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Burnt Squash Open 2022
Men's Draw
14-17 Oct
Lakeville, United States, $6k |
Final:
[2] Seif Shenawy (EGY) bt [1] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5
(37m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) bt [4] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) 11-8, 13-15,
8-11, 12-10, 11-4 (71m)
[2] Seif Shenawy (EGY) bt [5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 17-15, 8-11, 7-11,
13-11, 11-7 (74m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) bt [6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) 4-11, 11-9,
10-12, 11-6, 11-4 (69m)
[4] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) bt [8] Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) 11-8,
11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 11-9 (57m)
[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [3] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) 12-10, 11-6, 11-2
(36m)
[2] Seif Shenawy (EGY) bt [7] Hamza Sharif (PAK) 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6
(44m)
1st round:
[1] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) bt Yassin Amir (USA) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (36m)
[6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) bt Aaron Allpress (ENG) 11-4, 11-7, 11-7
(35m)
[8] Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) bt Karamatullah Khan (PAK) 11-6, 12-10,
11-7 (29m)
[4] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) bt Nicolas Serna (COL) 11-4, 11-3, 7-11, 11-4
(54m)
[3] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt [WC] Callan Venkatesan (USA) 11-6, 11-7,
11-9 (44m)
[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt Petr Nohel (CZE) 11-5, 14-12, 11-8 (43m)
[7] Hamza Sharif (PAK) bt Salman Hashmi (PAK) 3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9
(36m)
[2] Seif Shenawy (EGY) bt Ricardo Lopez (MEX) 11-8, 16-14, 11-9 (47m) |
Shenawy Claims Maiden Tour Title
Seif Shenawy (right) and Spencer Lovejoy (left) after
the final of the
The Burnt Squash Open came to its conclusion on Monday evening in
Lakeville, Connecticut, with Egypt’s Seif Shenawy taking home his maiden
Tour title.
The Egyptian came into the event as the No.2 seed but as the
highest-ranked player in the draw. He started his campaign with a
straight games win over Mexico’s Ricardo Lopez, although he needed to go
deep into a tie-break in the second game, 16-14, to get the job done.
He then went to four games in the quarter finals against No.7 seed Hamza
Sharif of Pakistan. Shenawy led 2-0 but saw the Pakistani fight back to
win the third. He regrouped to win the fourth game to seal the deal,
before then going the distance in the last four. He came up against
Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva, and found himself 2-1 down to the tournament’s
No.5 seed. Shenawy battled to win the fourth game on a tie-break, before
also taking the fifth to move through to the final.
It was the young Egyptian’s first final on Tour, and he came up against
top seed Spencer Lovejoy. He shone in the final, winning in straight
games in just 37 minutes. An 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 scoreline gives Shenawy
his maiden Tour title.
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Lovejoy and Shenawy Survive
Five-Gamers
Spencer Lovejoy and Babatunde Ajagbe on court in their
semi-final
The semi-finals of the Burnt Squash Open threw up two five-gamers, with
both Spencer Lovejoy and Seif Shenawy surviving to set up a meeting in
Monday’s final.
Lovejoy, the tournament’s top seed, and the leading American on home
soil, came up against Nigerian No.1 Babatunde Ajagbe. Despite taking the
second game on a lengthy tie-break 15-13, the American found himself
behind after three games. However, a 12-10 win in the fourth turned the
tide in his favour, taking the fifth 11-4 to make it through to the
final.
The second semi-final saw Egypt’s Seif Shenawy take on Malaysia’s Sanjay
Jeeva. The first game tie-break, went all the way to 17-15, with the
Egyptian taking it. However, Jeeva then fought back to take the next two
games and lead 2-1. Another tie-break came in the fourth, and once
again, Shenawy took it to stay alive in the match, before going on to
win the fifth game 11-7.
The final of the Burnt Squash Open will take place on Monday, October
17. Egypt’s Seif Shenawy will take on top seed and home favourite
Spencer Lovejoy for the Challenger 5 level title in Lakeville.
For more information on the event, visit the tournament website or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok,
Twitter.
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Jeeva
Gatecrashes Last Four
Sanjay Jeeva (right)
Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva has gatecrashed the semi-finals of
the Burnt Squash Open after getting the better of the tournament’s No.3
seed in the last eight in Lakeville, Connecticut.
The Malaysian, who sits nine places below quarter final opponent
Abhishek Agarwal in the World Rankings, took a crucial first game in
their match on Saturday evening. He won it 12-10, and from there, was in
cruise control. He dropped just eight more points en route to a straight
games victory, advancing to the last four. Jeeva will now face No.2 seed
Seif Shenawy in the semi-finals.
There were no surprises in the top half of the draw, but both top seed
Spencer Lovejoy and Nigeria’s Babatunde Ajagbe had to go the distance to
advance. The Nigerian took a two-game lead against Muhammad Farhan
Hashmi, but the Pakistani forced the match into a fifth game. Ajagbe
regrouped to win it 11-9 to advance. Meanwhile, found himself 2-1 down
against No.6 seed Abdelrahman Nassar of Egypt. Buoyed on by the home
crowd, the American fought back to win the last two games to close out
the match in five.
The semi-finals of the Burnt Squash Open will take place on Sunday,
October 16, with the last four doing battle in an attempt to reach
Monday’s final in Lakeville.
For more information on the event, visit the tournament website or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok,
Twitter.
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Top Seeds All Through
The opening day of the Burnt Squash Open saw the top seeds all safely
make it through. The top eight are all into the quarter finals of the
Challenger 5 level competition in Lakeville, Connecticut.
The event got underway on Friday afternoon at the Cullman Courts, with
Nigerian No.4 seed Babatunde Ajagbe taking on Colombia’s Nicolas Serna.
That match was one of just two to go past a third game on the opening
day. Ajagbe won in four after 54 minutes to advance to the last eight in
Lakeville.
No.7 seed Hamza Sharif was the other man to see his match extended,
after falling behind early on to compatriot Salma Hashmi. He lost the
first 11-3, but fought back strongly to win in four after just 36
minutes. He will now face the tournament’s No.2 seed, and the
highest-ranked player in the draw, in Egypt’s Seif Shenawy.
Top seed Spencer Lovejoy started his campaign strongly, with a confident
performance to defeat compatriot Yassin Amir in straight games. Amir
gave a good showing of himself in what was his first ever match on the
Tour, but Lovejoy was too good, winning 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 to move through
to the quarters.
The last eight of the Burnt Squash Open will take place on Saturday,
October 15 at the Cullman Courts. The quarter finalists will do battle
to move through to the semis on Sunday.
For more information on the event, visit the tournament website or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok,
Twitter.
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Preview
Lovejoy Grateful For U.S. Open Opportunity
The third and final event on Tour this week will be the Burnt Squash
Open. The Challenger 5 level tournament will get underway on Friday,
October 14, and will feature a 16-strong draw.
The Cullman Courts at the Mars Athletic Complex in Lakeville,
Connecticut will play host to the tournament, which will run over four
days, with Monday, October 17 seeing the winner of the event crowned.
Home hope Spencer Lovejoy will be the top seed for the competition. We
spoke to the American, who has recently returned to the Tour after a
period on the sidelines through injury.
“I feel much better about my game right now than I did a few weeks ago.
I am coming off a two month foot injury and only started getting back on
court for training about two weeks ago,” Lovejoy said.
“Overall I’m just really happy to be back on court. My ball control has
been improving a lot since the injury, but my movement still needs some
work as well as my match fitness.”
The World No.111 was one of the wildcards for the U.S. Open last week,
coming up against fellow American Todd Harrity in the opening round in
Philadelphia. Although he didn’t come away with the win, Lovejoy can
still take the positives away from the contest.
“It was a great experience playing in the U.S. Open on Saturday. This
was my first official match in months, so I felt the emotions were high
and I couldn’t quite settle down. But I’m very grateful for the
opportunity I got to play against Todd and I’ll be learning a lot from
the match going forward,” he explained.
“I have watched my match recording back and I feel I definitely need to
put more emphasis on getting my basic line and length as well as being
patient with my balls to the front court.”
Lovejoy will be the top seed for the Burnt Squash Open this week in
Connecticut, but that is not something he is thinking about. He also
knows that good performances will help see his ranking rise back to his
career-best of World No.66 and beyond.
“It’s [being top seed] not something I think too much about. At the end
of the day it’s just another squash tournament so I like to treat it
like that and try to stay relaxed,” the American said.
“Ranking is also something I don’t think too much about. For me, I want
to feel like my level of squash is improving and I’m hitting my targets
on court and making good decisions.
“Obviously, it would mean a lot to be back in the top 100 in order to
get into bigger tournaments, but after that it’s not really something
that plays on my mind.”
Lovejoy’s nearest contender for the title will be Egypt’s Seif Shenawy,
with India’s Abhishek Agarwal and Nigeria’s Babatunde Ajagbe making up
the rest of the top four seeds for the event. Two more Americans will
join Lovejoy in the draw, with Yassin Amir and wildcard Callan
Venkatesan both featuring on the Tour for the first time.
The event takes place from Friday, October 14 to Monday, October 17 at
the Cullman Courts in Lakeville, where Spencer Lovejoy is the top seed
for the tournament.
For more information on the event, visit the tournament website or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok,
Twitter.
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