasn’t played a lot. Thank you for this match.

“I had a really good gameplan with my coach. We really worked on it.  We had a plan, but you have to execute it and I was really happy that I could do it.

“It’s been six years since we last played but so much has changed. I was training hard for this tournament and am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (24m)

Singh Sees Off Smith

In the last match of the day, India’s Abhay Singh got the better of England’s Ben Smith in straight games.

Going into the match, a close encounter was expected, with Singh ranked World No.66 and Smith 70.

It was the Indian who started better, finding his targets well to take the opener 11-8.

In an exciting second game, both players went on the attack, with points coming in at a quick rate among a flurry of winners and errors from both men.

Smith looked to have fought his way back into the contest as he opened up a 10-7 lead, only for Singh to dig in and clinch the game on a tie break, 14-12.

The manner of the game two loss appeared to sap the energy of Smith, with Singh able to quickly bring things to an end with an 11-5 win in game two.

“I want to thank everyone for coming here on a Sunday night.

“Ben played well, but I think the difference was that second game. In my head at 10-7 down I knew I hadn’t done a lot wrong, I’d put him in good areas but just hit the tin. It can sometimes happen.

“But I knew, even if it had gone to 1-1, I had made him work a lot more than he had made me, so in the third I knew he would be a bit beat and that pushed me to go on.

“Sometimes I can get a bit frantic, so James [Willstrop] has been asking me to calm down and find my targets, use height if I need to.”

Result: Canadian Men’s Open 2024 Presented by AirSprint Private Aviation RD1
Abhay Singh (IND) bt Ben Smith (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 14-12, 11-5 (44m)

Play resumes tomorrow (04 March) at 12:00 (GMT-7) live on SQUASHTV.