English World No.84 Jaymie Haycocks captured his first PSA World
Tour title for over two years by downing home hope Michael McCue
in the final of the MAA Invitational, PSA M5 event.
The 32-year-old was in fine form throughout the tournament and
dropped just one game en-route to the final against compatriot
Ashley Davies in the semi-final. McCue was similarly dominant in
the build up to the showpiece event and slalomed past fellow
Canadian David Baillargeon in the previous round.
Haycocks took an early lead in the final encounter after forcing
some errors from his opponent but McCue bounced back and took
five straight points to send the opening game into a nervy
finish.
It was Haycocks who narrowly managed to close it out and he
surged into victories in games two and three to wrap up an 11-9,
11-4, 11-4 triumph in 39 minutes.
Haycocks’s victory in Montreal sees him lift the third PSA World
Tour crown of his career and his first since 2013’s 4th Cerdil
Squash Open.
'It turned out to be a good thing that the first game was
longer,” said Haycocks.
“He did a lot of work and it took a lot out of him. This made
the second and third more difficult for him as I was able to get
comfortable leads in both games.”
Haycocks
Homes In On Semi-final Spot In Canada
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Number one seed Jaymie Haycocks secured his place in the
semi-final of the MAA Invitational, PSA M5 event after blitzing
to victory against number five seed Sunny Seth in straight
games.
The first game was a tightly-contested affair with both players
pushing each other to the limit with only two points in it. A
spell of accurate hard-hitting from Haycocks eventually enabled
him to take a one-game lead with an 11-9 margin of victory.
He controlled the match from that point onwards, wrapping up an
11-9, 11-6, 11-7 triumph to reach the last four.
Fellow Englishman Ashley Davies awaits Haycocks in the
semi-final after the number four seed defeated Kale Wilson, who
was struggling with a back injury, in three.
Meanwhile, Michael McCue and David Baillargeon are set to
contest an all-Canadian affair in the next round after they
defeated Albert Shoihet and Dairo Sandoval, respectively.
Sandoval
Shocks Serediak In Canada
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Colombia’s Dairo Sandoval earned a spot in the quarter-final of
a PSA World Tour event for the first time in his career after
upsetting home hope Matthew Serediak in the opening round of the
MAA Invitational, PSA M5 tournament.
Both players took a game each before Sandoval upped his game
impressively to take an 11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7 victory into the
next round.
“Matt is an experienced player and got to many of my shots,”
said Sandoval.
“I had to be patient to win the rallies. I am happy about my
results so far and I like the atmosphere of the tournament.”
Sandoval, the only qualifier left in the tournament, will go up
against another Canadian, David Baillargeon, in the last eight
after the number six seed defeated Bryan Cueto 3-1.
Top seed Jaymie Haycocks eased through to the quarter-final
stage after his straight games triumph over Edgar Zayas and his
reward is a next round fixture with Sunny Seth who dispatched
wildcard Hussein Barakat.
Meanwhile, home favourite Michael McCue defeated United States
player Sam Gould, failing to drop even a single point in the
final game, and will do battle with Albert Shoihet for a place
in the semi-final after he downed Elliot Selby.
Ashley Davies and Kale Wilson will meet each other in the other
quarter-final clash after they beat Nick Sachvie and Francisco
Mendez Correa, respectively.
Selby
Sweeps Through To MAA Invitational Main Draw
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England’s Elliot Selby secured his place in the main draw of the
MAA Invitational, PSA M5 event by downing Owen Butler in the
final qualifying round with a 3-0 victory.
Selby, brother of World No.14 Daryl, was in fine form throughout
the encounter and dominated proceedings to record an 11-4, 11-4,
11-7 triumph.
He moves on to face number seven seed Albert Shoihet in the main
draw’s opening round as he looks to dispatch a third successive
Canadian after also beating local player Maxime Blouin in the
first round of qualifying.
Mexico’s Edgar Zayas will also participate in the next round
after he moved past top qualifying seed Emyr Evans with a
straight games win. He lines up against the formidable Jaymie
Haycocks in the first round who has two PSA World Tour titles to
his name.
Bryan Cueto made it a Mexican double with his victory against
Sebastien Boucley and his reward is an opening round matchup
with David Baillargeon.
Elsewhere, Dairo Sandoval recovered from a one-game deficit to
defeat fellow Colombian Andres Felipe Herrera in a surprise win
and he will go head-to-head with Matthew Serediak for a place in
the quarter-final.