Upsets Abound Down Under
by Howard Harding
6 July 2012 - Aqeel Rehman and Kashif Shuja produced impressive upsets in today's quarter-finals of the Victorian Open to claim unexpected semi-final berths in the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre in Melbourne, Australia.
Rehman, the No7 seed from Austria, faced fourth seed Muhd Asyraf Azan, the Malaysian who won their last meeting, also in Australia, at the Australian Open in 2011.
The 26-year-old world No 105 from Salzburg was in devastating form - needing just three games to despatching his opponent, ranked 40 places higher, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.
Rehman will now meet another Malaysian, the event favourite Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan. In the quickest match of the day, the top seed defeated Argentina's Gonzalo Miranda 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 in just 25 minutes.
Shuja ensured that there will be a New Zealand finalist. The sixth seed twice came from behind to overcome third-seeded Australian Matthew Karwalski 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9 in 76 minutes.
The 32-year-old from Palmerston North will now face fellow countryman Campbell Grayson.
But the second seed from Auckland was also taken the full distance before finally seeing off local favourite Rex Hedrick 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6 in 113 minutes.
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 Victorian Open, Melbourne, Australia
Quarter-finals:
[1] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt [8] Gonzalo Miranda (ARG) 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (25m)
[7] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [4] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (45m)
[6] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt [3] Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 8-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9 (76m)
[2] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [5] Rex Hedrick (AUS) 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6 (113m)
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) v [7] Aqeel Rehman (AUT)
[2] Campbell Grayson (NZL) v [6] Kashif Shuja (NZL)
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