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Challenger Tour Round-Up: Zakaria Wins in LA, Harms Shines in RI
It’s a busy week on the Challenger Tour, with eight events in total. Click here to read our day-two report from the 3rd Open de Lagord, and see below for a round-up of the other events in progress.
Local World LA Open
16-year-old Egyptian Mohamad Zakaria set up a second-round clash with No.1 seed Faraz Khan at the Local World LA Open, beating Mark Broekman on the opening day.
Zakaria controlled proceedings, needing just 24 minutes to win 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 at the prestigious Jonathan Club in Los Angeles.
In the bottom half of the draw, No.2 seed Andrew Douglas will face Canadian wild card Ryan Picken for a place in the last eight.
Picken made an impressive start to his match against Armando Olguin, winning the first game 11-4.
He was then 6-0 up in the second when the Mexican was forced to retire, meaning there will be three Canadians in round two.
The other two will face off against each other after Cory McCartney cruised past Ian Rothweiler in just 18 minutes. McCartney will play No.8 seed Salah Eltorgman, the 20-year-old who is fresh from winning his first ever PSA Tour title at La Classique de Gatineau.
1er Open PSA Féminin de Couzeix/Limoges
Seven of the eight seeds reached the quarter-finals of the 1er Open PSA Féminin de Couzeix/Limoges, with Wales’ Ali Loke the only exception.
No.7 seed Loke was beaten 3-2 by Egypt’s Hana Ismail in round two, squandering an 8-4 lead in game four having won two of the first three games, going on to lose the decider 11-8.
There were no such issues for the top two seeds, who both impressed in straight games wins.
Top seed Marta Dominguez Fernandez took just 21 minutes to see off Hebaallah Nossier, while second seed Torrie Malik needed just a minute longer to win an all-English clash with Isabel McCullough.
PVD Squash RI Open
Switzerland’s Tate Harms caused the biggest upset on day one of the PVD Squash RI Open, claiming his first ever win on the PSA Tour.
The World No.836 beat Pakistan’s Saeed Abdul – a player ranked more than 600 places above him – to reach round two, where he will play top seed Spencer Lovejoy.
Meanwhile, Ecuador’s David Costales beat his Harvard roommate Denis Gilevskiy, meaning Sean Conroy was the only winner among four Irish players on day one.
Logan City Queensland Open
Top seed Jessica Turnbull put on an impressive display in her opening match of the Logan City Queensland Open, seeing off Malta’s Lijana Sultana in just 18 minutes.
Turnbull dropped just nine points across all three games, teeing up an all-Australian quarter-final with Madison Lyon.
Lyon herself lost just 10 points in her dominant round-two win, beating Emmy Lamb in less than 15 minutes.
In the men’s draw, No.2 seed Rhys Dowling battled through four games to beat Cameron Darton in another all-Australian clash, and will now play Brendan MacDonald for the semi-final spot.
Swiss Open
The Swiss Open had a distinctly local feel about it on day one of the men’s draw, with 14 of the 16 entrants playing on home soil.
Top seed Yannick Wilhelmi made it safely through in three games against Fabian Seitz, while Louai Hafez caused the only upset of the day, knocking out No.5 seed David Maier of Liechtenstein.
Maier’s exit means the only non-swiss player left in the men’s half of the draw is Austria’s Lukas Windischberger, who saw off Leandro Mannhart 3-1.
The top eight seeds all had a first-round bye in the women’s draw, with the field being 24 players rather than 16, but there was an upset win for local wild card Caroline Bachem, who beat Portugal’s Catarina Nunes 3-2.
You can stay up to date with all the results on the PSA Tour here.
