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Wakefield PSA 2022
Men's Draw
13 - 16 Dec
The Plains, VA, United States, $12k |
Final:
[David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 8-11, 6-11,
14-12, 11-1, 11-2 (50m)
Semi-finals:
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 11-7, 11-5, 11-2
(24m)
[4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [2] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 8-11, 11-5,
11-4, 11-6 (39m)
Quarter-finals:
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) 11-6, 11-6, 6-11,
4-11, 13-11 (50m)
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [5] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) 11-7,
10-12, 11-5, 11-4 (51m)
[4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [7] Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) 11-9, 6-11,
11-3, 11-6 (45m)
[2] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt [8] Mark Broekman (ENG) 8-11, 11-6,
12-10, 11-8 (47m)
1st round:
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [1] Nathan Lake (ENG) w/o
[6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) bt Jamie Ruggiero (USA) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5
(23m)
[5] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) bt Cory McCartney (CAN) 11-3, 11-6, 11-3
(24m)
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Saeed Abdul (PAK) 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (32m)
[4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Muhammad Ibrahim Noorani (PAK) 11-3, 11-4,
11-5 (17m)
[7] Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) bt Mohamed Nabil (EGY) 11-9, 9-11, 8-11,
11-2, 13-11 (74m)
[8] Mark Broekman (ENG) bt Mehran Javed (PAK) w/o
[2] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt Shehab Essam (EGY) 11-9, 11-6, 13-11
(40m) |
Final
Baillargeon Claims First Win Of 2022
David Baillargeon
In his last outing of the calendar year, Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon
has secured his first title of 2022, winning the Wakefield PSA.
The World No.65 came into the Challenger 10 level competition as the
No.3 seed, and started off his week with a confident performance to
overcome Pakistan’s Saeed Abdul, winning in straight games.
He then got the better of a second Pakistani in as many days in the
quarter finals. No.5 seed Muhammad Ashab Irfan was the man to be beat,
with Baillargeon winning in four games. The Canadian then won in
straight games to overcome the challenge of Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva to
make it through to the final.
The final saw Baillargeon take on the Czech Republic’s Daniel Mekbib.
The No.4 seed had gotten the better of No.2 seed Muhammad Asim Khan to
make it through to the final, coming back from behind to down the
higher-ranked Pakistani in four games.
It was Mekbib that held a two-game lead in the final, and he had his
chances to secure a straight games victory. However, the Canadian was
able to survive to win the third 14-12, and it was always going to be
his win from there. He dropped just three more points after that,
winning the last two games comfortably to win the title in The Plains. |
Semi Final
Baillargeon and Mekbib Into Final
David Baillargeon
The final of the Wakefield PSA will see Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon
and the Czech Republic’s Daniel Mekbib go head-to-head.
The pair came into the Challenger 10 level competition in The Plains, VA,
United States as the No.3 and No.4 seeds respectively, and the latter
had to cause an upset on Thursday evening to make the final.
The Czech No.2 came up against the tournament’s No.2 seed, Muhammad Asim
Khan, in the semis. The Pakistani was featuring for the first time after
an injury saw him retire midway through the final of the HSC
International Squash Open earlier this year.
However, after a couple of solid performances to make the last four,
Khan then took the opening game of the semi-final against Mekbib. From
there, though, the Czech No.2 turned it around, and was able to win the
next three games rather comfortably to book his spot in the final in The
Plains.
He will now take on No.3 seed David Baillargone, after the World No.65
easily overcame the challenge of the unseeded Sanjay Jeeva. The Canadian
dropped just 14 points in an 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 victory to move through to
the final of the Challenger 10 level tournament.
The final of the Wakefield PSA will take place between David Baillargeon
and Daniel Mekbib on Friday, December 16. The winner of the match will
take home the Challenger 10 level crown.
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Round 2
Jeeva Gatecrashes Last Four
Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva is through to the last four of the Wakefield
PSA, getting the better of No.6 seed Abdelrahman Nassar in the quarter
finals.
The Malaysian received a walkover through his opening round match after
top seed Nathan Lake had to withdraw with a late injury. On Wednesday,
Jeeva then took on Egypt’s Nassar, the tournament’s No.6 seed, for a
place in the semi-finals of the Challenger 10 level competition.
It was a quick start for the unseeded 23-year-old, as he won both of the
opening two games by an 11-6 scoreline. However, Nassar fought back to
level the match after winning both the third and fourth games
comfortably. That sent the match into a decider, and a relatively
quick-fire contest went the way of Jeeva. He won it after just 50
minutes, taking the fifth on a tie-break 13-11.
The World No.153 will now take on Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon in the
semis on Thursday afternoon in The Plains. The World No.65 downed
Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan in a four-game contest, battling back
from losing the second game won a tie-break 12-10.
The other semi-final will see the Czech Republic’s Daniel Mekbib, the
No.4 seed for the competition, take on Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan,
the No.2 seed. The pair both won in four, with Khan coming back from
losing the first game of his last eight tie with England’s Mark Broekman,
the No.8 seed and tournament promoter.
The semi-finals of the Wakefield PSA will take place on Thursday,
December 15 at Wakefield School in The Plains, VA. The last four will do
battle in their attempts to reach the final on Friday. |
Round 1
Jeeva Through After Lake Injury
Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva is into the quarter finals of the Wakefield PSA
after top seed Nathan Lake had to withdraw from the tournament through
injury.
Lake was coming into the Challenger 10 level competition as the
defending champion, but suffered an injury whilst practicing at the
tournament venue, and he was unable to play his first round match. Jeeva
received a walkover through to the second round, where he will now face
Egypt’s No.6 seed Abdelrahman Nassar.
South Africa’s Dewald van Niekerk survived a scare on the opening day,
with the No.7 seed winning in five against Egypt’s Mohamed Nabil. Both
men had their chances in the deciding fifth game as it went to a
tie-break, but it was the South African who came through it 13-11.
Elsewhere, the Pakistani pair of Muhammad Ashab Irfan and Muhammad Asim
Khan also made their way into the last eight of the competition, and
will be joined by Canada’s David Baillargeon, Czech Republic’s Daniel
Mekbib and England’s Mark Broekman.
The quarter finals of the Wakefield PSA will take place on Wednesday,
December 14, with the last eight going head-to-head for places in
Thursday’s semi-finals in The Plains, Virginia. |
Preview
Lake Excited For 2023
The first event of the week will be the Wakefield PSA, which will take
place from Tuesday, December 13 to Friday, December 16 at Wakefield
School in The Plains, VA, United States.
This will be the fourth edition of the tournament, and the second at a
Challenger 10 level. England’s Nathan Lake will be this week’s top seed
as he aims to defend the title he won twelve months ago.
We spoke to the Englishman ahead of this year’s edition of the event,
and he believes that his squash has been improving over the last few
months.
“I feel generally my performances have been moving in the right
direction over the past couple of months. I probably played my best
squash of this season a few weeks ago at the London Open, so I’m excited
to see where I’m at,” he explained.
Lake will come into the tournament as the defending champion, having
gotten the better of American Shahjahan Khan in the final. The
Englishman was happy with his performances that week, and it gave him
confidence as well.
“The event is ran by Mark Broekman who I grew up playing squash with in
Cheltenham, England. So firstly, it’s great to spend some time with him
and see how well he is doing at Wakefield School where he’s the coach,”
Lake said.
“It’s a beautiful part of the US and reminds me a lot of Gloucestershire
as it’s so rural where the event is played in The Plains, Virginia.
“The matches were obviously great too, easier to say when you win, but
tournament match play is so important so to get four matches in at last
year’s event was perfect and gave me an idea where I was leading into
the holiday season and what I might need to do before my events in
January.”
Lake now spends most of his time in the United States, where he lives
with new wife Haley Mendez. It has been a good year for the Englishman
both on and off-court, and he is looking forward to carrying that on
into 2023.
“It’s been a great year for me, I feel I played some of my best squash
in the first quarter of the year, I played for England as a senior for
the first time and got married,” he explained.
“It’s also been challenging, I injured my back towards the end of last
season and it’s been an uphill battle to get healthy and return to full
fitness, it’s something I’ve learned a lot from if not always enjoyed.
I’m excited to see what 2023 brings and I’m pushing hard to get towards
the top 20 in the world.
“It certainly cuts down on the travel time! Being based in the US has
many advantages and one of the main ones, professionally speaking, is
that there are so many events in North America so I have less long
flights to deal with through the season.”
Lake will face competition for the title this week from Pakistan’s
Muhammad Asim Khan, Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon and the Czech
Republic’s Daniel Mekbib. The Pakistani made the final of the HSC
International Squash Open earlier this month but had to retire injured
in the final, so he is hoping to how he is back to full fitness this
week in Virginia.
The rest of the top eight seeds will be made up by another Pakistani, in
Muhammad Ashab Irfan, along with South Africa’s Dewald van Niekerk,
Egypt’s Abdelrahman Nassar and Englishman Mark Broekman.
The event takes place from Tuesday, December 13 to Friday, December 16
at the Wakefield School in The Plains, VA, where England’s Nathan Lake
is the top seed for the tournament. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on
Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.
Shehab Essam (EGY) v [2] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK)For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
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