NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY - American Faisal Riaz hits a shot as Medicine Hat's Brock Janzer (left) looks on during the opening round of the Professional Squash Association's Medicine Hat Open Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019 at the Downtown YMCA.
It wasn’t the sort of hard-fought win Brock Janzer envisioned to start the Medicine Hat Open, but he’ll take it.
The hometown pro squash player took full advantage of a listless Faisal Riaz, winning 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-1) in a mere 15 minutes at the Downtown YMCA Wednesday.
“It’s always good to go farther in the tournament, no matter how you get there,” said Janzer, who barely broke a sweat in the opening-round match. “Matches like that, you try to get on and off (the court) as quick as possible… so I can be fresh for the next round.”
Riaz, 24, said he was nursing a back injury but didn’t want to flat-out forfeit. He didn’t put in much of an effort, often out of position and seemingly letting balls hit the floor. After losing, he stayed on court for longer than the match to help warm up fellow Pakistan native Norman Khan, who beat Egypt’s Ahmed Abualela 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-5) in 24 minutes.
“I have a back issue, I’m trying to avoid more injury,” said Riaz, who moved to the United States seven years ago. “It takes a long time, so hopefully (I’ll be better) in a month.”
Janzer didn’t know of the injury and certainly wasn’t about to take it easy on Riaz. It was his first Professional Squash Association tour win since April 2018, a string of seven losses, though he’s won plenty of matches at non-PSA events in that span.
Janzer had friends and family in the crowd but they didn’t have much time to cheer. One of the people looking on was Matt Teel, a top local amateur who got a rare chance to play a pro later in the day. Teel lost 3-0 (11-3, 11-2, 11-2) to England’s Perry Malik in 21 minutes, a match that happened when Pakistan’s Muhammad Ibrahim Noorani dropped out.
Janzer next meets England’s Tom Walsh Thursday in a 4:15 p.m. matchup. Walsh, ranked 149th in the world, had a first-round bye.
“He’s a good player I’m sure,” said Janzer of the round of 16 matchup.
Other scores Wednesday included Brazil’s Guilherme Melo beating Canadian Charles de la Riva 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-6), Mexico’s Miled Zarazua beating England’s Nick Sutcliffe 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3) and Pakistan’s Naveed Rehman whipping past Medicine Hat’s Kyle Spackman 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-3).
The $5,000 tournament sees its top seeds in action Thursday, with matches starting at 2 p.m. The quarter-finals are set for Friday night, the semifinals on Saturday and the final at 3 p.m. Sunday.
