Delierre
Becomes First Home Nash Cup Champion
Shawn
Delierre
stormed to victory in the final of the Nash Cup to become the first
Canadian winner of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at
London Squash Racquets Club in London, Ontario.
Defending
champion Jan Koukal took the early, losing three game balls before
clinching the first game on the fourth.
The second
seed from the Czech Republic led 5-2 in the second, but home hero Delierre
reclaimed the advantage to draw level.
The lead
changed hands several times in the third. Third seed Delierre had three game
balls before finally moving ahead 2/1.
Koukal once
led in the fourth, but it was the determined Canadian who ultimately prevailed
to win 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 after 91 minutes.
"Relieved! I
really wanted the first game and really wanted to impose my game, but he stole
that right from me, and my hope," said the victorious 29-year-old from Montreal
who now boasts 10 PSA World Tour titles.
"In the second
he came out firing and led for most of the game, but I tried to slow things
down. I'm not sure how, but I managed to win the second. In the 3rd I decided to
straighten things up - Jan's shots were on and I felt like a retriever, but I
also felt like I was placing the ball well.
"I scraped
that game 12-10," added Delierre. "The fourth was tough until eight-all, but I
hung in there and managed to take it 11-8."
Delierre Downs
Knight In Nash Cup Upset
Third seed
Shawn Delierre carried unexpected domestic interest into the final of the
Nash Cup in Canada after upsetting top seed Martin Knight in an
88-minute semi-final marathon in the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 event
at London Squash Racquets Club in London, Ontario.
The
29-year-old from Montreal had to be at the top of his game to grind out an 11-9,
11-7, 7-11, 11-6 victory over higher-ranked New Zealander Knight.
"This match
had everything and was a battle from start to finish," said event spokesman
Dave Morrish. "Delierre is an extraordinary athlete and after taking the
sting out of Knight he used his working boast to punishing effect.
"It was a
great match which thrilled the crowd and at the end of the day squash was the
winner."
Now in his
14th PSA World Tour final, the world No54 will face title-holder Jan Koukal,
the second seed from the Czech Republic.
Koukal ended
Andrew Wagih Shoukry's run, saving a match-ball against the unseeded
Egyptian in the fourth game before going on to clinch a narrow 11-9, 9-11, 7-11,
12-10, 13-11 victory in 79 minutes.
"It was a very
intense and aggressive match," said Koukal, who is celebrating his sixth Tour
final of the year, and the 29th of his career. "I deserved the first and he
definitely deserved the second. I felt I gifted him the third and had a bad
start in the fourth but was lucky to hang in there and scrape it.
"The fifth was
pretty close all the way and I eventually got a little lead," continued the
28-year-old world No48. "I didn't feel I played better than him today - I was
just a little more patient with the big points.
"He has
improved a lot in the past few months, especially his fitness. He impressed me."
Shoukry Shoots
Through To Nash Cup Semis
Egypt's
Andrew Wagih Shoukry became the only unseeded player to make the semi-finals
of the Nash Cup in Canada after a five-game quarter-final victory in the
PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at London Squash Rackets
Club in London, Ontario.
It was in the
opening round that the 20-year-old from Cairo made his breakthrough - upsetting
fourth-seeded Englishman Joe Lee in four games.
But Shoukry
then had to fight back from two games down to take out a second Englishman,
Olivier Pett 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 in 78 minutes.
"I have done a
lot of work on my fitness and feel like I can compete with the better players
now," explained the world No71. "My coach Hossam has done some great work with
me and I thank him for that. I felt I made far too many errors in the first
games but Oli played well and forced me to try things.
"Oli doesn't
play your typical English game - he plays more like us (Egyptians). He moves the
ball around well. I'm very happy and can't wait for tomorrow!"
Shoukry now
faces Jan Koukal, the No2 seed from the Czech Republic. The Czech
champion beat rising Canadian star Andrew Schnell 11-9, 11-8, 11-8.
"I watched
Andrew play in the world teams and he played well so I knew I needed to be on my
game tonight," said world No48 Koukal. "It was tough and there were a lot of
hard rallies. There was not a great deal of difference between us tonight. I
just felt I played the big points better."
There is local
interest in the other semi-final where third seed Shawn Delierre takes on
top-seeded New Zealander Martin Knight.
Delierre, the
world No54 from Montreal, survived his quarter-final when English qualifier
Eddie Charlton conceded the match at 9-11, 11-8, 11-3.
"I was up all
night vomiting and felt really weak going into the match - I couldn't even warm
up properly," explained Charlton later. "I sneaked the first by slowing the game
down and was close in the second but then I was spent.
"I hate
retiring from a match as I believe that when you step on court, you should see
it through but I really had nothing left and didn't want to make it worse.
Credit to Shawn though, he is looking good."
Knight
despatched Canadian qualifier David Letourneau 11-4, 11-2, 11-4.
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