Ciutat de Barcelona 2002

Ciutat de Barcelona 2002
Barcelona, Spain, 03-08 September, $6k

Main Draw & Results
Barcelona Hails Victor Borja

Local hero Borja Golan gave Spanish squash a mighty boost in the distinctive outdoor setting of the Old Port area of Barcelona when he defeated Finland's No2 seed Mika Monto in the final, to win his second successive PSA Tour title as a qualifier.

The 19-year-old from Santiago fought through two rounds of qualifying, then despatched three successive English seeds - 8th seed Stacey Ross, top seed Tim Garner and 6th seed Andrew Whipp - before overcoming the second-seeded Finn 15-13 15-17 15-9 15-7 in only his second ever appearance in a PSA Tour final.

Golan achieved a similar run in the Mega Italia Open in May, taking the title as a qualifier after dismissing three of the top four seeds in Brescia. He has already been granted the wild-card slot for the ASB European Open in the Canary Islands in early October.

It was a disappointing outcome for Mika Monto, who was also runner-up in the Barcelona event in 1999 and 2000. The 26-year-old from Hyvinkaa was making his comeback after a four-month lay-off due to surgery on both ankles in May. He was hoping to celebrate his third appearance in the Barcelona final with his first PSA Tour title success outside Scandinavia.

Top seed toppled in Barcelona
First round report
Qualifying report
Qualifying Results

More photos from Barcelona

Ciutat de Barcelona 2002 MAIN DRAW
1st Round - Thu 5th	Quarters - Fri 6th	Semis - Sat 7th	Final - Sun 8th
[1] Tim Garner (Eng) 12/15, 15/10, 15/10, 15/7 [Q] Andre Holderegger (Sui)	Tim Garner 12/15, 15/8, 15/6, 15/8 Borja Golan	Borja Golan 15/13, 15/11, 15/11 Andrew Whipp	Borja Golan 15/13, 15/17, 15/9, 15/7 Mika Monto
[8] Stacey Ross (Eng) 15/12, 15/13, 16/17, 15/5 [Q] Borja Golan (Esp)
[3] Raj Nanda (Aus) 17/15, 15/7, 15/5 [Q] Albert Codina (Esp)	Raj Nanda 11/15, 15/9, 11/15, 15/11, 15/13 Andrew Whipp
[6] Andrew Whipp (Eng) 15/8, 9/15, 15/5, 15/10 Laurens-Jan Anjema (Ned)
Alex Stait (Eng) 15/9, 15/5, 15/6 [7] Ian Power (Can)	Alex Stait 15/13, 12/15, 15/13, 13/15, 15/12 Peter Pastijn	Alex Stait 15/8, 11/15, 15/2, 10/15, 15/2 Mika Monto
Duncan Walsh (Eng) 15/8, 8/15, 15/13, 15/6 [4] Peter Pastijn (Bel)
[Q] Christian Drakenberg (Swe) 14/15, 15/10, 15/4, 14/17, 15/4 [5] Fabial Kalaitzis (Gre)	Christian Drakenberg 15/12, 11/15, 15/12, 15/17, 15/12 Mika Monto
[WC] Orial Salvia (Esp) 15/9, 15/12, 12/15, 15/13 [2] Mika Monto (Fin)

RESULTS & Reports
Final
Barcelona Hails Victor Borja Local hero Borja Golan gave Spanish squash a mighty boost in the distinctive outdoor setting of the Old Port area of Barcelona when he defeated Finland's No2 seed Mika Monto in the final, to win his second successive PSA Tour title as a qualifier. The 19-year-old from Santiago fought through two rounds of qualifying, then despatched three successive English seeds - 8th seed Stacey Ross, top seed Tim Garner and 6th seed Andrew Whipp - before overcoming the second-seeded Finn 15-13 15-17 15-9 15-7 in only his second ever appearance in a PSA Tour final. Golan achieved a similar run in the Mega Italia Open in May, taking the title as a qualifier after dismissing three of the top four seeds in Brescia. It was a disappointing outcome for Mika Monto, who was also runner-up in the Barcelona event in 1999 and 2000. The 26-year-old from Hyvinkaa was making his comeback after a four-month lay-off due to surgery on both ankles in May. He was hoping to celebrate his third appearance in the Barcelona final with his first PSA Tour title success outside Scandinavia.
Semi-Finals
GOLAN GALLOPS ON ... Spanish fans were delighted once again, as local favourite Borja Golan continued his giant-killing run, removing England's Andy Whipp 3-0 in the semi-finals to reach his second PSA Tour final as a qualifier in four months. Golan now meets second seed Mika Monto in the final, after Monto survived a second successive 3-2 contest, overcoming Alex Stait 15/2 in the fifth. The 26-year-old from Hyvinkaa, runner-up in 1999 and 2000, will be hoping to celebrate his third appearance in the Barcelona final with his first PSA Tour title success outside Scandinavia.
Quarter-Finals
TOP SEED TOPPLED IN BARCELONA The quarter-finals of the Ciutat de Barcelona produced a shock result to delight the home fans, and another late-night finish as three of the matches finished 3-2. Top seed Tim Garner took the first against local favourite Borja Golan, but urged on by an enthusiastic full house the Spaniard recovered to take the next three games. Finland's second seed Mika Monto won the all-Scandanavian quarter, beating Christian Drakenberg, while England have two semi-finalists in Andrew Whipp and Alex Stait who beat Raj Nanda and Peter Pastijn respectively. With an 8pm start and four long matches, the last match concluded at 2.10am! The semi-finals pitch Golan against Whipp and Monto against Stait, with Golan installed as the new tournament favourite according to local sources, playing "boast incredible, voleas deep, crossed perfect and a invidiable physicist".
First Round
Tim Garner reports from Barcelona Top seed Tim Garner opened his Barcelona campaign with a 3-1 victory over Andre Holderegger. Garner, in his own words, "started poorly in the �light�, trailed 1-0 and 5-0 before getting going." Spain's qualifier Borja Golan beat Stacey Ross 3-1 in a pretty tough match. Ross was up in the second game but lost it 15-13, then won third 17-16 by 'drilling' Borja at 16-16 but tired in fourth. Andy Whipp beat Laurens Anjema 3-1. This was a good win for Whipp having lost his previous two encounters with the Dutchman. Raj Nanda beat Alberto Codina, not sure of score as the match finished well past 1am (scheduled start was 11.30pm). Belgium's Peter Pastin beat Duncan Walsh 3-1, a match in which the 32 minute third game, won by Pastijn, was decisive. Alex Stait beat Ian Power 3-0, comfortably, while Christian Drakensburg beat Fabian Kalaitis 3-1. Finnish second seed Mika Monto beat Wildcard Oriol Salvia 3-1. Monto is on his way back after ankle surgery on both ankles in May, and was out of action for two months.
Qualifying
Tim Garner reports from Barcelona "The court is in a fantastic setting next to the Maremagnum Shopping Centre in the Old Port area of town," says Tim. There is a marina behind it and the port in front, with shops/discos on one side and an I-max cinema on the other, so it is all happening. "Last night the matches started at 8pm as dusk was falling and locals Codina & Golan qualified, Codina coming through a physical tussle with Victor Montserrat and Golan defeating the Czech Republic's Jan Koukal. Andre Holderegger and Christian Drakenberg were the other qualifiers, Drakenburg coming off at half past midnight. In the first round half the matches are on the ASB glass court (the matches featuring Spaniards and mine, as top seed!) and half are at the Metropolitan Club in the centre of the city." ANYONE SPEAK SPANISH ??? The webmaster at Barcelona suggested that we use a translation service such as AltaVista to render their reports into English. Here's the AltaVista BabelFish results from qualifying day one ... CRONICA OF TUESDAY DAY 3 OF SEPTEMBER IN THE MAREMAGNUM Yesterday, we finished to 23:30, enjoying 4 great parties, and a great aflu�ncia of public (200 people). In first party MARK ANDREW BURKE it did not give to option to the premises ENRIC FALCON and won by 3 sets to 0. In the second party, the launching slips filled to see the "PREMISES HERO" VICTOR MONTSERRAT where sets to 2 demonstrated its great game defeating in a great party to TAME ALBERTO by 3. In third, the champion of Spain BORJA GOLAN won easy to English SAM MILLER by 3 sets to 0. In the last quarter and, JAN KOUKAL of the Czech Republic defeated without problems to the premises JESUS TROY by 3 sets to 0. Tomorrow we will put the photos of these confrontations. From 20:00h podreis to see in the MAREMAGNUM the parties of last round of pr�vias, with an interesting ALBERT CODINA - VICTOR MONTSERRAT to 20:45h. OS WE WAITED FOR!!!!!!!! ... maybe we'd better find a better translator!