Securian Open Gets Under Way in St. Paul

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The opening round of the 2016 instalment of the Securian Open, PSA M5 tournament saw Scotland’s Jon Geekie become the only unseeded player to make it through to the quarter-finals after overcoming home player Sam Gould in four games in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Geekie, the World No.213, had suffered first round defeats in each of his last four tournaments, but made a strong start after triumphing in the opening game for the loss of just two points.

Gould clawed the second game back by a narrow two-point margin, but Geekie was soon back on top and he took the next two games without reply to record the win 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3. Up next for 26-year-old Geekie is a meeting with number three seed Charlie Johnson, the World No.161 who put in an imperious display to down Mexico’s Armando Olguin in round one.

Elsewhere, fourth seed Reuben Phillips and number six seed Edgar Zayas will face off for a place in the last four thanks to respective straight games victories over England’s Alex Noakes and Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari of Pakistan.

United States duo Faraz Khan and Julian Illingworth were the other victors on day one of the main draw, with Faraz beating World No.340 Francisco Mendez Correa, while Illingworth dispatched Welshman Sam Fenwick.

They will take on top seeds Arthur Gaskin and Ashley Davies, respectively, after both Gaskin and Davies received byes in the opening round.

Results – First Round: Securian Open 2016
[1] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) (bye)
[8] Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Sam Fenwick (WAL) 3-1: 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5
Jon Geekie (SCO) bt [7] Sam Gould (USA) 3-1: 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3
[3] Charlie Johnson (ENG) bt Armando Olguin (MEX) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-9
[4] Reuben Phillips (ENG) bt Alex Noakes (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-7
Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (PAK) bt [6] Edgar Zayas (MEX)
[5] Faraz Khan (USA) bt Francisco Mendez Correa (MEX) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-2
[2] Ashley Davies (ENG) (bye)

Draw – Quarter-Final
[1] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) v [8] Julian Illingworth (USA)
Jon Geekie (SCO) v [3] Charlie Johnson (ENG)
[4] Reuben Phillips (ENG) v Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (PAK)
[5] Faraz Khan (USA) v [2] Ashley Davies (ENG)