RESULTS: PSA International 35 Financière Banque Nationale
Montreal Open, Montreal, Canada
Golan
Survives Selby Marathon In Montreal
The final of the Financière Banque Nationale Montreal Open
between the event's top two seeds fittingly went the full distance,
with Spanish favourite Borja Golan ultimately prevailing over
England's No2 seed Daryl Selby to claim the PSA World Tour
International 35 squash title on an all-glass court at the
Montreal Forum(pictured below) in Montreal,
Canada.
"Golan shows his full range and goes up 3-0 with drive winner, boast
winner, and drop winner," commented tournament spokesman Radu
Neacsu on the opening game. "Selby gets a few lucky breaks and
picks up three points on strokes. Golan, not happy with the ref's
calls, or Selby's easy points, yells out 'Squash is more difficult
than this!' Indeed, Golan would make sure that Selby would have to
work like a madman for the rest of the match.
"It's point for point all the way up to nine-all. A Selby winner and
then Golan's error later and the Englishman lets out a fist pump as
he takes the game 11-9."
World No9 Golan (pictured above, left, with Selby) turned up
the pressure and took the next two games to open up a 2/1 lead.
"What followed in game four was squash, drama, and entertainment of
the absolute highest level with Oohs and Ahhs from the sold out
crowd, all the way up to 10-all," continued Neacsu. "At this point
Selby shows great sportsmanship calling his own ball out giving
Golan match ball! Golan hits a tight drop to the front left, Selby
scrapes it off the ground, but it's floating right next to him.
"Golan, perhaps not wanting to take the easy stroke after Selby just
called his own ball out decides to play the ball. But his drive
catches the sidewall and Selby recovers to eventually win the point
and draw level at 11-11! Several crazy points later and Selby has
done the impossible, coming back from the dead to take the fourth
game 14-12."
The Spaniard built up a 6-1 lead in the decider - but world No14
Selby again raised his game to reduce the deficit to 5-7. But a
determined Golan retained his focus to close out the match 9-11,
11-3, 11-2, 12-14, 11-5 after 95 minutes.
"I
feel tired and good at the same time," said Golan when asked how he
felt about his victory. "It was a very tough match - the fourth game
was brutal.
"But I was able to focus in the fifth and played the best squash I
could.
"Daryl is a really good player - and he's very dangerous when he's
behind," added the 30-year-old from Santaigo de Compostela who now
boasts 29 PSA World Tour titles. "I knew that when I was 6-1
up in the fifth - and it started to get a bit scary.
"I
knew I had to play better in the fifth - it's very nice to win the
title."
An
upbeat Selby later tweeted: "Congrats to @golansquash for winning
the title. What a great tournament, thanks everyone @MtlSquashOpen.
See you next year!"
Top Seeds Golan & Selby In Montreal Final
The top two seeds Borja Golan and Daryl Selby will
contest the final of the Financière Banque Nationale Montreal
Open after surviving the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour
International 35 squash event in its fifth year in Montreal,
Canada.
After coming through a testing five-game quarter-final on the
all-glass court at the Montreal Forum, England's second seed
Selby was again stretched in the semis by unseeded compatriot
Adrian Waller.
A
confident performance by the world No14 saw Selby (pictured below
with Waller) take the first two games.
"Down 0/2 and with nothing to lose, Waller goes for broke and starts
aiming for the nick," explained tournament spokesman Radu Neacsu.
"It works! Numerous winners later Waller is up 8-4. Selby digs in
and starts to mount a comeback with incredible retrieving. But
Waller keeps his focus and closes out the game 11-8."
Selby reclaimed the advantage in the fourth to close out the match
11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 after 54 minutes.
"Thought I played well today, was a good hard match with @Adiewaller
who played some class rallies in third and fourth," tweeted
30-year-old Selby later. "Ice bath time...#brrr.
"Onwards to the final of @mtlsquashopen against @golansquash who
played very well today. Gonna be tough but will give it everything I
have.."
Spaniard Borja Golan admitted that he had to play his best
squash to see off Saurav Ghosal, the third seed from India,
in the other semi.
It
was the pair's fifth Tour encounter - and, after 45 minutes, world
No9 Golan recorded his fifth win over the new world No17 from
Kolkata in an 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 scoreline.
"I
beat Ghosal 3/0 playing my best squash," Golan (pictured above
with Ghosal) told his Twitter followers. "Happy! Tomorrow
final!"
Ghosal tweeted: "Lost 3/0 to Golan today. He was very good and I
wasn't at my best. Will have to learn from this and come back
stronger! Disappointed"
Gritty
Selby Survives Montreal Marathon
England's second seed Daryl Selby was taken the full distance
by unseeded Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet before surviving a
98-minute quarter-final marathon in the Financière Banque
Nationale Montreal Open, the PSA World Tour International 35
squash event in its fifth year in Montreal, Canada.
Playing on an all-glass court at the Montreal Forum, world
No14 Selby came back from two games down to beat the
rapidly-improving Frenchman - ranked 30 in the world - 8-11, 8-11,
11-3, 11-9, 11-4.
"Sometimes squash is just about pure grit and determination," the
30-year-old from Essex told his Twitter followers later. "Proud of
myself for digging very deep to beat Mathieu from 2-0 down."
Selby, runner-up in the event in 2010, now faces surprise English
opponent Adrian Waller, the unseeded world No35 who stunned
fourth-seeded compatriot Chris Simpson 11-3, 11-7, 11-9.
Channel Islander Simpson is playing in his first event since
celebrating a career-high world No21 ranking this month.
The other semi-final will be the match predicted by the draw -
between Spanish favourite Borja Golan and India's No3 seed
Saurav Ghosal.
Golan, the world No9 from Santiago de Compostela, also prevailed in
a marathon battle - a four-game encounter which lasted 102 minutes,
but included a 23-minute injury break.
Scotland's world No32 Alan Clyne took the opening game and
forced the second to a tie-break - but the Spanish number one
ultimately prevailed 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9.
Ghosal, the highest-ranked Indian of all-time who celebrated a
best-ever world number 17 this month, was also taken to four games
by Omar Abdel Aziz - but overcame his 30-year-old Egyptian
opponent in less than an hour, winning 11-3, 11-4, 2-11, 11-4.
"Happy to win my match 3-1 today," tweeted the 27-year-old from
Kolkata later. "Aziz played some good stuff but thankfully my squash
was better than yesterday!"
Ghosal &
Simpson Maintain Momentum In Montreal
India's Saurav Ghosal and England's Chris Simpson -
both of whom recorded career-high positions in the October Dunlop
PSA world rankings - scored notable first round victories in the
Financière Banque Nationale Montreal Open, the PSA World Tour
International 35 squash event in its fifth year in Montreal,
Canada.
Playing on an all-glass court at the Montreal Forum, third
seed Ghosal faced Australian qualifier Steven Finitsis. After
dropping the opening game, the new world No17 Ghosal - India's
highest-ranked player of all-time - recovered to beat the
30-year-old Queenslander, ranked 41 places lower, 7-11, 11-9, 11-2,
11-5 in 57 minutes.
"Won my match 3-1 today after losing the 1st game," tweeted the
27-year-old from Kolkata (pictured above, left, with Finitsis)
later. "Finitsis played a good match & am happy to win that one."
Finitsis was upbeat to his Twitter followers: "Lost 3-1 tonight.
Taking the positives out of this one & looking fwd to the US Open
next week."
Simpson, the Guernsey-born 26-year-old who leapt four places to 21
to become England's fifth highest-ranked player for the first time,
beat France's Gregoire Marche 11-7, 11-7, 12-10.
"Very happy to win 3/0 tonight over Frenchie Gregoire Marche,
especially when he saved 3 match balls to force a tie-break in the
3rd," the fourth seed told his Twitter followers.
Simpson (pictured above, left, with Marche) goes on to face
fellow countryman Adrian Waller in the quarter-finals, while
Ghosal gets Egyptian Omar Abdel Aziz.
Waller despatched one of three Canadians trying to get into the last
eight, beating Toronto-based qualifier Dane Sharp 11-3, 11-5,
11-9.
"Despite the crowd's support for Canadian Sharp, Waller went up
easily 6-0 in the first game and looked in control," said event
spokesman Radu Neacsu. "Sharp was able to scrape together
three points, but Waller's deception and patience helped him to win
the first game."
Aziz, the world No45 from Cairo, also beat a qualifier, England's
Jaymie Haycocks 11-8, 12-10, 11-6.
While top seed Borja Golan, the world No9 from Spain,
overcame his first round opponent Henrik Mustonen, from
Finland, in straight games 11-4, 11-4, 11-5, second-seeded
Englishman Daryl Selby was taken to four games by Canadian
wildcard Andrew Schnell.
The world No98 from Calgary kept Selby on court for almost an hour
before the world No14 prevailed 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-3.
"Snuck through first round here 3-1," tweeted 30-year-old Selby,
runner-up in 2010, later. "@a_schnell91 played a great match and
fully deserved the third game. Hopefully get stronger for tomorrow."
