Spaniard Ivan Perez has claimed his second title of the year with a win at the Open de Cognac in France, as he defeated the tournament’s top two seeds en route to the victory.
Perez, who sat at a career-high World No.105 coming into the tournament, was the No.3 seed for the event, and he received a bye through to the second round, where he then defeated compatriot Aron Astray in a three-game, half an hour battle.
The Spaniard then got the better of Frenchman Edwin Clain to make it through to the semi-finals, where the upsets began, starting against the tournament’s No.2 seed, Englishman Nick Wall.
Both his last four contest against Wall, and the final against Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany, the top seed, went in the same fashion, as Perez was able to win the first game of the two matches, but found himself level at one game apiece as well.
He was able to recover the momentum in both of those matches though, and come through to take victory, with the win against Elnawasany seeing Perez secure his second win of 2021, to follow his victory at the Open Squash Aguadulce in March.
Results: Open de Cognac
Final
[3] Ivan Perez (ESP) bt [1] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6 (52m)
Semi-Finals
[1] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt [4] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (23m)
[3] Ivan Perez (ESP) bt [2] Nick Wall (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7 (49m)
Quarter Finals
[1] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt [5] Aadit Zaveri (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (29m)
[4] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt [7] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 12-10 (84m)
[3] Ivan Perez (ESP) bt [6] Edwin Clain (FRA) 3-1: 11-7, 2-11, 11-5, 13-11 (55m)
[2] Nick Wall (ENG) bt [8] Abdallah Elmasry (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 13-11, 11-8 (36m)
Round Two
[1] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt Paul Gonzalez (FRA) 3-0: 13-11, 11-5, 11-3 (30m)
[5] Aadit Zaveri (IND) bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 3-1: 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 (43m)
[7] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) bt Brice Nicolas (FRA) 3-1: 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 (51m)
[4] Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt Quint Mandil (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 (24m)
[3] Ivan Perez (ESP) bt Aron Astray (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (30m)
[6] Edwin Clain (…….