Top Seeds Survive in St. Louis

st louis al tamimi

The top four seeds sailed through to the semifinals of the Emerson Racquet Club Pro Series after straight games victories in the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 event at The Racquet Club in St Louis, Missouri—the first event of the 2014 US Pro Squash Series.

Germany’s Raphael Kandra was taken to tie-breaks in all three games as seventh seed Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari toiled in his bid for a surprise semifinal slot. But the No. 2 seed from Essen held his nerve to close out the match 12-10, 12-10, 12-10 after seventy minutes.

Kandra will now face fourth seed Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi after the Qatari teenager saw off unseeded Spaniard Alejandro Garbi Caro (both pictured above) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 in forty-seven minutes.

It was Mexican Arturo Salazar who claimed the day’s quickest win: The No. 3 seed from San Luis Potosi defeated Reiko Peter 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 in just thirty-one minutes to end the unseeded Swiss player’s St Louis run.

Salazar will now line up against Nasir Iqbal after the top seed from Pakistan beat Dutchman Sebastiaan Weenink 11-9, 11-7, 12-10.

Quarterfinals:
[2] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [7] Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (PAK) 12-10, 12-10, 12-10 (70m)
[4] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Alejandro Garbi Caro (ESP) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 (47m)
[3] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt Reiko Peter (SUI) 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 (31m)
[1] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [6] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 (45m)

Semifinal line up:
[2] Raphael Kandra (GER) v [4] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
[1] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) v [3] Arturo Salazar (MEX)