DSQV Sportwerk: Rapp Takes First PSA Title

World No.131 Valentin Rapp has claimed the first title of his professional career on the PSA Tour, after defeating the tournament’s top seed, Roshan Bharos, in the final of the DSQV Sportwerk Challenger.

Like all events on the PSA Challenger Tour currently, the Challenger 3 level tournament was restricted to players who reside in the country, with Egypt’s Tarek Shehata and Dutch No.1 Bharos the only non-Germans in the 16-man field.

28-year-old Rapp, who represented his country at the 2019 WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championships, was the leading German in the draw, and was the No.2 seed for the tournament. He came up against the event’s top seed in the final.

The pair were level after two games, but it was the man 12 places lower in the World Rankings that took control of the match through the latter stages, winning both the third and fourth games to take the victory 3-1, and claim the first title of his career.

To reach the final, Rapp had overcome Hendrik Vossing in the first round, before then beating No.5 seed Julius Benthin and No.3 seed Tarek Shehata. Prior to the final, the German had not dropped a game, showing his dominance throughout the weekend.

There was only the one real shock in Hamburg, which came in the first round when the unseeded Nils Schwab got the better of No.6 seed Fynn Schuck, a fellow German who sat over 330 places above Schwab in the World Rankings.

Results: DSQV Sportwerk Challenger
Final
[2] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt [1] Roshan Bharos (NED) 3-1: 15-13, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4 (69m)

Semi-Finals
[1] Roshan Bharos (NED) bt [4] Tobias Weggen (GER) 3-1: 10-12, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (48m)
[2] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt [3] Tarek Shehata (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-7 (33m)

Quarter-Finals
[1] Roshan Bharos (NED) bt [7] Willi Wingelsdorf (GER) 3-0: 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 (29m)
[4] Tobias Weggen (GER) bt [8] Lennard Hinrichs (GER) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-0 (18m)
[3] Tarek Shehata (EGY) bt Nils Schwab (GER) 3-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10 (38m)
[2] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt [5] Julius Benthin (GER) 3-0: 11-3, 15-13, 11-4 (41m)

Round One
[1] Roshan Bharos (NED) bt Jan Wipperfurth (GER) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (38m)
[7] Willi Wingelsdorf (GER) bt Christoph Blohm (GER) 3-0: 14-12, 13-11, 11-7 (42m)
[8] Lennard Hinrichs (GER) bt Dennis Welte (GER) 3-0: 11-9, 14-12, 17-15 (28m)
[4] Tobias Weggen (GER) bt Paul Wingelsdorf (GER) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (23m)
[3] Tarek Shehata (EGY) bt Norman Junge (GER) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 13-11 (37m)
Nils Schwab (GER) bt [6] Fynn Schuck (GER) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 (28m)
[5] Julius Benthin (GER) bt Max Plettenberg (GER) 3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-3 (37m)
[2] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Hendrik Vossing (GER) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 (29m)