RESULTS: PSA Challenger 5 XV Trofeu Internacional Ciutat de
Barcelona Open, Barcelona, Spain
Kandra Conquers Koukal For Barcelona Title
Germany's Raphael Kandra celebrated his fifth
appearance in a PSA World Tour final this year in perfect
style when he claimed the XV Trofeu Internacional Ciutat De
Barcelona title in Spain after beating Czech opponent Jan
Koukal in today's final of the PSA Challenger 5 squash
event at Club Natació Sant Andreu in Barcelona.
Fourth seed Kandra made his breakthrough in the
semi-finals when he despatched top seed Kristian Frost Olesen
of Denmark in straight games.
The 22-year-old from Paderborn was marking his eighth
Tour final - whilst second seed Koukal's semi-final victory over
third-seeded German Jens Schoor signalled the Czech number
one's 43rd career final, and also his fifth of 2013!
Koukal squandered three game balls in the first game
to allow Kandra (pictured below, right, with Koukal) to take
an early lead - but the 30-year-old from Prague prevailed in a
brutal second game to draw level.
After then taking a three-minute injury break, Koukal
went 6-0 down in the third. Despite staging a comeback, the No2 seed
was unable to prevent Kandra from regaining the lead.
With the winning post now in sight, Kandra raced
through the fourth game before closing out the match 12-10, 9-11,
11-6, 11-4 in 55 minutes to become the first German winner of the
long-established Tour title for 20 years.
The triumph marks the third Tour title of Kandra's
career - and his second this year.
