Comeback Kandra Into Calgary Climax

Germany's Raphael Kandra mounted two mighty comebacks in the semi-finals of the Bankers Hall Club Pro Am - one from an 11-0 game loss - to upset second-seeded New Zealander Martin Knight to reach the final of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event celebrating its 11th year at the Bankers Hall Club in Calgary, Canada.

The fourth seed from Essen finally triumphed 6-11, 11-6, 0-11, 11-4, 11-5 after exactly an hour to reach his second Tour final in a row - and the 11th of his career.

Kandra now faces top seed Leo Au, the title-holder from Hong Kong. The 23-year-old World No.40 reached the Bankers Hall Club final for the third year in a row after prevailing in a 91-minute marathon - stemming a determined comeback by Czech star Jan Koukal before beating the No.7 seed 14-12, 11-5, 5-11, 8-11, 11-3.

Au is celebrating his 10th Tour final appearance.

"Two electric semi-finals here at the Bankers Hall Club Pro Am have produced a repeat of last year's final," said tournament host Bob Ballinger, the club's Head Squash Professional. "Before a truly jam-packed audience, top seed and defending champion Au held off the comeback attempt of Koukal in a tremendous 91-minute match.

"Au played a flawless final game and despite that final game score line it was just as impressive from Koukal who did not do much wrong it was just that Au was oh so accurate.

"The other semi saw last year's finalist from Germany Kandra come from a 2/1 games deficit to knock out Knight the second seed here. Knight went up 4-0 in the final game but Kandra pegged off nine straight points to eventually gain the victory."