Mozart Open quarterfinals at Messezentrum Salzburg – Austrian hopes still alive!

Today was the first day of the Mozart Open on the glasscourt at Messezentrum Salzburg. A very interested crowd saw eight matches with a mixture of upsets, tight encounters and a victory by local hero Aqeel Rehman. Overall it was a great start into a new era of the event with an amazing set up.

Half of the eight matches ended up with upsets by the lower seeded players, with seven of them lasting at least four games. This shows the high level and depth of the players this year.

Ana Munos from France, Olivia Besant and Heston Malik, both from England, continued their great run. After already creating unexpected wins on paper on their previous rounds they topped it today. Ana Munos took out fourth seed Malak Samir from Egypt, Heston Malik beat Lwamba Chileshe and Olivia Besant ended the ambitions of Cristina Tartarone.

The women’s topseed Breanne Flynn from Ireland was also close of being knocked out. She was pushed by Jana Safy from Egypt to five games before missing out on ten matchballs in the fourth game.

The match of the day however was between local hero and tournament organizer Aqeel Rehman and up and coming youngster Bailey Malik from England. Both players are currently separated by just one place in the PSA World Rankings.

The Salzburg boy Aqeel was able to get a 2/1 lead in games and was 6/1 in the fourth when it looked like he had one foot already in the semifinal. Bailey stepped up and managed to come back and even saved two matchballs. Eventually the Englishmen won the game 14/12.

The fifth was the exact opposite with Bailey racing to a 4/0 lead when the Austrian Champion fought back and saved matchball before winning the game in the tiebreak. This made not just himself happy but also the crowd who cheers heavily for their favorite. It was a nail biting, contested but fair match.

Here are the full results of the quarterfinals:

[4] Conor Moran (IRL, WRL 143) – [8] Noah Meredith (ENG, WRL 163) 11/5, 11/13, 13/11, 117 49min
[9/16] Ana Munos (FRA, WRL 159) – [4] Malak Samir (EGY, WRL 124) – 12/14, 11/7, 11/8, 11/5 38min
[9/16] Heston Malik (ENG, WRL 168) – [7] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL, WRL 161) 8/11, 14/12, 12/10, 11/6 59min
[3] Farida Walid (EGY, WRL 114) – [9/16] Pika Rupar (SLO, WRL 191) 11/5, 15/13, 11/8 33min
[6] Will Salter (ENG, WRL 150) – [2] Jakub Solnicky (CZE, WRL 124) 6/11, 12/10, 11/1, ret. 34min
[9/16] Olivia Besant (ENG, WRL 165) – [2] Cristina Tartarone (ITA, WRL 112) 12/10, 11/7, 8/11, 11/9 26min
[3] Aqeel Rehman (AUT, WRL 138) – [5] Bailey Malik (ENG, WRL 144) 11/9, 6/11, 11/2, 12/14, 12/10 59min
[1] Breanne Flynn (IRL, WRL 103) – [9/16] Jana Safy (EGY, WRL 145) 11/8, 11/7, 4/11, 14/16, 11/5 54min

And this is s the line up for the semifinals on Saturday 7th March at Messezentrum:

11:30: [4] Conor Moran (IRL, WRL 143) – [9/16] Heston Malik (ENG, WRL 168)
12:30: [3] Farida Walid (EGY, WRL 114) – [9/16] Olivia Besant (ENG, WRL 165)
13:15: [3] Aqeel Rehman (AUT, WRL 138) – [6] Will Salter (ENG, WRL 150)
14:15: [1] Breanne Flynn (IRL, WRL 103) – [9/16] Ana Munos (FRA, WRL 159)

A livestream will be offered here. There will be free admission but spectators have to register here.

Pictures from the quarterfinals made by Gintare Karpaviciute can be found in our gallery.