England’s Ashley Davies lifted his first ever PSA World Tour title after
battling to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over top seed Arthur Gaskin in the
final of the Securian Open, PSA M5 tournament held in St. Paul, United
States.
Both players received byes in the opening round and they put their fresh
legs into good use as they motored through the quarter-final and
semi-final stages.
Davies, the World No.125, overcame home player Faraz Khan in the last
eight, before moving on to recover from a game down to defeat good
friend Reuben Phillips, reaching only his second PSA World Tour process
in the final.
Meanwhile, Gaskin only had to play one match throughout the tournament
as his quarter-final victory over Julian Illingworth was followed up
with a walkover against Charlie Johnson, who had to withdraw on medical
grounds after becoming unwell during his quarter-final clash with
Scotland’s Jon Geekie.
The showpiece finale saw World No.90 Gaskin build up a 2-1 lead, before
a resurgent Davies fought back to prevail in the fourth and fifth games,
wrapping up a 4-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8 victory to claim his maiden
Tour crown.
All four of the top seeded players competing in the 2016 Securian Open
secured their semi-final berths in St.Paul as title favourite Arthur
Gaskin led the way in the last eight of the PSA M5 tournament.
Gaskin, who hails from Dublin in Ireland, began his tournament with a
bye in round one and made the most of his fresh legs as he powered to an
11-8, 11-3, 11-1 victory over United States player Julian Illingworth to
reach the next round.
Gaskin’s will receive a walkover in the next round after his would be
semi-final opponent, Charlie Johnson of England, was forced to pull out
of the tournament.
Johnson, 24, overcame Scotland’s Jon Geekie in four games, but felt
unwell during the match, meaning he was advised to withdraw on medical
grounds.
On the other half of the draw, World No.125 Ashley Davies is through
after seeing off the attentions of Faraz Khan and he will line up
against good friend Reuben Phillips in the semi-finals, with Phillips
dispatching Mexico’s Edgar Zayas in straight games.
The opening round of the 2016 instalment of the Securian Open, PSA M5
tournament saw Scotland’s Jon Geekie become the only unseeded player to
make it through to the quarter-finals after overcoming home player Sam
Gould in four games in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Geekie, the World No.213, had suffered first round defeats in each of
his last four tournaments, but made a strong start after triumphing in
the opening game for the loss of just two points.
Gould clawed the second game back by a narrow two-point margin, but
Geekie was soon back on top and he took the next two games without reply
to record the win 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3. Up next for 26-year-old Geekie
is a meeting with number three seed Charlie Johnson, the World No.161
who put in an imperious display to down Mexico’s Armando Olguin in round
one.
Elsewhere, fourth seed Reuben Phillips and number six seed Edgar Zayas
will face off for a place in the last four thanks to respective straight
games victories over England’s Alex Noakes and Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari
of Pakistan.
United States duo Faraz Khan and Julian Illingworth were the other
victors on day one of the main draw, with Faraz beating World No.340
Francisco Mendez Correa, while Illingworth dispatched Welshman Sam
Fenwick.
They will take on top seeds Arthur Gaskin and Ashley Davies,
respectively, after both Gaskin and Davies received byes in the opening
round.
