PSA Valencia, Spain, 1st Round
by Howard Harding
25 October 2012 - Unseeded Dane Rasmus Nielsen reached more than 50 ranking places above him to overcome No2 seed Alan Clyne in the biggest upset on the opening day of action in the PSA Valencia, the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event in its second year at Club Olympia in Valencia, Spain.
"Gone through 6 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 sets of shoes, 3 wristbands and 2 sets of socks.......in one match!" tweeted Scot Clyne, ranked 29 in the world, after the marathon five-game thriller.
Nielsen, the world No80 from Odense, took a two-game lead - but Clyne came back to force a decider. The 29-year-old underdog regained the upper hand however - closing out the match 11-9, 16-14, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9 to set up an all-Danish quarter-final clash with Kristian Frost Olesen.
World No63 Olesen also survived a five-game battle - outlasting English qualifier Joel Hinds 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-13, 11-9.
Here were further upsets in the other half of the draw where two qualifiers earned surprise quarter-final appearances. Indian Harinder Pal Sandhu, a 23-year-old qualifier from Chennai, defeated England's higher-ranked Charles Sharpes 11-7, 11-3, 4-11, 11-4 and will now face top seed Adrian Grant for a place in the semi-finals.
Italian Davide Bianchetti rolled back the years to despatch 2010 world junior champion Amr Khaled Khalifa in straight games. The 35-year-old former world No24, now ranked outside the world top 100, beat the 19-year-old Egyptian 11-8, 14-12, 11-2 - and moves on to meet England's No3 seed Chris Ryder in the last eight round.
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 PSA Valencia, Valencia, Spain
1st round:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8
[Q] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Charles Sharpes (ENG) 11-7, 11-3, 4-11, 11-4
[Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) 11-8, 14-12, 11-2
[3] Chris Ryder (ENG) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-9, 11-7, 11-9
[4] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Alejandro Garbi Caro (ESP) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7
Steven Finitsis (AUS) bt [Q] Jens Schoor (GER) 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5
Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt [Q] Joel Hinds (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-13, 11-9
Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt [2] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-9, 16-14, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [Q] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND)
[3] Chris Ryder (ENG) v [Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA)
[4] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) v Steven Finitsis (AUS)
Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) v Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN)
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