Knight makes Invercargill semis

Martin Knight is the sole Kiwi to progress to the semi-finals of the NZ Southern Open PSA in Invercargill. 

The quarter finals of The ILT & Community Trust New Zealand Southern PSA Open have all played to seedings in Invercargill tonight, with the top four all progressing through to the semi finals tomorrow.

Young Abdullah Mohd Al Tamimi (Qatar) showed why he is such a crowd favourite tonight with his unique shot-playing style. Unfortunately his sleight of hand was unable to secure him a win against number one seed Mohd Nafizwan Adnan (MAS). Losing the first set Al Tamimi fought back to take the second set before Adnan used his experience and skill to close out the match in four sets.

Fourth seed  Rex Hedrick (AUS) ultimately proved too strong for seventh seed Paul Coll, winning the match in four sets. The match was very competitive, with both players working hard for each point, and moving each other all around the court.  Hedrick showed amazing powers of recovery after a 92 minute marathon against kashif Shuja in the first round.

Likewise third seed Matthew Karwalski (AUS) looked very dominant in the first set against James Huang (TAI) taking it 11-3. Huang fought hard in the second set, taking it to a tie break which Karwalski won 13-11. The third set Karwalski again dominated and progresses through to the semi final where he will meet second seed Martin Knight (NZL).

Knight played off against his Commonwealth Games team-mate and training partner Lance Beddoes and it was a tough match. Beddoes took the first set, which saw Knight come back hard in the second to take a 8-2 lead before Beddoes started to come back, but Knight used all his skill to take the set 11-7. The third set was incredibly close, with neither player able to get any real lead, before Knight finally broke ahead to take it 12-10. Knight was able to take full control of the fourth set, and secure his semi final berth.

NZ Southern Open Quarter-final Results

(1) Mohd Nafizwan Adnan (MAS) beat (6) Abdullah Mohd Al Tamimi (Qatar) 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 13-11 (52 mins)

(4) Rex Hedrick (AUS) beat (7) Paul Coll (NZL) 12-10, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9 (67 mins)

(3) Matthew Karwalski (AUS) beat James Huang (TAI) 11-3, 13-11, 11-5 (33 mins)

(2) Martin Knight (NZL) beat (WC) Lance Beddoes (NZL) 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 (64 mins)

Semi-final Match Times

5.30pm  (1) Mohd Nafizwan vs (4) Rex Hedrick

6.30pm  (2) Martin Knight vs (3) Matthew Karwalski

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