Mozart Open semifinals – home hopes have ended!
Four semifinal matches of the Mozart Open PSA world ranking tournament (two men and to women) took place today on the glasscourt at Messezentrum Salzburg. The crowd saw some entertaining and close matches, but also their home favorite Aqeel Rehman dropping out of the event after another 5-game thriller.
The opening match between Heston Malik from England and Conor Moran from Ireland ended up with an upset, as the 9/16 seed Malik beat the 4th seed Irishmen in four games.
It was followed by a rather one sided encounter between 3rd seed Farida Walid from Egypt and 9/16 seed Olivia Besant. The Egyptian won 3/0 in 21min.
The next match was highlight of the day with local hero and organizer Aqeel Rehman stepping on court against 6th seed Will Salter from England. The 20 times Austrian National Champion was pushed by a very loud crowd especially after being 0/2 down. The Salzburg boy managed to come back to 2/2 but couldn’t finish his mission and had to give way to his opponent after a tough 76 minute battle.
The last match of the evening was similar exciting. 9/16 seed Ana Munos from France was able to come back from 0/2 against top seed Breanne Flynn from Ireland. The final game was decided by just two points with the Breanne Flynn having the better end.
Here are the full results:
[9/16] Heston Malik (ENG, WRL 168) – [4] Conor Moran (IRL, WRL 143) 11/9, 6/11, 11/7, 11/4 45min
[3] Farida Walid (EGY, WRL 114) – [9/16] Olivia Besant (ENG, WRL 165) 11/5, 15/13, 11/6 21min
[6] Will Salter (ENG, WRL 150) – [3] Aqeel Rehman (AUT, WRL 138) 5/11, 7/11, 12/10, 11/9, 5/11 76min
[1] Breanne Flynn (IRL, WRL 103) – [9/16] Ana Munos (FRA, WRL 159) 11/7, 11/9, 8/11, 7/11, 11/9 52min
Finals on Sunday 8th March:
13:30: [1] Breanne Flynn (IRL, WRL 103) – [3] Farida Walid (EGY, WRL 114)
14:30: [6] Will Salter (ENG, WRL 150) – [9/16] Heston Malik (ENG, WRL 168)
A livestream will be offered here. There will be free admission but spectators have to register here.
Ahead of the finals there will be a VIP tournament from 11:00-13:00 with guests from other sports and businesses such as former National Team goal keeper Otto Konrad and double Paralympics Champion Günther Matzinger.
Finally a big raffle with over 100 amazing prizes takes place. Thanks to our sponsors that offered those great prizes!
Pictures from the semifinals can be found in our gallery.
