Day THREE : Quarter-finalists settled

The quarter-finals were finalised tonight after four Round Two matches in the bottom half of the draw.

Frenchman Castagnet conquers Rösner on Day Three of Canary Wharf Classic

French World No.26 Mathieu Castagnet booked his place in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Classic after he caused a stunning upset of No.2 seed Simon Rösner at London’s East Wintergarden.

This tournament has been a happy hunting ground at times for Castagnet in the past, with victory over Egypt’s Omar Mosaad in the 2016 final seeing him win his biggest title on the PSA Tour.

A string of injuries have seen Castagnet slide down the rankings from a career-high No.6 ranking, but he rolled back the years with a fearless display against the German No.1 to claim his first win over Rösner at the seventh attempt.

All of those matches were played using a best-of-five games format, however the best of three format – which is being trialled in Canary Wharf for a second successive year – looked to play into his hands as he attacked well and used the lob intelligently to complete an 11-8, 3-11, 11-9 victory in 55 minutes.

“The first, and the last, time I beat Simon Rösner was when I was 16 or 17 years old,” Castagnet said.

“It was at the French Junior Open. Since then, in leagues, exhibitions, PSA tournaments, European Team Championships, all the time he beats me 3-2, 3-1, 3-0. So when I reached my first match ball against him in the seniors, if I had to put the ball to the back of the court a thousand times, I would.

“I don’t know if we can say that in English, but he is like my ‘black beast’. All the injuries I have had, it is such an amazing game for me today. I have so much respect for him and we are close friends, but I really enjoyed that moment because I worked so hard to be back at my best and to live that moment, it is something special to me, to be honest.”

Castagnet will line up against 2017 runner-up Fares Dessouky for a place in the semi-finals after the World No.67 defeated home favourite Daryl Selby 11-5, 11-2. Dessouky has recently recovered from an ACL tear which saw him miss out on appearing at this tournament last year, but he came close to lifting this title two years ago, ultimately losing out to legendary Englishman Nick Matthew in the title decider.

Dessouky was on song in the opening game as he hit a series of thunderous shots into the nick, and he went on to take the opener for the loss of just five points. The start of the second game was a scrappy affair as the video referee was called into action in the first four rallies of the game. Dessouky took a number of points in succession and he dropped just two points to close out the win in 25 minutes.

“I played very good squash today, even my movement was quite good,” said Dessouky.

“I had an ACL injury so I had surgery in December [2017]. After that I had another small surgery, and I feel like I’m improving every tournament.”

New Zealand’s Paul Coll also advanced to the quarter-finals, coming through to beat England’s Tom Richards 11-4, 11-5. The pair had met in the quarter-finals of the Canada Cup exactly a week ago, with Coll winning that encounter in straight games too.

“We played each other last week, so I knew he liked to take it in fast, with lots of angles,” Coll said.

“I tried to stay up the court and cover those angles. We had some fast rallies last week as well, so I knew exactly what to expect. I am happy with the way I adjusted and found my length on the court too.”

The Kiwi will line up against Welshman Joel Makin. Makin overcame Hong Kong’s Max Lee, winning 6-11, 11-9, 11-7 to reach the quarter-finals in Canary Wharf for the first time.

“I have been watching this tournament for years,” Makin said.

“It is one of the favourites for all the players and everyone enjoys it. I wanted to get through a couple of rounds, I hadn’t done well in this tournament before, so I am really looking forward to tomorrow.”