RESULTS:
PSA Challenger 5 MANTIS Nottingham
Open,
Nottingham, England
Unseeded Declan James
triumphed in a surprise all-Nottingham final of the MANTIS
fantasysquash.com
Nottingham Open
to win the first Tour title of his career at the PSA World Tour
Challenger 5 squash event at his home club Nottingham Squash
Rackets Club in the English city of Nottingham.
The
20-year-old former European Junior Champion made his breakthrough in the
opening round where he upset fellow Englishman Joel Hinds, the
third seed, in straight games.
James reached his first Tour final after overcoming Englishman Nathan
Lake in four games.
His
final opponent was qualifier Chris Fuller, a Nottingham-based
22-year-old who ousted Egypt's No4 seed Zahed Mohamed in the
first round, then stunned Farhan Zaman, the No2 seed from
Pakistan, in the semi-finals to reach the third Tour final of his
career.
"From the off, it was clear that both players had done their research on
one another," explained event spokesperson Vicky Clark. "Fuller's
game plan was to stifle Dec's creativity enforcing a punishing deep
length game. James on the other hand seemed more than prepared for this
and was happy to trade at the back of the court before taking his
opportunity to attack."
Eager to make amends for his straight games defeat to Fuller in their
previous Tour clash, James marched on to secure his career breakthrough
11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6 victory and his maiden senior title.
"So
happy to get my first win tonight, couldn't ask for a better start to
the season," tweeted James later. "Thanks so much to my friends and
family for the support.
"And a huge thank you to my sponsors @DunlopSport and @hitecsports for
their continued support. Also big thank you my coach @philipwhitlock and
everyone at @ESRCoachPerform their support is crucial."
1st
round: Thomas Ford (ENG) bt [1] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-9, 8-11,
11-9, 6-11, 11-4 Nathan Lake (ENG) bt [Q] Jerome Dadot (FRA) 11-8, 11-8,
11-3
[Q] Robert Downer (ENG) bt Steven London (ENG) 11-4, 9-11,
11-3, 11-6 Declan James (ENG) bt [3] Joel Hinds (ENG) 11-7, 11-7,
11-6
[Q] Chris Fuller (ENG) bt [4] Zahed Mohamed (EGY) 12-10,
11-6, 11-0
[Q] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt Reuben Phillips (ENG) 11-5,
3-11, 11-3, 11-8
[WC] Ollie Holland (ENG) bt Ahmed Atef (EGY) 11-6, 5-11,
8-11, 12-10, 11-1
[2] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt Karamatullah Khan (PAK) 11-7,
11-7, 11-4
Quarter-finals: Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Thomas Ford (ENG) 12-10, 11-3, 11-8 Declan James (ENG) bt [Q] Robert Downer (ENG) 13-11, 8-11,
11-6, 11-4
[Q] Chris Fuller (ENG) bt [Q] Richie Fallows (ENG) 9-11,
11-1, 11-8, 11-5
[2] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [WC] Ollie Holland (ENG) 11-8,
11-2, 7-11, 11-6
Semi-finals: Declan James (ENG) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 15-13, 11-9, 6-11,
15-13
[Q] Chris Fuller (ENG) bt [2] Farhan Zaman (PAK) 11-6,
11-6, 8-11, 11-8
Final: Declan James (ENG) bt [Q] Chris Fuller (ENG) 11-8, 11-6,
6-11, 11-6