Gordon And Harrity Fly US Flag In Motor City Open Qualification

American duo Todd Harrity and Christopher Gordon flew the flag for US squash fans during the first round of qualification at the 2016 Motor City Open, coming through their first encounters to move one step closer to a main draw berth at the PSA M70 tournament.

Harrity, the highest ranked US player on the World Rankings at No.52, controlled proceedings as he swept past English challenger Ben Coates in straight-games while Gordon, whose role as the national number one was usurped by Harrity in 2015, profited from an injury to Mexican Cesar Salazar to set up a decider against experienced Finnish campaigner Olli Tuominen – who ended the challenge of US number three Chris Hanson.

Harrity faces a tough prospect to overcome number two seeded qualifier Leo Au in tonight’s finals while elsewhere in the draw Pakistan’s Farhan Zaman produced the only upset of the night as he downed number six seed Campbell Grayson in a hard-fought four-game contest.

Results: First Round Qualification – Motor City Open
Christopher Gordon (USA) bt [1] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 7-11, 7-11, 12-10, 7-2 ret.
[7] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Chris Hanson (USA) 3-2: 8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-5
[5] Diego Elias (PER) bt [L] Dylan Cunningham (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5
[3] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt [L] Shahid Khan (ENG) 3-0 11-5, 11-6, 11-3
[4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 3-2: 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7
Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [6] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 3-1: 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8
[8] Todd Harrity (USA) bt Ben Coates (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-6
[2] Leo Au (HKG) bt [L] Sam Gould (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-2

Draw – Qualifying finals:
Christopher Gordon (USA) v [7] Olli Tuominen (FIN)
[5] Diego Elias (PER) v [3] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
Farhan Zaman (PAK) v [4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK)
[2] Leo Au (HKG) v [8] Todd Harrity (USA)