Koukal Ousts Azan In Nash Cup Upset by Howard Harding 19 September 2013
- Former champion Jan Koukal celebrated his fifth successive appearance
in The NASH Cup, presented by the Roberts Nash Advisory Group in
perfect style when he beat fourth seed Muhd Asyraf Azan in the biggest
upset on the opening day of main draw action in the PSA World Tour
Challenger 15 squash event at London Squash Racquets Club in London in
the Canadian province of Ontario.
Described as 'match of
the day' by tournament spokesman Dave Morrish, the clash lasted for 82
minutes and delighted the packed crowd.
"All the rallies were
long, explosive and exciting," continued Morrish. "At 9-9 in the third,
it was clear the crowd had a real game on their hands. Jan finished the
game off by hitting a tin and hitting out on the lob, making it 2/1 to
Muhd. They shared points to 6-6 in the fourth before Jan took a small
advantage of 8-6 and 9-7 before taking it 11-8.
"So to a fifth! Muhd
built a 5-2 lead and it looked like Jan was down and out. The crowd
were behind him and he went from 2-5 to 9-5 - seven points in a row -
and managed to close it out 11-8. Popular victory from the Czech!"
After his 11-6, 5-11,
9-11, 11-8, 11-8 victory, the 2010 champion from Prague progresses to
meet Ben Coleman, the world No85 from England who acknowledged that he
probably played his best ever squash in overcoming higher-ranked
Frenchman Lucas Serme 11-8, 11-7, 11-3.
England's Declan James
became the only qualifier to survive the first round after recovering
from a game down to beat compatriot Joel Hinds 9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5
in 63 minutes.
James, the 20-year-old
former European Junior Champion from Nottingham, now faces another
fellow countryman Joe Lee, the top seed who needed 40 minutes to
overcome rising Canadian star Nicholas Sachvie, the wild card, 11-7,
11-2, 11-6.
Home interest in the
event is led by second seed Shawn Delierre and No3 seed Shahier Razik.
Delierre, the world No38 from Montreal, defeated compatriot Andrew
Schnell 11-3, 11-9, 11-3, while 2011 champion Razik, the world No50
from Toronto, fought back from a game down to beat fellow countryman
David Letourneau, a qualifier from Calgary, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3.
1st round: [1] Joe Lee (ENG) bt [WC] Nicholas Sachvie (CAN) 11-7, 11-2, 11-6 (40m) [Q] Declan James (ENG) bt Joel Hinds (ENG) 9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 (63m) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [Q] Scott Arnold (AUS) 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 (27m) [3] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [Q] David Letourneau (CAN) 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3 (43m) Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [4] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 (82m) Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 (66m) Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt [Q] Lewis Walters (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 13-11 (58m) [2] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt Andrew Schnell (CAN) 11-3, 11-9, 11-3 (42m)
Quarter-final line-up: [1] Joe Lee (ENG) v [Q] Declan James (ENG) [3] Shahier Razik (CAN) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) Jan Koukal (CZE) v Ben Coleman (ENG) [2] Shawn Delierre (CAN) v Eddie Charlton (ENG)
