Essex ace continues run of superb form to reign in Spain
By LEE HORTON – Squash Mad Essex Editor
England’s Ben Coleman continued his run of good form over the past two months when he beat Frenchman Christophe Andre in the final of the Cobendai Castellana Open in the Spanish city of Madrid to claim his third PSA World Tour squash title in the past six weeks.
The 23-year-old top seed from Chelmsford reached the final of this inaugural PSA Challenger 5 event at Madrid Castellana Sports Club after seeing off Czech qualifier Daniel Mekbib, the surprise first round victor of No3 seed Karamatullah Khan.
Second seed Andre had en even more surprising semi-final opponent – ‘lucky loser’ Sean Conroy, a 20-year-old Irishman who fell in the qualifying finals, then took out the No8 seed en-route to the last four.
Coleman (pictured below, left, with his opponent) with his dropped the opening game to Andre, a 27-year-old from the Reunion Islands celebrating his third Tour final and looking for his maiden title.
But the World No.73 regained control of the action and closed out the match 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 after 76 minutes to win his third Tour title of his career.
PSA Challenger 5 Cobendai Castellana Open, Madrid, Spain:
1st round:
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [Q] Bernat Jaume (ESP) 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6
Ashley Davies (ENG) bt [6] Jonathan Geekie (SCO) 11-6, 11-7, 11-7
[7] Tristan Eysele (ENG) bt [WC] Aitor Zunzunegui (ESP) 7-11, 1-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9
[Q] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [3] Karamatullah Khan (PAK) 11-7, 11-2, 11-8
[LL] Sean Conroy (IRL) bt [Q] Pascal Gomez (ESP) 11-2, 11-9, 11-9
[8] Claudio Pinto (POR) bt [Q] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6
[5] Youssef Abdalla (ENG) bt Rui Soares (POR) 11-9, 11-8, 14-12
[2] Christophe Andre (FRA) bt Roman Svec (CZE) 11-3, 11-6, 11-3
Quarter-finals:
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Ashley Davies (ENG) 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 (54m)
[Q] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [7] Tristan Eysele (ENG) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (51m)
[LL] Sean Conroy (IRL) bt [8] Claudio Pinto (POR) 12-10, 7-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 (69m)
[2] Christophe Andre (FRA) bt [5] Youssef Abdalla (ENG) 11-3, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7 (53m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [Q] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 12-10, 11-1, 11-4 (42m)
[2] Christophe Andre (FRA) bt [LL] Sean Conroy (IRL) 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 (27m)
Final:
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [2] Christophe Andre (FRA) 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (76m)
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Picture courtesy of PSA