RESULTS:
PSA Challenger 10
Tour de las Americas Paraguay Open,
Asuncion, Paraguay
Lucky
13 For Delierre In Paraguay
#PSAWorldTour
Canadian number one
Shawn Delierre
claimed the 13th
PSA World Tour
squash title of his career when he upset top seed
Andrew Wagih Shoukry
in the final of the
Tour de las Americas Paraguay Open,
the
PSA Challenger 10
event celebrating its sixth successive year at
Club Internacional de Tenis
in the Paraguay capital
Asuncion.
Remarkably, the 32-year-old from Montreal
(pictured below, left, with Shoukry) reached
his 20th Tour final without facing any seeds – in the semi-finals
battling for 77 minutes to overcome experienced
Robertino Pezzota,
a qualifier from Argentina.
Shoukry, a 23-year-old ranked 70 in the world, overcame a notable
hurdle in the quarter-finals – 17-year-old Peruvian qualifier
Diego Elias
to whom he had lost a week earlier in the
Regatas Resistencia Open
in Argentina.
"Wagih dictated the pace in the final up to 10-8 when Shawn had to
save two game balls to then take it on the tie break," explained
tournament promoter
Esteban Casarino.
"In the second, from 4-1 up, Delierre lost concentration and tried
to refocus, playing long rallies, but the lack of aggressiveness
gave the control to Wagih – who closed it out 11-6.
"The last two games had a similar pattern - long rallies, many lets,
and really well-fought squash. It was definitely mental and again,
as in the semis, the experience from the older player paved his way
to the title."
After his 12-10, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9 triumph in 90 minutes, second seed
Delierre said:
“Another hard fought mental battle tonight. A well-rested Andrew
came out and was firing his talent. All I could do was relay on
good basic squash, something I’m not familiar with! "I
know when he starts playing this way, I want to join him. So I just
kept the ball in play just long enough for an error to happen. "I
won 3/1 tonight, but three out of the four games were won in hell -
is that possible? "I
am very grateful to win and feel at my best again! Thank you to
Esteban for a great tournament!”
Shoukry added:
“I'm very happy that I played the final after having hard matches
all week. It was a great final and it took almost two hours for
four games, so I wasn't easy to beat today!
"Shawn is a very good player, he was top 40. It was a very mental
battle, tough also physically. "I
would like to thank the sponsors and the crowd, it kept increasing
every day so to play in the final after losing in the second round
in Resistencia - especially in front of these people - make me very
happy."
