RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 Champion Fiberglass Open, Houston,
Texas, USA
Kandra Carries Off Houston Title
Unseeded German Raphael Kandra disposed of two seeds in the
Champion Fiberglass Open in the USA en-route to winning the
inaugural PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at
Downtown Club at the Met in Houston, Texas.
The quarter-final round became a graveyard for all but one of the
event's seeds - with England's Declan James taking top
honours by defeating top-seeded New Zealander Martin Knight
in a 91-minute marathon, to record one of the best wins of his
career.
James endured another 91-minute encounter in the semis - but this
time it was fellow non-seed Clinton Leeuw who prevailed,
winning in five after a 14-12 final game.
Kandra, who ousted Egypt's No2 seed Andrew Wagih Shoukry in
the quarter-finals, removed the final seed Cesar Salazar, the
No3 seed from Mexico, in the other semi to set up the final against
South African Leeuw.
Both players were celebrating their ninth PSA Tour final appearances
- and after the first two games honours were shared.
But Kandra, the 22-year-old world No26 from Paderborn, justified his
eight-position higher ranking than Leeuw by taking the next two
games from the 31-year-old from Cape Town to clinch an 11-8, 8-11,
11-9, 11-9 title triumph in 50 minutes.
The win marks the fourth Tour title of Kandra's career - but his
second in a row.
Houston Lift Off For Champion Fiberglass Seeds
New Zealand favourite Martin Knight led all four seeds safely
through to the quarter-finals of the Champion Fiberglass Open,
the inaugural PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at
Downtown Club at the Met in Houston, Texas, USA.
The 29-year-old from Auckland despatched Cayman Islands qualifier
Cameron Stafford 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 and will now face England's
Declan James for a place in the semi-finals.
But second seed Andrew Wagih Shoukry had a much tougher ride.
The 23-year-old Egyptian, ranked 59 in the world, was taken the full
distance by Greg Lobban before overcoming the Scot ranked 27
places lower 8-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8.
Mexican twins Arturo Salazar and Cesar Salazar both
survived four-game encounters. Fourth seed Arturo beat Canadian
qualifier Thomas Brinkman while Cesar, the No3 seed, had to
fight back from a game down to see off Pakistani Muhammad Saqib
Yousaf 5-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-4.
