Dramatic five game thriller ends home hopes at Mozart Open men!

Both semifinals of the Mozart Open men ended with upsets. While third seed Jakub Solnicky (CZE, WRL 117) beat number one seed Mazen Gamal (EGY, WRL 96) 3/0, fifth seed Macéo Levy (FRA, WRL 126) beat local hero and fourth seed Aqeel Rehman (AUT, WRL 124) in a five game battle.

In the first semifinal Jakub Solnicky continued his strong performance from throughout the tournament where he only dropped one game so far. Against the tournament favorite from Egypt the Czech didnt drop a game to secure his place in the final.

The second semifinal showcased the highlight of the evening. A packed home crowd was cheering for their home player Aqeel Rehman to repeat his final appearance from last year. After a 2/0 lead it looked like the 19-times Austrian National Champion would satisfiy his supporters.

Of course his french opponent didn’t let loose and fought back impressively and won the next two games to equalize. The spectators saw a great battle, still pushing the Salzburg boy Aqeel Rehman to fight back.

There was a big drama in the deciding game. At 10/2 it looked like Macéo Levy was the guaranteed winner. However thanks to an incredible comeback by the Austrian he could save 7 matchballs to reach 9/10.

This was when the crowd went from ecstasies to full silent after the Frenchman drilled his opponent on a crosscourt. The referee decided on a stroke and therefore the match was rewarded to Macéo Levy, who mentioned in the interview that he didnt want the match to end this way but of course was happy to win and reach the final.

Here are the full scores of the semifinals:

[3] Jakub Solnicky (CZE, WRL 117) – [1] Mazen Gamal (EGY, WRL 96) 11/4, 11/8, 11/7 40min
[5] Macéo Levy (FRA, WRL 126) – [4] Aqeel Rehman (AUT, WRL 124) 5/11, 7/11, 11/3, 11/7, 11/9 65min

Pictures of the semifinals can be found in the gallery and can be used free of charge under the reference of our photographer Gintare Karpaviciute.

Final on Saturday 10th May at EUROPARK Salzburg:

16:30: [3] Jakub Solnicky (CZE, WRL 117) – [5] Macéo Levy (FRA, WRL 126)

Ahead of the final there is a big raffle and VIP tournament. At this exhibition event Olympic and World Champions of varisous sports will take part and show their skills on the squashcourt.