Luke Sims
(AUS)
11-6, 11-9, 12-10 (40m)
[Q] Steve Salter (AUS)
Luke Sims
11/2, 11/3, 11/3 (25m) Martin Knight
[2] Martin Knight
(NZL)
11-4, 11-3, 11-6 (30m) Cheuk Yan Tang (HKG)
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 Victorian Open,
Melbourne, Australia
Grayson
Retains Victorian Open Crown
New
Zealand's Campbell Grayson retained his Victorian Open
title in style today in Melbourne when he defeated Australian
hope Steven Finitsis in straight games in the final of the PSA
World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at the Melbourne Sports &
Aquatic Centre.
Grayson was always in control of the match against No8 seed Finitsis,
the 30-year-old from Queensland who had two huge matches on the way to
the decider and looked sluggish at times against the Kiwi number one.
The
top-seeded Kiwi eased away with the first two games then held off a fast
finishing Finitsis to clinch the third and win the seventh Tour title of
his career 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 - and his second of the year.
"The
first two games were even at the beginning but I managed to pull away in
the middle, but he's a real fighter and I got a bit nervous when he
started coming back at me," said 27-year-old Grayson.
"I
managed to sneak that third game in the end."
Finitsis has now lost two finals in two weeks, but he gets a chance to
make amends at next week's Tasmanian Open, where he is seeded
third behind fellow countryman Mike Corren and Malaysian Ivan
Yuen.
Home
Final In Prospect In Melbourne
Queenslander Steven Finitsis continued his recent run of good
form to upset second-seeded New Zealander Martin Knight in
today's quarter-finals of the Victorian Open in Melbourne
to set up the prospect of an all-Australian final of the PSA World
Tour Challenger 10 squash event at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic
Centre.
A week
after reaching the final of the Buler Challenge Cup in Hong Kong
against expectations, the 30-year-old from Innisfail downed Knight 11-8,
7-11, 11-6, 11-3 in just over an hour to claim an unexpected place in
the last four.
Finitsis, who is playing his first tournament in Australia in almost
three years, will now play Ivan Yuen for a place in Sunday's
final after the young Malaysian upset third-seeded Australian Zac
Alexander 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 11-6.
Finitsis defeated 22-year-old Yuen at the same stage of last week's Hong
Kong tournament.
The
second semi-final will be between top seed and defending champion
Campbell Grayson of New Zealand and New South Welshman Matthew
Karwalski.
Grayson saw off dangerous Indian Mahesh Mangaonkar 11-8, 11-4,
12-10, while fourth seed Karwalski took an hour and a half before edging
AIS teammate Rex Hedrick, the No5 seed, 9-11, 11-7, 14-12, 4-11,
11-8.
Mangaonkar Makes Melbourne Quarters
In the
only upset in today's second round of the Victorian Open in
Melbourne, India's unseeded Mahesh Mangaonkar ousted sixth
seed Mike Corren to deny the veteran Australian a fourth
successive PSA World Tour title on home soil.
The
Mumbai teenager recovered from losing the first game to beat 39-year-old
Corren 5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 in 72 minutes - the longest match of the
day - to earn a surprise place in the quarter-finals of the PSA
Challenger 10 squash event at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic
Centre.
Mangaonkar, ranked outside the world top 100, now faces his toughest
test in Campbell Grayson, the top seed and defending champion
from New Zealand who took just 28 minutes to see off South Australian
Justin Beard 11-4, 11-7, 11-5.
Third
seed Zac Alexander continued to lead home hopes by defeating Kiwi
Evan Williams 11-9, 11-7, 11-1.
Bidding to bring the title back into Australian hands for the first time
since he won it in 2010, 24-year-old Alexander now faces Malaysian
Ivan Yuen after the No7 seed beat Australian Joshua Larkin
13-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6.
Victorian
Open Seeds Safely Through In Melbourne
Defending champion Campbell Grayson led the top eight seeds in
the Victorian Open safely through to the second round of the
PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event today at the Melbourne
Sports & Aquatic Centre in Melbourne, Australia.
The
top-seeded New Zealander - who won a 110-minute classic against
Malaysia's Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan to win the title in 2012 -
survived a tough opening match against Australian Nathan Stevenson
9-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3.
Grayson, the world No41 from Auckland, now takes on South Australia's
Justin Beard in the second round.
Domestic interest is being led by Zac Alexander, the
Brisbane-born No3 seed.
2010
champion Alexander, the 24-year-old world No51, eased to an 11-5, 11-8,
11-4 win in 33 minutes over Malaysian qualifier Mithran Selvaratnam.
Other
winning seeds included second-seeded New Zealander Martin Knight,
who beat Hong Kong's Cheuk Yan Tang 11-4, 11-3, 11-6, and 2009
champion Mike Corren, who defeated former PSA Tour player
Cameron White - a five times winner of the title between 2001 and
2007 - 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.
But
there were upsets in the lower order: Qualifier Jaakko Vahamaa
provided unexpected Finnish interest in the last 16 round when he beat
higher-ranked Australian Tim Cowell 11-7, 10-12, 12-10, 11-8 in
40 minutes.
And
qualifier Chris Lloyd boosted Kiwi interest in the next round
after dismissing Hong Kong's Hon Fung Wong 15-13, 9-11, 11-4,
11-5 in 41 minutes.
