Schnells Lose Chicago Shootouts

It was the end of the road for Andrew and Graeme Schnell in the Chicago Open in the USA when the Canadian brothers both fell in the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at Life Time Athletic in Vernon Hills, Illinois.

Qualifier Graeme took a game from Frenchman Joan Lezaud but was unable to stop the 27-year-old from Aix-en-Provence winning 11-9, 13-11, 4-11, 11-6 to become the only unseeded player to make the semi-finals.

Lezaud goes on to face fourth seed Eric Galvez after the 30-year-old Mexican battled to a 14-12, 5-11, 11-9, 15-13 victory over higher-ranked South African Clinton Leeuw.

Andrew Schnell, the younger but higher-ranked of the Calgary siblings, met his match in top-seeded New Zealander Martin Knight. The world No47 from Auckland recorded his second straight games win in the event when he despatched 21-year-old Schnell 11-5, 11-9, 11-7.

Knight will face Farhan Zaman for a place in the final after the third-seeded Pakistani ended qualifier Karim El Hammamy's run when he beat the 17-year-old Egyptian 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] Martin Knight (NZL) v [3] Farhan Zaman (PAK)
Joan Lezaud (FRA) v [4] Eric Galvez (MEX)

Graeme Schnell (left) and Andrew Schnell pictured with Extended Stay Manager Beth Mikoley and Hotel sponsor Ashley