Tortola Classic RD2: Jaume Leads Seeds Through to Quarters

All eight seeded players have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Carey Olson Tortola Classic, PSA Challenger 10 event with top seed Bernat Jaume dispatching 15-year-old Mohamad Zakaria in four games at the Tortola Sports Club in the British Virgin Islands.

Both players came out firing and the intensity was high from the first exchanges. Zakaria showed off some sharp movement around the court and proved skilful with the racket, but Jaume was able to dominate the ’T’ and took the first two games courtesy of some clinical attacking shots.

Zakaria responded strongly in the third game and the Egyptian managed to wrestle back the momentum. He used his speed around the front of the court and unleashed several crafty winners to take it 11-8 and send the match into a fourth.

The momentum appeared to be with Zakaria as he raced into a 5-0 lead, but Bernat didn’t panic and gradually chipped away at his opponent’s advantage. With the game heading into a tie-break, both players had their chances to convert but it was the Spaniard who held his nerve to close out the game by a 14-12 margin. Jaume will now play Mexico’s Bryan Cueto in the next round.

World No.813 Joe Chapman – the only player from the British Virgin Islands competing on the PSA Tour – saw his event come to an end at the hands of No.6 seed Laszlo Godde, while No.2 seed Andrew Douglas got the better of Bermuda’s Taylor Carrick. Godde and Douglas will play Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan and Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva, respectively.

There were also wins for USA’s Spencer Lovejoy and Canada’s Cory McCartney. No.4 seed Lovejoy defeated Dutchman Sebastiaan Hofman, while McCartney beat Northern Irishman Stephen Hearst.

The quarter-finals of the Carey Olsen Tortola Classic will take place on Thursday June 15, with play getting under way at 17:15 (GMT-4). You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook.

Results – Second Round: 2023 Carey Olson Tortola Classic

[1] Bernat Jaume (ESP) bt [9/16] Mohamed Zakaria (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12 (64m)

[8] Bryan Cueto (MEX) bt [9/16] Armando Olguin (MEX) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-7 (32m)

[7] Cory McCartney (CAN) bt [9/16] Stephen Hearst (IRL) 3-1: 15-13, 12-10, 5-11, 11-6 (45m)

[4] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) bt [9/16] Sebastiaan Hofman (NED) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 (31m)

[3] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt [9/16] Aaron Allpress (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 (34m)

[6] Laszlo Godde (FRA) bt [9/16] Joe Chapman (IVB) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 (34m)

[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [9/16] Tino Antonio Mackay Palacios (SCO) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-9 (30m)

[2] Andrew Douglas (USA) bt [9/16] Taylor Carrick (BER) 3-0: 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 (26m)

Draw – Quarter-Finals: To Be Played June 15th

[1] Bernat Jaume (ESP) v [8] Bryan Cueto (MEX)

[7] Cory McCartney (CAN) v [4] Spencer Lovejoy (USA)

[3] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) v [6] Laszlo Godde (FRA)

[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) v [2] Andrew Douglas (USA)