Defending champion Kristian Frost Olesen produced a magnificent
comeback to overturn a two-game deficit against England’s Joe Lee in
the final of the Swiss IT Factory Swiss Open, PSA M10 tournament to
retain the title he won last year.
Frost, who defeated Welshman Joel Makin in the 2015 final, had seen
off the challenges of Daniel Mekbib, Joshua Larkin and Tom Ford to
reach the final, while a dominant Lee had dropped just a solitary
game, against Jens Schoor in the last four, as he swept to the
final.
Lee dominated the play in all aspects of the opening two games,
controlling the ’T’ to dictate proceedings and keep Frost under
sustained pressure to go 2-0 up.
Frost finally showed the grit and determination that have been
hallmarks of his nine-year career in the third game as he came to
life, and he played tighter and more accurately to claw two games
back as his patience paid off.
With Lee’s resistance broken, Frost cantered to victory in the fifth
and final game to complete a superb comeback courtesy of a 3-11,
4-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 victory which has seen the Dane capture the
14th PSA World Tour title of his career.
The top four seeded players in the Swiss IT Factory Swiss Open, PSA
M10 tournament will contest the semi-final fixtures after they all
secured 3-0 victories on the second day of action in Zurich,
Switzerland.
England’s Joe Lee is still yet to drop a game throughout the event
after he followed up his opening round triumph over Ammar Altamimi
with a straight games dismantling of Egyptian qualifier Saadeldin
Abouaish.
The first game was the closest of the lot, and Lee took it 12-10 on
the tie-break before dropping just a solitary point in the second.
Abouaish attempted a comeback in the third, but his efforts were all
for naught as Lee held firm to see out a 12-10, 11-1, 11-4 victory
to reach the next round.
Lee will come up against number four seed Jens Schoor in the last
four after his quarter-final opponent, French qualifier Benjamin
Aubert, retired through injury while 2-0 down.
Kristian Frost Olesen and Tom Ford will face off in the other
semi-final fixture after they saw off Joshua Larkin and Baptiste
Masotti, respectively.
Top seed Joe Lee sealed his spot in the quarter-final of the Swiss
IT Factory Swiss Open, PSA M10 tournament with a comfortable
straight games win over Ammar Altamimi on the first day of action in
Zurich.
The Englishman was in an indomitable mood as he swept aside Altamimi
with relative ease, earning an 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 victory to see
himself through to the next stage of the tournament.
A quarter-final fixture with Egyptian qualifier Saadeldin Abouaish
lies in wait for Lee after he bridged a 104-place World Rankings gap
to secure an impressive triumph over Dutch number eight seed
Sebastiaan Weenink.
Denmark’s Kristian Frost Olesen is also through to the last eight
after he dispatched Daniel Mekbib of the Czech Republic with a 3-1
margin of victory. Up next for Olesen is a meeting with three-time
PSA World Tour title winner Joshua Larkin after the Australian
narrowly escaped being scalped by wildcard Dimitri Steinmann.
Elsewhere, there was also a win for World No.64 Tom Ford as he
recovered from a game down to defeat home player Jonas Daehler.
Ford, who hails from Worcester, will lock horns with another
qualifier, Baptiste Masotti, in the quarter-final, with the
Frenchman seeing off Joe Chapman to progress.
Germany’s Jens Schoor is still in with a chance of competing for an
11th PSA World Tour title after he made it past Martin Svec in four
games. His reward is a quarter-final encounter with Benjamin Aubert.
Aubert actually succumbed to a final qualifying round defeat to
Mekbib, but was granted a lucky loser entry to the main draw after a
main draw withdrawal, and he made the most of his chance at
redemption by beating Egypt’s Shehab Essam.
France’s Baptiste Masotti produced a remarkable comeback against
home hope Patrick Miescher in the final qualifying round of the
Swiss IT Factory Swiss Open, PSA M10 tournament – overturning a 2-0
deficit to qualify for the main draw.
Backed on by a partizan crowd, Switzerland’s Miescher stormed to a
2-0 lead, before being pegged back by Masotti to set up a deciding
fifth game. A rally later, Miescher was forced off court due to
injury after being accidentally struck by Masotti. The World No.192
was able to carry on, but was blown away by the Frenchman in a
frantic ending to the match, which Masotti claimed courtesy of an
8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 scoreline.
Masotti will take on seventh seed Joe Chapman in round one of the
main draw, with Chapman aiming to make it to the quarter-final of a
PSA World Tour event for the first time since November.
Elsewhere, Martin Svec of the Czech Republic progressed to the main
draw action after seeing off Switzerland’s Remo Handl in four. The
opening exchanges were closely-contested, but Svec pulled away with
the scores level at 1-1 to seal his spot in the next round, where he
will do battle with Germany’s Jens Schoor.
Svec’s compatriot, Daniel Mekbib, is also through to the next stage
after seeing off Benjamin Aubert with a 3-1 win to set up a first
round fixture with Danish second seed Kristian Frost Olesen.
Egypt’s Saadeldin Abouaish was the other victor in the final round
of qualifying after he dispatched Jonas Daehler, and he will go
head-to-head with Dutchman Sebastiaan Weenink.
A trio of Swiss players – headed by number two qualifying seed Jonas
Daehler – progressed to the final qualifying round of the Swiss IT
Factory Swiss Open, PSA M10 tournament after sealing victories in
their first round fixtures in the Vitis SportsCenter, Zurich.
Daehler was made to work hard for his victory by compatriot Amadeo
Costa after he twice saw a one-game lead wiped out, only to triumph
in the deciding fifth game to wrap up an 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 10-12,
11-6 triumph.
The World No.159 will line up against Saadeldin Abouaish for a place
in the main draw after the Egyptian dispatched number eight
qualifying seed Kristian Rautiainen with a 3-1 margin of victory.
Patrick Miescher is also through to the final round of qualifying
courtesy of a routine win against Sven Stettler in an all-Swiss
affair, setting up an encounter with Frenchman Baptiste Masotti, who
benefitted from a bye to progress.
Elsewhere, Remo Handl is the other home player to make it through
the first qualifying round unscathed after he defeated Silvio Soom
in straight games. He will face Martin Svec of the Czech Republic in
the next stage of the competition, with Svec sweeping Roman Allinckx
to secure his berth.
The other final qualifying round fixture will be contested by Daniel
Mekbib and Benjamin Aubert after they overcame Campbell Wells and
James Peach, respectively.
