Experienced New Zealander Martin Knight
secured his eighth career PSA World Tour title with a straightforward
3-0 victory over Israel’s Daniel Poleshchuk - a player 12 years his
junior - in the final of the Guilfoyle Financial Classic, PSA M5
tournament.
Number one seed Knight was in tremendous form in the buildup to the
final with commanding wins over Dan Bergin, Sunny Seth and Geoffrey
Demont en-route, while Poleshchuk had earlier upset second seed Jaymie
Haycocks in the quarter-final before beating surprise package Nick
Sachvie, the Canadian who had risen from qualifying to reach the last
four, to secure his place in the final.
The first game featured some lengthy rallies with Poleshchuk
outmanoeuvring his opponent only to lose a number of points on unforced
errors which allowed 32-year-old Knight to edge it with an 11-9 margin
of victory.
Game two saw the pattern of play remain largely the same with
Poleshchuk’s guile and craft enabling him to move Knight into all four
corners of the court once more but a hamstring injury saw the
20-year-old require an injury break. From that point on, the World
No.115 he wasn’t able to move as freely, resulting in Knight doubling
his advantage.
Knight kept up his relentless assault in the latter stages of the
fixture to surge past a struggling Poleshchuk and close out an 11-9,
11-5, 11-5 triumph to lift his first PSA World Tour title since 2014.
Poleshchuk downs 2nd seed Hacocks in Quarter Finals
The main draw of the Guilfoyle Financial Classic, PSA M5 event
springs into life in Toronto, Canada on Wednesday February 24, with
a host of experienced players hoping to clinch the tournament crown.
World No.83 Martin Knight is the top seed for the event and will be
looking to progress smoothly through his early round encounters
which begin with a fixture against a qualifier.
As a three-time New Zealand National Champion and winner of seven
PSA World Tour titles, Knight will believe he has the experience and
knowhow to seal the title this week.
Challenging Knight for the title will be England's Jaymie Haycocks
who displayed excellent recent form after sealing the MAA
Invitational title in Montreal two months ago. Haycocks defeated
home favourite Michael McCue in the final of that event and will be
looking to perform strongly in Canada again this week.
Haycocks faces a qualifier in the first round and will have his eyes
firmly set on the tournament's ultimate prize.
After steadily progressing through the world rankings in recent
years, World No.100 Joe Chapman will be hoping to clinch a maiden
PSA World Tour title in Toronto this week. Seeded third for the
event, the British Virgin Islands resident will be confident of
challenging in the tournament's latter stages and meets a qualifier
in round one.
France’s Geoffrey Demont will also be competing in Toronto and is
the number four seed for the event. Buoyed by an impressive
performance at the Savcor Finnish Open in January, where he lost out
to Shehab Essam in the final, Demont will be hoping to take that
form into this tournament as he bids to capture a second PSA World
Tour crown.
The World No.106 faces 18-year-old Canadian wildcard Rahul Sehrawat,
who is competing in just his fourth PSA World Tour event, in the
first round.
Another notable entrant is Israel's Daniel Poleshchuk who has
reached the semi-final stage of his last five PSA World Tour events
and surpassed expectations to clinch the LOC Charing Cross Classic
in October 2015. Several Canadian players, including World No.139
Matthew Serediak, also feature in the event and they'll be hoping to
entertain crowds at the highly revered Toronto Cricket Club venue
which has hosted several national squash events in previous years.
Canada’s Nick Sachvie secured a place in the main draw of the
Guilfoyle Financial Classic, PSA M5 tournament on home soil after a
commanding triumph over Mexico’s Marco Toriz-Caddo in the final
round of qualifying in Toronto.
Sachvie benefitted from a bye in the previous round and his fresh
legs seemed to make the difference early on as he narrowly edged the
opener. Toriz-Caddo battle back to level things up in the second but
a resilient Sachvie held his nerve and stormed to victory in games
three and four to wrap up the win with an 11-8, 9-11, 11-1, 11-4
scoreline.
The 24-year-old is rewarded with a clash against number three seed
Joe Chapman in the first round of the main draw.
Owen Butler also triumphed in his native country with a hard-fought
3-2 victory over compatriot Stefan Houbtchev. Butler has an
extremely tough match with Jaymie Haycocks on the horizon with
Haycocks looking to kickstart his attempts to win a fourth PSA World
Tour title.
Welshman Dan Bergin is through to his first ever PSA World Tour main
draw after he came through in four to beat Julian Tomlinson and he
will make his bow against the experienced New Zealander Martin
Knight.
Cameron Seth, meanwhile, advanced thanks to a walkover against
Mohanad Hekal and will face number five seed Michael McCue for a
place in the last eight.
