Ramy Races On In Losone

Egypt's unseeded 17-year-old Ramy Ashour claimed another major scalp in the Losone Open when he knocked top-seeded Italian Davide Bianchetti out of the quarter-finals of the inaugural PSA Tour event in the Swiss town of Losone.

The world junior champion saved a match ball against Bianchetti in the fourth game, then blew him away with scintillating nick shots in the fifth to secure his sensational 5-11 11-3 4-11 11-10 11-8 victory and a place in the semi-finals.

"We saw a champion in the making with Ramy Ashour tonight," exclaimed tournament promoter John Williams, the former world No15 from Australia.

Ashour will now take on Canada's Shahier Razik for a place in the final. The third seed absorbed a lot of pressure in the first two games against Eric Galvez. The fifth-seeded Mexican was too keen to finish rallies on the big points in those games and was broken by the third as Razik wrapped up his 11-10 11-8 11-2 win.

There was another upset at the bottom of the draw when India's seventh seed Ritwik Bhattacharya put in a solid performance to outplay second-seeded Spaniard Borja Golan 5-11 11-9 8-11 11-6 11-9 in 58 minutes.

Bhattacharya faces fourth seed Gavin Jones, who was too controlled and experienced for opponent Saurav Ghosal - and, with controlled rallies, beat the Indian 11-8 11-3 11-7.

Quarter-finals:
Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [1] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 5-11, 11-3, 4-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-8
[3] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [5] Eric Galvez (MEX) 11-10 (2-0), 11-8, 11-2 (47m)
[4] Gavin Jones (WAL) bt [8] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-8, 11-3, 11-7
[7] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt [2] Borja Golan (ESP) 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 (58m)