#PSAWorldTour
Austrian Aqeel Rehman picked up his second PSA World Tour title in three months when he beat surprise opponent Rodrigo Pezzota in the final of the Caldense International Squash Championship, the inaugural PSA Challenger 5 event at Rua Pernambuco 1144 Centro in Pocos de Caldas, Brazil.
Top seed Rehman, who divides his time between home town Salzburg and his training base in Harrogate, England, dropped his only game of the tournament in the semis – where Spanish qualifier Hugo Varela eventually met his match after earlier shock victories over Brazilian opponents Manoel Pereira and Josimar Silva, the No.4 and No.6 seeds, respectively.
Now in the fifth Tour final of his career, the 28-year-old Austrian faced outsider Pezzota, the 29-year-old No.8 seed from Argentina who stunned second seed Robert Downer in the quarter-finals.
Pezzota, the World No.156 from Rosario, celebrated his 25th appearance in a PSA Tour event since 2005 by making his maiden Tour final!
But Rehman, ranked more than 70 places higher, was too strong for the Argentinean – winning 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 to collect the fourth Tour title of his career.
Final:
[1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [8] Rodrigo Pezzota (ARG) 11-6, 11-6, 12-10
Semi-finals:
[1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [Q] Hugo Varela (ESP) 11-5, 9-11, 11-1, 11-5 (45m)
[8] Rodrigo Pezzota (ARG) bt [5] Hernan D’Arcangelo (ARG) 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5
Quarter-finals:
[1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [7] Mike Lewis (USA) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (18m)
[Q] Hugo Varela (ESP) bt [6] Josimar Silva (BRA) 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (55m)
[5] Hernan D’Arcangelo (ARG) bt [3] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (60m)
[8] Rodrigo Pezzota (ARG) bt [2] Robert Downer (ENG) 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-3 (90m)
1st round:
[1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Diego Gobbi (BRA) 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 (36m)
[7] Mike Lewis (USA) bt [WC] Franco Martins (BRA) 11-1, 11-3, 11-2 (25m)
[6] Josimar Silva (BRA) bt [Q] Junior Christovam (BRA) 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3 (50m)
[Q] Hugo Varela (ESP) bt [4] Manoel Pereira (BRA) 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 (52m)
[3] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) bt [Q] Rafael Alarcon (BRA) 3-11, 11-2, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 (60m)
[5] Hernan D’Arcangelo (ARG) bt Ronivaldo Duarte (BRA) 7-11, 11-2, 12-10, 12-10 (80m)
[8] Rodrigo Pezzota (ARG) bt [Q] Winston Thiago (BRA) 11-6, 11-13, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 (85m)
[2] Robert Downer (ENG) bt Benjamin Coates (ENG) 11-3, 11-0, 11-2 (20m)
Qualifying finals:
Junior Christovam (BRA) bt Alex Noakes (ENG) 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8
Rafael Alarcon (BRA) bt Rodrigo Dias Duarte (BRA) 11-6, 11-8, 12-10
Winston Thiago (BRA) bt Gabriel Bueno de Oliveira (BRA) 11-5, 11-6, 11-9
Hugo Varela (ESP) bt Willian Lopes (BRA) 11-6, 11-0, 11-6
