RESULTS: XII Abierto Colombian Squash Open, Bogota, Colombia
Quarter-finals:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-4, 11-2, 9-11, 11-3 (34m)
[4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [6] Eric Galvez (MEX) 11-6, 12-10, 11-3 (41m)
[5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10 (52m)
[2] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [7] Arturo Salazar (MEX) 11-7, 11-2, 9-4 ret. (28m)
Local hero Miguel Angel Rodriguez delighted his fans at Club El Nogal in Bogota when he pulled off a sensational upset in the XII Abierto Colombian Open by beating Malaysia’s third seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar to reach the semi-finals of the $30,000 PSA World Tour squash championship in the Colombian capital.
The hard training defending champion Rodriguez put in before the event in his home club clearly paid off handsomely for the 23-year-old Colombian number one when he beat Iskandar, the world No16, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10 in 52 minutes to record the biggest scalp of his career.
Fifth seed Rodriguez, ranked 25 in the world, will now face Spain’s Borja Golan, the No2 seed. Golan, the world No11 who lost to the Colombian in their last meeting in Brazil over a year ago, beat seventh seed Arturo Salazar when the Mexican retired injured after twisting his ankle, with the score standing at 11-7, 11-2, 9-4 to the Spaniard.
Salazar’s twin brother also fell at the quarter-final stage. Cesar Salazar became the only qualifier to survive the first round after upsetting fellow Mexican Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira. The underdog stretched top seed David Palmer to four games in the quarters – but the former world number one from Australia ultimately recorded his anticipated victory 11-4, 11-2, 9-11, 11-3 in 34 minutes.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) v [4] Olli Tuominen (FIN)
[2] Borja Golan (ESP) v [5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)