[wc] Chris van der Salm (Nzl)
11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (25m) [2] Matthew Karwalski (Aus)
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 Fitzherbert
Rowe Lawyers
New Zealand International Squash Classic,
Palmerston North, New Zealand
Knight
Conquers Karwalski For NZ Classic Crown
PSAWorldTour
Home hero
Martin Knight
proved too strong for Australian opponent Matthew Karwalski
in today's final of the Fitzherbert Rowe Lawyers New
Zealand International Squash Classic,
winning in straight games to claim the PSA World Tour Challenger
10
title at SquashGym
in Palmerston North
after finishing as runner-up last year.
The top-seeded Kiwi was dominant throughout, racing away to a 7-1
lead over second seed Karwalski in the first game before taking it
for the loss of just three points.
"The second game followed much the same pattern as the first,"
reported event spokesman Mike Williams.
"Knight raced away to a 4–0 lead with Karwalski making more errors,
particularly on the backhand side due to Knight’s pressure. At 5-1,
the pair played a huge rally which resulted in Knight hitting a
superb forehand winner which seemed to break Karwalski’s spirit.
"Knight then powered on to an 8–1 lead in the game. A mini fight
back from Karwalski was too little too late as Knight took the game
11–5 in 13 minutes."
Knight went on to close out the match 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 in 40 minutes
to notch up the sixth PSA Tour title of his career – and his second
on home soil.
“I didn’t think the score line
would read that easy and the match was tougher than it looked,"
said the 30-year-old from North Shore (flanked in the picture below
by Fitzherbert Rowe sponsor Barry Roche (left) and Tournament
promoter Grant Smith). "I was really happy with how I
played and I made very few mistakes. "I was able to build good
pressure which ultimately led to Matt making some errors,” added the
New Zealand No.2, ranked 49 in the world. “We had contrasting
routes to the final and winning my match in three yesterday against
Paul (Coll) was key to keeping enough energy in the tank for today.”
