Sharpes Shifts Shahier In Sudbury Shake Up

Unseeded Englishman Charles Sharpes produced the best win of his career in the Northern Ontario Championship in Canada when he upset second seed Shahier Razik, the title-holder, to reach the last four of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event in its third year at the Sudbury YMCA in Sudbury, Ontario.

Canadian number one Razik is a seasoned professional. The 29-year-old from Toronto won his sixth Canadian national title last year, and the 22nd PSA World Tour title of his career - and currently sits at 29 in the world rankings.

But Sharpes is making rapid strides at the beginning of his career. The 20-year-old from Surrey leapt over 100 places in the world rankings since the beginning of last year to a career-high No80 last month.

"Sharpes was on the attack for the whole match, staying in front of Razik and consistently hitting severe low kills," said tournament spokesman Michael McCue. "Razik does revel in this defensive role, but Sharpes never faltered mentally or physically.

"Charles held leads at 9-4 in both the second and third, and this gap proved too much for Razik to peg back. This was certainly the best win (ranking-wise, at least) of Charles' young career."

Sharpes was quick to comment on his 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 victory on Twitter: "Big result for me tonight - got a 3-0 win against Shahier Razik. Thought I played really well and can't wait for the semis tomorrow."

The only unseeded player in the semi-finals, Sharpes will now face another Canadian Shawn Delierre, the runner-up in 2010. Fourth seed Delierre, from Montreal, beat English qualifier Ben Coleman 12-10, 11-9, 11-6.

The other semi-finals will also be an Anglo/North American affair - between Julian Illingworth, the top seed from New York, and third-seeded Englishman Chris Simpson.

Both recovered from first-game set-backs - Illingworth overcoming South African qualifier Clinton Leeuw 5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 and Simpson taking 72 minutes to quash Welsh champion Peter Creed 6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] Julian Illingworth (USA) v [3] Chris Simpson (ENG)
Charles Sharpes (ENG) v [4] Shawn Delierre (CAN)

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