Home Hopes Dashed On German Open Day One

In a frenetic start to proceedings at the German Open Presented by Sportwerk, massive upsets occurred on all three courts while all four home favourites failed to progress on the opening day of action in the PSA Squash Tour Bronze event in Hamburg.

In a major ranking's upset, Israel's Daniel Poleshchuk knocked out home favourite Raphael Kandra.

The world No.70 flew into the match, playing aggressive squash and dominating the court as he quickly accumulated points in a brutal 11-8, 11-8, 11-2 victory against the German No.1.

After the match, Poleshchuk said: "Raphael is a great player. It's always a hard battle against him, so to come here and beat him on home soil, I couldn't ask for much more.

"Lately in recent tournaments I have been facing these tough opponents, top 40, top 30, I've been coming close to them, so this gives me a massive boost of confidence to get the win today."

In an impressive result for 22-year-old Amina El Rihany, the Egyptian came back from 0/2 down to defeat Wales' Emily Whitlock in the women's event.

After a slow start, El Rihany seemed to have found her footing in the match, finding accurate winners across the court and stretching a tiring Whitlock out across the last three games.

The Welshwoman didn't let the Egyptian pull away in the decisive fifth game, but El Rihany held her nerve to complete her comeback and earn a place in the second round.

"I'm really proud of myself because I was so tired." said El Rihany after the match. "I tried to play like I was about to lose, but I went for it and just played.

On the close-fought five game, the Egyptian remarked: "It was tough because she's a really tough player and very experienced. I was trying to take a lot of points at the beginning... ...and I went for it in the nick because I had no other choice."

Veteran Egyptian Omar Mosaad survived a difficult test in Czech wildcard Marek Panacek as the pair battled in an incredibly entertaining 43-minute clash.

Mosaad, a former world No.3, remained consistent throughout, using his experience to try to dictate play and force Panacek around the court, but the energetic Czech seemed undeterred, bounding around the court in a fascinating clash of technique and athleticism.

The 'Hammer of Thor' earned himself two match balls in game four, and despite a fightback from the Czech to force a tie-break, the Egyptian won out at 12-10 to earn his place in the second round.

Elsewhere, Egypt's Ibrahim Elkabbani scored an upset over Hungary's Balazs Farkas in a 71-minute thriller, and Patrick Rooney came out on top of a dramatic all-England men's clash.