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18/01/2005
Shahid Shakes Up Seeds To Earn Virginia Trophy
Pakistan's Shahid Zaman collected the biggest PSA Tour title of his career when he beat Englishman Bradley Ball...
Pakistan's Shahid Zaman collected the biggest PSA Tour title of his career when he beat Englishman Bradley Ball in four games in the final of the $20,000 Virginia Professional Squash Championship in Richmond, USA
Zaman, the fifth seed, reached the climax after upsetting France's No2 seed Renan Lavigne in the quarter-finals, then third-seeded Englishman Mark Chaloner in a close-fought semi.
In the other semi-final, Ball ended the brave run of compatriot Alister Walker - the qualifier who caused the event's biggest upset when he knocked out the Australian favourite Dan Jenson in the first round.
In the opening stages of the first game of the final, the players traded points but the complexion of the contest changed as Zaman collected five points in a row, then followed that with four more consecutively to win 11-5.
Bradley Ball, however, had not worked to get this far in order to merely roll over. During the second game Zaman was limited to winning single points while Ball forced the issue with his own stretch of six consecutive points; Ball won 11-5 to even things up.
In the third game Ball became increasingly exasperated with his inability to keep Zaman from going for winners. Zaman on the other hand kept looking for the nick and found it enough times to win 11-4.
By the fourth game, the competition was about who could hit a crisper winning shot and Zaman kept himself ahead to take the game and the match 11-5 5-11 11-4 11-9.
RESULTS: Virginia Professional Squash Championship, Richmond, Virginia, USA
1st round:
[Q] Alister Walker (ENG) bt [1] Dan Jenson (AUS) 11-7, 11-4, 11-5
Liam Kenny (IRL) bt [6] Shahier Razik (CAN) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9
[4] Rodney Durbach (RSA) bt [Q] Stacey Ross (ENG) 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3
[8] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [Q] Viktor Berg (CAN) 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 5-11, 11-3
[7] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (6-4), 11-6
[3] Mark Chaloner (ENG) bt Tommy Berden (NED) 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-8, 11-9
[5] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt Patrick Chifunda (ZAM) 11-9, 11-5, 11-8
[2] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Raj Nanda (AUS) 11-5, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1)
Quarter-finals:
[Q] Alister Walker (ENG) bt Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8
[8] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [4] Rodney Durbach (RSA) 11-9, 11-7, 5-11, 11-6
[3] Mark Chaloner (ENG) bt [7] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7
[5] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt [2] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-10 (3-1)
Semi-finals:
[8] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 11-4
[5] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt [3] Mark Chaloner (ENG) 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-10 (2-0)
Final:
[5] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt [8] Bradley Ball (ENG) 11-5, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9
OM
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