Second seed Angus Gillams got his 2016 off to the perfect start with
a commanding 3-0 victory over title favourite Nathan Lake in an
all-English final in the Sandman Hotels Open Penticton, PSA M5 event
to capture his first PSA World Tour title of the year.
Gillams, who didn’t drop a single game throughout the tournament,
earned his spot in the final with a brilliant straight games triumph
over fellow Englishman Adam Murrills while Lake, who also had a
perfect record heading into the final, downed Mexican teenager Jesus
Camacho to seal his place in the showpiece event.
World No.90 Gillams started the encounter in the ascendancy and was
in brilliant form as a number of superb retrievals enabled him to
catch his opponent on the back foot and he soon surged into a
two-game lead.
He upped his game even further as the match drew to a close, with
his consistent length and devastating drop shots coming to the fore
as he wrapped up an 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 victory to continue the
progression that has seen the 20-year-old leap up 48 places on the
World Rankings compared to this time last year.
The Englishman’s victory in Penticton has yielded the second PSA
World Tour title of his career with his first coming back in
November at the Madison Open.
#PSAWorldTour
The final qualifying round of the Sandman Hotels Open Penticton, PSA
M5 event saw two Canadian players move through to the main draw on
home soil.
Hamid Khosrowkiani defeated Andrew Braff in the day’s most exciting
fixture which went all the way to five games before Khosrowkiani
eventually took the win. The Canadian found himself 2-1 down at one
point but fought back with a marvellous recovery to secure a main
draw berth with a 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-2, 11-9 victory.
His reward is a first round meeting with English number three seed
Adam Murrills who is one of the favourites to lift the title.
Elsewhere, Joey Forster downed compatriot George James to sail
through to the next round. Forster edged out a tight opening game
but ramped up the pressure in games two and three to take the
victory in straight games. He has a meeting with fellow Canadian
Albert Shoihet in round one of the main draw.
England’s Adam Terheege has also swept through to the main draw
action after a commanding triumph over local player Joel Casey.
Terheege claimed the win in three games and has a difficult meeting
with top seed and title favourite Nathan Lake up next.
Gord Henderson was another Canadian casualty of the final round of
qualifying after he succumbed to a 3-0 defeat to Mexico’s Marco
Toriz-Caddo who will line up against Kale Wilson in round one of the
main draw.
