Razik, Nielsen Make Vancouver Semis
by Howard Harding
12 November 2011 - After upsetting the third seed in the opening round, Denmark's Rasmus Nielsen continued his fine form in the BC Honda Open in Canada by becoming the only unseeded player to make the semi-finals of the established PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event at Jericho Tennis Club in Vancouver.
The 28-year-old from Odense despatched Germany's Jens Schoor 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11 to set up a surprise clash with top seed Shahier Razik.
The world No31 from Toronto prevailed against fellow Canadian Dane Sharp 11-3, 14-12, 11-7.
But, according to tournament organiser Shauna Flath, the "match of the night" was the see-saw 67-minute battle between second seed Ryan Cuskelly and young Egyptian Mohamed Abouelghar.
"Mohamed was down 2/0 and battled back with unbelievable shot-making from everywhere off his racquet - and the speed was the best this crowd has ever seen," said Flath.
"Up 7-3 in the fifth, Mohamed looked on course for the upset - but Ryan dug in and battled back. At ten-all, Mohamed called a double bounce on himself - a first class move by a first class player. Ryan took the next point and the match 12-10."
Australian Cuskelly, winner in an 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 12-10 scoreline, was himself stunned by his 18-year-old opponent's performance. "It was unbelievable….just like Ramy!" said the 24-year-old from New South Wales.
"I felt tentative at times because if I hit it loose he was attacking everything."
Cuskelly will face fourth seed Joe Lee for a place in the final. Lee took just 22 minutes to see off fellow Englishman Eddie Charlton 11-3, 12-10, 13-11.
"I played him just at the World Open and felt I played pretty well," said Charlton afterwards. "Joe was good today and I wasn't. It was unfortunate - I would've liked to have had a better performance."
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 BC Honda Open, Vancouver, Canada
Quarter-finals:
[1] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Dane Sharp (CAN) 11-3, 14-12, 11-7 (49m)
Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt Jens Schoor (GER) 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11 (55m)
[4] Joe Lee (ENG) bt Eddie Charlton (ENG) 11-3, 12-10, 13-11 (22m)
[2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 12-10 (67m)
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Shahier Razik (CAN) v Rasmus Nielsen (DEN)
[2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [4] Joe Lee (ENG)
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