Harinder Pal Sandhu
Indian qualifier Harinder Pal Sandhu extended his mighty run in the PSA Valencia in Spain when he defeated third seed Chris Ryder to reach the final of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event in its second year at Club Olympia in Valencia.
The triumph marks the fifth – but biggest – Tour final appearance of Sandhu’s career.
The 23-year-old from Chennai began his giant-killing charge in the qualifying finals where he overcame higher-ranked New Zealander Kashif Shuja to make the main draw against expectation.
Victory over England’s Charles Sharpes saw Sandhu line up against top seed Adrian Grant in the quarter-finals – but the Indian underdog despatched the world No19 in a five-game thriller.
Ryder, ranked 43 in the world, provided Sandhu a hat-trick of English victims. The Chandhigarh-born world No98 recovered from a game down to beat 32-year-old Ryder 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 after 80 minutes of intense squash.
For a change, Sandhu will now face an Egyptian – fourth seed Omar Abdel Aziz. The 29-year-old from Cairo, ranked 41 in the world, ended Danish interest in the event when he beat Kristian Frost Olesen 11-9, 11-6, 13-11 in 55 minutes.
Aziz, runner-up in the recent Arab Championship, is celebrating his 12th appearance in a PSA Tour final.
Results: PSA Challenger 15 PSA Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Semi-finals:
[Q] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt [3] Chris Ryder (ENG) 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (80m)
[4] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 11-9, 11-6, 13-11 (55m)
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