Number three seed Jens Schoor secured his 10th career PSA World Tour
title at Mazen Gamal’s expense after defeating the Egyptian 3-1 in
the final of the PSA Valencia, M10 tournament.
Both players came through exceptionally difficult semi-final
fixtures with Schoor overcoming top seed Kristian Frost Olesen in
five games while Gamal saw off Piedro Schweertman in a mammoth 3-2
battle.
Schoor seemed to have recovered better than his opponent after a
fast start saw him power to an 11-3 victory in game one before a
much closer second game went Gamal’s way to level the scores.
The pair traded a number of high-octane blows in the third game with
both players remaining consistent but it was Schoor who edged ahead
courtesy of his triumph on the tie-break.
That broke Gamal’s resolve and World No.74 Schoor went up a gear to
record an 11-3, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 win to claim his first PSA World
Tour title of the year.
Local
Hopes End In Valencia
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Egypt’s Mazen Gamal and third seed Jens Schoor extinguished home
hopes in the quarter-final stage of the PSA Valencia, M10 event
after downing Spanish duo Iker Pajares Bernabeu and Carlos Cornes
Ribadas, respectively.
Gamal’s encounter with Pajares was a five-game nail-biter which saw
both players send each other into all four corners of the court
regularly in a bruising affair.
It was eventually World No.83 Gamal, who has 7 PSA World Tour titles
to his name, who came out on top with a 7-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5
triumph to move through to the last four.
He will face off with Dutchman Piedro Schweertman for a place in the
final after he came through a difficult match against England’s
George Parker. The two put on a real show in front of an enraptured
crowd with a high-octane match that saw Schweertman take it in five.
Schoor’s match against Ribadas meanwhile was a more straightforward
affair with the German wrapping up the win in straight games. He
will do battle with top seed Kristian Frost Olesen in the semi-final
thanks to the Dane’s victory over Geoffrey Demont.
Top
Seeds Reach Quarter-final Stage In Valencia
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All but two of the seeded players in the PSA Valencia, M10
tournament advanced to the last eight stage after moving past their
first round opponents.
Title favourite Kristian Frost Olesen defeated eighth seed Khawaja
Adil Maqbool in three to begin his attempts to improve on last
year’s runner-up finish. The Dane was superb throughout the
24-minute encounter, hitting consistent length and accurate drops to
record an 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 victory.
He is set to meet French qualifier Geoffrey Demont in the
quarter-final after the World No.115 eased by Tristan Eysele.
Piedro Schweertman meanwhile defeated wildcard Aitor Zunzunegui and
will go up against England’s George Parker in the next round who
came through a five-game affair with Matthew Hopkin to progress.
Jens Schoor went through in straight games after beating Edmon Lopez
Moller while his quarter-final opponent, home favourite Carlos
Cornes Ribadas, dispatched compatriot Alejandro Garbi Caro in a
brutal match that went the whole distance.
The day’s big shock saw Iker Pajares Bernabeu take out fourth seed
James Earles in a superb 3-0 victory. Up next for the young Spaniard
is a fixture against Mazen Gamal who downed Rui Soares.
Spanish
Duo Through To Valencia Main Draw
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Home hopes Edmon Lopez Moller and Iker Pajares Bernabeu secured
their places in the the main draw action at the PSA Valencia,
PSA M10 event after claiming respective victories over Tristan
Eysele and Richard Williams in the final qualifying round.
Moller’s fixture against Eysele in particular was a mammoth
five-game battle with both players going toe-to-toe in an
engaging and combative affair. It was eventually the former who
came out of the encounter with the win, prevailing with a 9-11,
11-8, 11-9, 2-11, 11-2 triumph to move through to the next
round.
The Spaniard will line up against Jens Schoor in the main draw’s
opening round in what is sure to be a testing tie against the
German number three seed.
Eysele benefits from Lucky Loser status after Steven Finitsis
pulled out so he advances to the next round where he will play
Geoffrey Demont who bested Dani Pascual in qualifying.
Pajares meanwhile came through his match against Williams in
straight games and the 19-year-old will face off with England’s
James Earles for a place in the quarter-final.
The other final qualifying round clash was an all-Portuguese
affair with Rui Soares taking on Claudio Pinto. Soares came out
on top with a 3-0 victory and he meets Mazen Gamal in the first
round of the main draw.
