Report Courtesy of the Professional Squash Association 

Canadian Shahier Razik, the number three seed, claimed the Squash Revolution National Capital Open title for the third time in his career after defeating Englishman Lewis Walters, the number four seed, 3-1 in a tense final at the Chevy Chase Athletics Club.

The thirty-six-year-old, who claimed the 2009 and 2010 titles, dominated the first game of the encounter winning 11-2 and followed it up to take the second 11-5, establishing a dominant-looking lead.

However, twenty-six-year-old Walters hit back with a tenacious performance in the third game, winning 11-4 and kept his hopes of victory alive, but there was no beating Razik, as the elder statesman redoubled his efforts to stop Walters’ resurgence and edged a close 11-9 win in the final game to take the title.

It was a final full of excitement and entertainment and was a fitting end to a tournament that had more than its fair share of shocks and upsets from day one – with some of the top seeds falling at the first hurdles.

Tournament favorite and number one seed Dane Sharp, the World No. 88, fell to unseeded Ashley Davies in a shock 3-0 defeat on the opening day with Davies’ performance belying his world ranking of 168 while Arthur Gaskin, the No. 2 seed, also bowed out on day one to unseeded opponent Ahmad Alzabidi – the World No. 229.

Alzabidi followed up his impressive first round performance with victory over fellow qualifier Baba Tunde Ajagbe, who earned his passage to the last eight courtesy of a walkover victory against Karamatullah Khan, in the quarter-finals before falling to Razik at the semi-final stage.

In their first career match-up, Chris Hanson, world No. 184 and qualifier, upset fellow American, Adrian Leanza, world No. 171 and sixth seed, in the first round of the Capital Open, to take the match in three games 11-7, 11-8, 11-1.

For more information, visit the National Capital Open tournament page.

National Capital Open Final Results:
[3] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt. [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) 11-2, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9

Report courtesy of the Professional Squash Association.

Peruvian prodigy Diego Elias picked up his second PSA World Tour title before reaching the age of 18 when he upset top seed Ryan Cuskelly in the final of the SquashWorks Salt Lake City Open, the PSA Challenger 10 event at SquashWorks in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Unseeded, the 17-year-old World Junior Champion from Lima – playing in only his 16th event on the PSA World Tour – despatched the sixth, second and fourth seeds before lining up against Australian favourite Cuskelly, the World No.43 from New South Wales marking his 15th appearance in a Tour final.

Diego dug deep and battled for 85 minutes to overcome experienced left-hander Cuskelly 13-11, 12-10, 11-9 in an epic encounter.

“Those who attended the final match between Ryan and Diego were treated to one of the best matches ever played at SquashWorks,” reported tournament organiser Craig Bennett.

“It may even have been better than the epic 2002 semi-final battle between Simon Parke and Alex Gough! It seems that every rally had multiple changes of momentum. The first game alone was over 40 minutes.”

For more images of the tournament, visit the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open gallery.

Final:
Diego Elias (PER) bt [1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 13-11, 12-10, 11-9 (85m)

The main draw of the $5,000 Professional Squash Association (PSA) National Capital Open is set with Americans Chris Hanson and Adrian Leanza pitted against each other for the first time on the PSA tour in Friday’s first round at Chevy Chase Athletic Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Both players are recent Ivy League graduates—Hanson of Dartmouth and Leanza of Brown—and have cracked the top 200 in the world rankings having spent approximately a year on the professional tour. This month, Hanson rose to a career-high ranking of No. 184, while Leanza dropped to No. 171 having reached a career high of No. 140 in July.

The players have met in US Squash-accredited play, however, during the 2014 S.L. Green in which Hanson defeated Leanza to claim fifth place.

While Leanza has been slated for the main draw, Hanson needed to defeat Pakistani Chaudhary Nasir Anwar 11-0, 11-3, 11-1 in Qualifying Thursday night to reach the main draw.

Both the first round and quarterfinals will play out Friday with match play beginning at 1pm ET.

National Capital Open First Round
[1] Dane Sharp (CAN) v Ashley Davies (ENG)
[7] David Letourneau (CAN) v [Q] Mubarak Mohsin (UAE)
[5] Michael McCue (CAN) v Anthony Graham (ENG)
[4] Lewis Walters (ENG) v Nosherwan Khan (PAK)
[3] Shahier Razik (CAN) v [WC] Omar Sobhy (USA)
[6] Adrian Leanza (USA) v [Q] Chris Hanson (USA)
[8] Karamatullah Khan (PAK) v [Q] Baba Tunde Ajagbe (NGR)
[2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) v [Q] Ahmad Alzabidi (JOR)

South America’s first World Junior Champion, Diego Elias, upset the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open second seed, Martin Knight, in a battle that lasted over an hour Wednesday night at the Squashworks Racquet and Fitness Club in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In their first career match-up, Elias, world No. 66, dominated the match early on taking both of the first games 11-1. Knight, world No. 47, came back in the third, pushing Elias to win 12-10. But Knight’s comeback wasn’t enough to deter the young Peruvian–Elias took the fourth, and final game, 11-3.

Elias faces Malaysia’s Muhd Asyraf Azan, fourth seed in the Challenger 10 Salt Lake City Open and world No. 63, in the semifinals. Elias and Azan have played twice before–once at the 2014 Northern Ontario Championship, and then again in the 2014 Greenwich Open. Elias won both match-ups. The two are set to play today, October 2, at 7pm local time.

The other semifinal will be contested by top-seeded Australian Ryan Cuskelly and fifth-seeded Englishman Ben Coleman who upset Cuskelly’s countryman, Steve Finitsis, in a three-game quarterfinal.

For more information, visit the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open tournament page.

For more images from the tournament, visit the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open gallery.

Squashworks Salt Lake City Open Semifinal Draw: 
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) vs. [5] Ben Coleman (ENG)
[4] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) vs. Diego Elias (PER)

Seventeen-year-old Peruvian World Junior Champion Diego Elias continued his outstanding form in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he defeated Scotland’s Greg Lobban, world No. 71, in the first round of the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open. The $10,000 U.S. Pro Series event runs from September 30-October 3 and is held at the Squashworks Racquet and Fitness Club.

On top of becoming the first South American World Junior Champion this summer, Elias reached a career high world ranking of 66 in October, mostly due to a quarterfinal run in the $70,000 Men’s Abierto Mexicano de Raquetas as a qualifier last month. In their first career match up, Elias is set to play second seed in the Open, New Zealand’s Martin Knight, world No. 47, in the quarterfinals today, October 1, 8:30pm local time.

The fifteen-player draw featured just one American: Faraz Khan, world No. 335, who fell to Malaysia’s Muhd Asyraf Azan, world No. 65 and fourth seed, in four games, 11-3, 8-11, 6-11, 12-14, in fifty-five minutes.

For more information, visit Squashworks Salt Lake City Open tournament page.

Salt Lake City Open Quarterfinals Draw:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) vs. [8] Paul Coll (NZL)
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) vs. Diego Elias (PER)
[3] Steve Finitsis (AUS) vs. [5] Ben Coleman (ENG)
[4] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) vs. [7] Peter Creed (WAL)

Top seeds Australian Ryan Cuskelly, recent Phoenix Open winner, and New Zealand’s Martin Knight, the Phoenix Open runner-up, are once again seeded to meet the final of another U.S. Pro Series event–the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open–which begins today, September 30, at Squashworks Racquet and Fitness Club in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Professional Squash Association (PSA) Challenger 10 event has previously run in 2005 and 2011; this year marks its third iteration. The draw features a main pool only, with fifteen entrants, and number one seed, Cuskelly, starts his first round of play with a bye.

The sole American, Faraz Khan, world No. 395 and also a recent competitor in the Phoenix Open, takes on Malaysia’s Muhd Asyraf Azan, number four seed and world No. 65, in their first career match up. The two play at 7:30pm local time.

For more information, visit the Squashworks Salt Lake City Open tournament page.

Squashworks Salt Lake City Open Main Draw First Round:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) vs. Bye
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) vs. Jan Van Den Herrewegen (BEL)
[3] Steven Finitsis (AUS) vs. [WC] Mark Broekman (ENG)
[4] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) vs. Faraz Khan (USA)
[5] Ben Coleman (ENG) vs. Italo Bonatti (GUA)
[6] Greg Lobban (SCO) vs. Diego Elias (PER)
[7] Peter Creed (WAL) vs. Shahjahan Khan (PAK)

Report courtesy of the Professional Squash Association.

Ryan Cuskelly kept the Life Time Phoenix Open trophy in Australian hands after defeating New Zealander Martin Knight in the final of the PSA Challenger 10 squash event at Life Time Fitness Tempe in Tempe, Arizona.

Both finalists survived four-game semis – top seed Cuskelly beating England’s No. 3 seed Ben Coleman and second seed Knight eventually getting the better of in-form Frenchman Lucas Serme, the fourth seed who won the Rotterdam Open last month.

Cuskelly and Knight were marking their seventh meeting on the PSA World Tour—and the twenty-seven-year-old left-hander from New South Wales extended his unbeaten record over the Kiwi with his 11-7, 11-0, 11-6 triumph in forty-five minutes.

“Knight was saying he was still feeling his semifinal game against Serme from last night and was unable to get going today,” reported tournament promoter Andre Maur.

The win notches up Cuskelly’s ninth Tour title—but his first since winning the Toronto Cup in November 2012.

Final:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [2] Martin Knight (NZL) 11-7, 11-0, 11-6 (45m)

Todd Harrity, fifth seed in the Challenger 10 Life Time Phoenix Open and world No. 82, made it to the quarterfinals Thursday evening, September 25, in Tempe, AZ.
Continue reading Harrity Sole American in Phoenix Quarterfinals →