Mueller Marches On In Schlieren
Quarter-finals:
[1] Tom Richards (ENG) bt [Q] Piedro Schweertman (NED) 11-8, 11-4, 11-5
[4] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt [6] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-4, 11-9, 11-4
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [3] Chris Ryder (ENG) 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-6
[7] Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) bt Bradley Hindle (AUS) 13-11, 11-6, 11-7
Home hero Nicolas Mueller delighted the crowds at the Seegarten Vitis Open when he upset third seed Chris Ryder to win an unexpected place in the semi-finals of the $10,000 PSA World Tour squash event at Vitis Sports Center in Schlieren, near Zurich, in Switzerland.
And the unseeded Swiss teenager did it the hard way - fighting back from two games and match-ball down in the third to beat experienced Englishman Ryder 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-6.
"Nicolas rode the wave of support that surged from the local crowd during these games," said tournament organiser John Williams. "The win from the Swiss star has also brought a positive response from the National Television Channel 'SF', who are very likely to come to VITIS SportsCenter to film footage of tomorrow's semi-finals, which will be replayed on Monday or Tuesday in the coming week.
"This is naturally a bonus for Squash in Switzerland and in general on World Squash Day," added Williams.
Mueller, the world No71 from near Zurich, will now meet Mexico's Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira, the seventh seed ranked 18 places higher who defeated unseeded Australian Bradley Hindle 13-11, 11-6, 11-7.
The other semi-final will feature England's top seed Tom Richards and fourth-seeded Hungarian Mark Krajcsak who had straightforward straight games wins over Dutch qualifier Piedro Schweertman and Czech number one Jan Koukal, respectively.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Tom Richards (ENG) v [4] Mark Krajcsak (HUN)
[7] Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)