Kemp Conquers Galifi
In French Final
Englishman
Jonathan Kemp, who picked up five PSA World Tour squash titles last
year, collected his first of 2010 when he beat Italian Stephane Galifi in
today's (Sunday) final of the Internationaux de France, the $20,000 event
at Squash Ornano in the French city of Bordeaux.
Top seed Kemp reached
the final without dropping a game - and took the first two against Galifi, the
sixth seed from Aix-en-Provence who was celebrating his first Tour final
appearance since taking up Italian nationality last September.
But the 31-year-old
former Frenchman, ranked 52 in the world, fought back to reduce the deficit,
taking the third game against world No21 Kemp for the loss of just a single
point.
Kemp came back,
however, clinching the fourth game to win the title 11-4, 11-6, 1-11, 11-9.
The triumph marks the
29-year-old left-hander from Halifax's 11th Tour title since his first in Spain
in 2003.
Kemp & Galifi
To Contest Bordeaux Final
England's top
seed Jonathan Kemp will face sixth-seeded Italian Stephane Galifi
in the final of the Internationaux de France after both achieved
successes in the semi-finals of the $20,000 PSA World Tour squash event
at Squash Ornano in the French city of Bordeaux.
Galifi faced
unseeded Frenchman Yann Perrin - and earned the third successive Tour win
over his fellow Aix-en-Provence-based opponent in an 11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7
victory.
French-born
Galifi, aged 31, is now celebrating his 13th appearance in a Tour final - but
his first since taking up the Italian nationality of both his parents in
September 2009.
Left-hander
Kemp, who had not dropped a game en-route to the semi-finals, maintained his
'clean sheet' by beating Hungary's fourth seed Mark Krajcsak 11-8, 11-6,
11-8.
The
29-year-old world No21 from Halifax is celebrating the 14th PSA Tour
final of his career - but his second of the year after finishing as runner-up in
last month's Chennai Open in India.
Galifi Beats
Borja In Bordeaux Battle
Borja Golan's
bid to reach the final of the Internationaux de France for the second
time in three years came to an end in Bordeaux when the Spanish qualifier
lost in straight games to sixth seed Stephane Galifi in the
quarter-finals of the $20,000 PSA World Tour squash event at Squash
Ornano.
Golan, who
reached 10 in the world last year to become the highest-ranked Spaniard of
all-time, was making his first Tour appearance since a career-threatening knee
injury in September.
The
27-year-old from Santiago DC battled through the qualifiers - then removed
second seed Tom Richards in the first round.
But his battle
against Galifi for a place in the semi-finals was a match too far for the
Spaniard as the France-based Italian progressed 11-8, 11-7, 15-13.
"This is my
first PSA tournament after my injury eight months ago - and I feel better than I
thought," explained Golan, who reached the final of the 2008 championship in
Paris as sixth seed after beating two higher-seeded players. "I started to play
training matches four weeks ago - first week 20 minutes, second week 30 minutes
... but my body is still struggling because I'm playing my first tough matches.
"It is only a
question of time before I get better. My goal now is not to win or lose these
first matches - only to compete well and have good games.
"I'm a happy
boy playing the Tour again. Squash is not only a job for me - it is a passion
too!"
Galifi will
face Yann Perrin after the unseeded 24-year-old from Aix-en-Provence
became the only Frenchman through to the last four following an 11-4, 13-11,
11-8 upset over England's No3 seed Chris Ryder.
The other
match will be the semi predicted by the seedings, between England's Jonathan
Kemp and Hungarian Mark Krajcsak. Top seed Kemp beat France's No7
seed Julien Balbo 11-6, 11-2, 11-7, while the 26-year-old fourth seed
from Budapest ended the run of English qualifier Shaun le Roux after
beating the Yorkshireman 15-13, 11-7, 11-7.
Borja Battles
To Bordeaux Win
Making his
first Tour appearance since a career-threatening knee injury last September,
Spaniard Borja Golan survived a tough test against second seed Tom
Richards in the opening round of the Internationaux de France to
claim an unexpected place in the quarter-finals of the $20,000 PSA World Tour
squash event at Squash Ornano in the French city of Bordeaux.
Golan, a
former world No10 whose current world ranking of 103 forced him to first fight
through the qualifiers, took the opening two games against Richards - then
stemmed a fightback by the world No30 from England to record an impressive
12-10, 11-9, 2-11, 11-13, 11-5 win.
The
highest-ranked Spaniard of all-time will now face Stephane Galifi, the
France-based Italian who is the sixth seed. Galifi defeated Australian Steve
Finitsis 11-5, 12-10, 11-6.
But Golan was
not the only qualifier to progress in Bordeaux. England's Shaun le Roux,
ranked 91 in the world, was taken to five games by eighth seed Kashif Shuja
- but ultimately overcame the world No55 from New Zealand 7-11, 11-5, 11-9,
8-11, 11-7.
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