Denmark's Rasmus Nielsen claimed an unexpected place in the quarter-finals of the BC Honda Open in Canada when he crushed third seed Jan Koukal in the opening round of the established PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event at Jericho Tennis Club in Vancouver.
It was an out-of-sorts Koukal, the Czech number one who reached the semi-finals in 2010, who went down 11-2, 11-2, 11-3 to the Odense-based Dane in just 19 minutes.
Nielsen progresses to meet Germany's Jens Schoor, an 11-7, 11-1, 11-7 winner over French qualifier Geoffrey Demont.
But Canada are assured of interest in the semi-finals after both Shahier Razik and Dane Sharp recorded first round wins. Top seed Razik, the world No31 from Toronto, beat fellow countryman Thomas Brinkman 11-4, 11-3, 11-4, while Sharp, also from Toronto, despatched Canadian qualifier Fred Reid 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9. The pair will meet in the quarter-finals.
Fourth seed Joe Lee came through in a tight fourth game against promising Canadian Andrew Schnell and was relieved that he closed it out.
"Andrew got some of the momentum but I was happy to close it out and didn't have to go to five," said the 22-year-old Englishman after his 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10 victory in 50 minutes.
Tournament organiser Shauna Flath added: "Andrew is coming up and started to get the belief in his match and put in a great effort. There's lots to come from him as far as the future of Canadian squash."
Mohamed Abouelghar became the youngest player to make the last eight when he beat England's Charles Sharpes. The 18-year-old Egyptian entertained the crowd with his 4-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 win over 19-year-old Sharpes.
"Charles put in a fantastic effort but just fell short in the end," said Flath.
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 BC Honda Open, Vancouver, Canada
1st round:
[1] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Thomas Brinkman (CAN) 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (23m)
Dane Sharp (CAN) bt [Q] Fred Reid (CAN) 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9 (26m)
Jens Schoor (GER) bt [Q] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) 11-7, 11-1, 11-7 (28m)
Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt [3] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-2, 11-2, 11-3 (19m)
[4] Joe Lee (ENG) bt Andrew Schnell (CAN) 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 12-10 (50m)
Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt [Q] Peter Creed (WAL) 11-1, 11-7, 13-11 (54m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Charles Sharpes (ENG) 4-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 (47m)
[2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [Q] Declan James (ENG) 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (33m)
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Shahier Razik (CAN) v Dane Sharp (CAN)
Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) v Jens Schoor (GER)
[4] Joe Lee (ENG) v Eddie Charlton (ENG)
[2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
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