[1] Shaun le Roux (Rsa)
11/2, 11/6, 13/11 Dane Sharp (Can)
Dane Sharp 5-11, 14-12,
11-6, 13-11 Joel Hinds
Joel Hinds 11-8, 11-7, 11-4
(65m)
Peter Creed
Joel Hinds 11-7, 11-6, 5-11,
7-11, 12-10 (98m) Karim Ali Fathi
Geoffrey Demont (Fra)
11/5, 11/3, 2/11, 11/6 Joel Hinds (Eng)
Peter Creed (Wal)
11-8, 11-8, 11-9
Anthony Graham (Eng)
Peter Creed 11-9, 5-11, 11-5,
8-11, 11-9 (90m)
Charles Sharpes
[4] Charles Sharpes (Eng)
11/3, 11/7, 13/15, 11/6
Erik Tepos Valtierra (Mex)
Paul Coll (Nzl)
11/8, 12/14, 11/6, 12/10 [3] Karim Ali Fathi (Egy)
Karim Ali Fathi 11-3, 3-11,
11-4, 11-7
Ben Coleman
Karim Ali Fathi 11-9, 11-7, 11-7
(51m)
Martin Knight
Ben Coleman (Eng)
11/6, 7/11, 11/9, 7/11, 11/5
Gonzalo Miranda (Arg)
Arturo Salazar (Mex)
11/7, 11/5, 11/9 Clinton Leeuw (Rsa)
Clinton Leeuw 13-11, 12-10, 11-5 Martin Knight
Nathan Lake (Eng)
5/11, 11/3, 11/5, 12/10 [2] Martin Knight (Nzl)
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 Madison Open, Madison, Wisconsin,
USA
Fathi
Fells Hinds For Madison Title
Rising Egyptian squash star Karim Ali Fathi saved a
match-ball against Englishman Joel Hinds in the final of the
Madison Open to win the PSA Challenger 10 event at
Madison Squash Workshop in Madison in the US state of
Wisconsin - and claim the sixth PSA World Tour title of his
career.
Third seed Ali Fathi (pictured with Hinds below in the final),
the 20-year-old world No56 from Cairo who upset No2 seed Martin
Knight to reach the final, took the first two games.
But unseeded Hinds, 26 and ranked more than 30 places lower, battled
back to draw level - and opened up a 9-5 lead in the decider.
"Karim
seemed to have pulled an muscle on the inside of his thigh,"
explained Egyptian club member Ahmed Afifi. "He walked around
the court for a few minutes. Everyone thought it was all over for
Karim, and he himself later admitted he thought the same.
"Ironically, this worked to his advantage; it took off the pressure.
He then went on to produce his best points of the tournament,
playing solid offensive squash that you only see from the players
ranked in the top 20. He climbed back to 9-9.
"Joel got a match ball at 10-9, but Karim was simply on fire by now
and was not going to let go. He won three points in a row to win the
best game in the tournament."
The 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 7-11, 12-10 triumph in 98 minutes marks the
first Tour title of the year for Ali Fathi - but the sixth of his
career.
Jubilant tournament promoter Damon Bourne described the match
as "the best final in the Madison Open five year history".
Image courtesy of Tom McInvaille
Hinds & Ali
Fathi Make Madison Final
Egypt's Karim Ali Fathi and
Englishman Joel Hinds will meet in a surprise Madison Open
final after both produced straight games' upsets over higher-ranked
opponents in the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event in
its fourth year at Madison Squash Workshop in Madison,
Wisconsin, USA.
Third seed Ali Fathi, a 20-year-old
from Cairo playing only his second Tour event in the USA, faced
experienced New Zealander Martin Knight, the 29-year-old No2
seed who was bidding to reach his fourth Tour final this month - and
who arrived in Wisconsin fresh from winning the Charlottesville
Challenger in Virginia.
In a match described by Egyptian club
member Ahmed Afifi as "Pure Squash; Pure entertainment" - and
one in which there was "not a single decision by the ref the entire
match" - Ali Fathi (pictured below, right, with Knight)
brushed aside world No53 Knight 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 in 51 minutes.
"Quite happy to be through in three
games," said Ali Fathi after reaching his first Tour final of the
year, but the eighth of his career. "I knew that if I just played
steady, I would lose.
"I had to be aggressive and force the
issue if I wanted to win," explained the world No56. "Looking
forward to the final tomorrow. It will be tough! Joel is very good."
Hinds, a 26-year-old from Birmingham,
played fellow 26-year-old and fellow non-seed Peter Creed,
the Welshman who ousted fourth seed Charles Sharpes in the
previous round.
"That was hard work," said world No87
Hinds after the 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 victory in 65 minutes which takes
him into his tenth career Tour final.
"Peter seemed to play the beginning of
each better, but I think I played the ends better!
"Looking forward to tomorrow. I'm sure
it will be hard. Karim's a good player."
Image courtesy of Dan Masliah
Creed
Cracks Sharpes In Madison Upset
Unseeded Welshman Peter Creed produced the biggest upset on
the second day of action in the Madison Open in the USA when
he ousted England's No4 seed Charles Sharpes to reach the
semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event
in its fourth year at Madison Squash Workshop in Madison,
Wisconsin.
"First game was back and forth all the way to nine-all, until Peter
broke free to take it 11-9," reported event promoter Damon Bourne.
"Charles took six points in a row from five-all to take the second.
"Creed reasserted himself in the third and took it 11-5. The fourth
was close and went to Charles. Pete was rolling in the fifth, but
visibly tightened up at 9-5. He focused a bit, but finally won
11-9."
Creed, ranked five places below Sharpes, was not entirely happy with
his game: "I didn't play as tightly as I wanted, but played well
enough and was focused until 9-5 in the fifth," said the world No73
from Caerphilly after the pair's first Tour meeting.
"Then I started thinking about winning the match rather than what I
was doing!"
Creed will now face another Englishman after Joel Hinds
stopped Dane Sharp, the unseeded Canadian who removed top
seed Shaun le Roux in the first round. Hinds, the world No87
from Birmingham, recovered from a game down to beat the
higher-ranked Sharp 5-11, 14-12, 11-6, 13-11.
"I
felt like I was hitting the ball really well, but tactically didn't
get it right tonight," said Sharp later. "Needed to construct
rallies more maturely. Joel played the big points well. Credit to
him. He was tougher on the day."
The other semi will be the match predicted by the draw, between
second seed Martin Knight and third-seeded Egyptian Karim
Ali Fathi.
New Zealander Knight claimed the night's only straight games win,
beating South African Clinton Leeuw 13-11, 12-10, 11-5.
"That first game was crucial in terms of momentum," said the
29-year-old world No53 from Auckland. "That I was finally able to
win made a big difference. The third started the same as the first,
but Clinton couldn't bring it back. Always happy to win in three.
That was hard work."
Ali Fathi celebrated his first semi-final appearance in a US Tour
event when he beat England's Ben Coleman 11-3, 3-11, 11-4,
11-7.
"I
needed to be steady throughout," said the 20-year-old from Cairo
afterwards. "I lost some of that in the second, but was able to get
it back in the third and fourth.
"Now I'm getting ready for the old guy!"
Un-Happy
Birthday For Le Roux At Madison
Top-seeded South African Shaun le Roux received the birthday
present he did not want when he lost in straight games to Canada's
Dane Sharp in the opening round of the Madison Open,
the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event in its fourth
year at Madison Squash Workshop in Madison in the US
state of Wisconsin.
"Sharp was on the ball quicker and put it into the nick at will
sometimes," reported event promoter Damon Bourne. "Le Roux,
on the other hand, seemed flat and couldn't seem to get himself in
any sort of flow."
Sharp, the 28-year-old world No80 from Toronto, denied world No51 Le
Roux the ideal 27th birthday celebration with his shock 11-2, 11-6,
13-11 upset.
"I
felt like I played well," said the 28-year-old world No80 from
Toronto. "I was getting down to the ball and played tough. I felt
confident going into the match as I lost in five to Shaun in
December and I've improved a lot thanks to the work I've put in with
my new coach Keith Griffiths.
"I
feel like I can play at a top 50 level and it feels good to prove it
out there," added Sharp. "Looking forward to the weekend."
Sharp will now meet fellow non-seed Joel Hinds after the
Englishman, ranked 87 in the world, beat France's Geoffrey Demont
11-5, 11-3, 2-11, 11-6.
New Zealander Martin Knight, seeded to reach his fourth PSA
Tour final this month, dropped the first game to Nathan Lake
but recovered to beat the Englishman 5-11, 11-3, 11-5, 12-10 -
fighting back from 6-10 down in the final game.
The No2 seed from Auckland progresses to meet South African
Clinton Leeuw, who defeated Mexico's Arturo Salazar 11-7,
11-5, 11-9.
Fourth seed Charles Sharpes also overcame Mexican opposition
with an 11-3, 11-7, 13-15, 11-6 win over Erik Tepos Valtierra.
"Happy to win today," said the 21-year-old Englishman who was
runner-up to Knight in last week's Charlottesville Challenger.
"Bit disappointed to let it go to four in the end. I lost
concentration in the third game, but I am happy to get through and
progress in the tournament."
Another English success was provided by Ben Coleman, the
unseeded 22-year-old from Essex who twice stemmed fight backs by
Argentina's Gonzalo Miranda to win 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 7-11,
11-5.
"I
am relieved to have won, actually," said world No85 Coleman
following the match. "He played very well and it was just a really
tough match. I feel good now - but don't ask me about tomorrow!"
