Challenger Tour Round-Up: Knudsen Into Final, Pfister Exits

Giant-killer Matias Knudsen is one win away from a third straight PSA Tour title, after booking his spot in the I SPAC Open final, where he will take on top seed Rowan Damming. 

Unseeded Knudsen has enjoyed a remarkable week in Sao Paulo, having now knocked out the No.2, 3 and 7 seeds, all of whom are ranked at least 100 places higher than him in. 

Damming, though, will likely present another step up in class for the Colombian. The Dutchman is currently No.79 in the world, and has only dropped one game in the tournament so far. 

More than 6,000 miles away, top seeds Yannik Omlor and Valentin Rapp both progressed to the men’s semi-finals of the Schräglage Squash Open, but women’s No.1 seed Nadia Pfister is out. 

The Swiss player fell 3-1 to Ireland’s Breanne Flynn, who will now face third seed Kiera Marshall for a spot in the final. 

Elsewhere, Egypt will be guaranteed a winner in the BDO Namibian Open, where top seed Menna Walid takes on Mariam Ashraf in the women’s final. 

The men’s final pits two players together who have never before competed in a PSA Challenger Tour final – South Africa’s Damien Groenewald and Nigeria’s Adegoke Onaopemipo. 

You can see all the results from this week’s PSA Challenger Tour events here. 

Photo credit: Christian Lortat