Israeli Daniel Poleshchuk celebrates historic PSA Tour triumph
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
Teenager Daniel Poleshchuk secured a place in squash history by surviving a marathon Global Relocations Israel Open final in Herzliya to become the first Israeli player to win a Tour title.
The 19-year-old from Ramat-Gan first had to negotiate a route through the qualifying competition of the PSA Challenger 5 event at Herzliya Squash Club – then downed fourth seed Christophe Andre, the 2014 runner-up, and England’s No.7 seed Oliver Pett en route to earning his maiden appearance in a PSA World Tour final.
The qualifier’s opponent was experienced Frenchman Geoffrey Demont, the No.2 seed from Aix-en-Provence who was celebrating his fourth Tour final.
World No.99 Demont took the opening two games, but the young local hero refused to give up.
Ranked exactly 100 places behind the 23-year-old Frenchman, Poleshchuk battled hard to draw level – then forced the decider to a tie-break.
Urged on by the partisan crowd, Poleshchuk clinched his sensational 6-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 13-11 victory after 86 minutes to claim his place in squash history.
“I did it!” exclaimed the 19-year-old. “I won my first ever PSA title after being 2/0 and 6-2 down – I managed to come back and win 13-11 in the fifth!!!
“I want to thank Nadav Wilensky for being there for me during the whole tournament; my coach in Poland Maciek Kils; my family; and all my friends who were supporting me during this epic final!!”
It was a despondent Demont who later told his Twitter followers: “Very disappointed to lose my match today after leading 2/0 and 6/3… Tough crowd… Congrats @danisquash1996 for your first title on tour.”
PSA Challenger 5 Global Relocations Israel Open, Herzliya, Israel
1st round:
[1] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt [Q] Claudio Pinto (POR) 11-3, 11-1, 11-7 (23m)
[7] Oliver Pett (ENG) bt [WC] Roee Avraham (ISR) 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (45m)
Bernat Jaume (ESP) bt [8] Micah Franklin (BER) 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 13-11 (48m)
[Q] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt [4] Christophe Andre (FRA) 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 (18m)
[3] James Earles (ENG) bt [Q] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (48m)
[Q] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt [5] Arthur Moineau (FRA) 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (26m)
Lyell Fuller (ENG) bt [6] Joe Green (ENG) 11-6, 13-15, 11-5, 11-5 (42m)
[2] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt Edmon Lopez Moller (ESP) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (35m)
Quarter-finals:
[7] Oliver Pett (ENG) bt [1] Richie Fallows (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 (41m)
[Q] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 11-4, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9 (45m)
[3] James Earles (ENG) bt [Q] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 5-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-1, 11-6 (50m)
[2] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt Lyell Fuller (ENG) 3-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (52m)
Semi-finals:
[Q] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt [7] Oliver Pett (ENG) 13-11, 11-8, 11-3 (34m)
[2] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) bt [3] James Earles (ENG) 14-12, 11-1, 11-2 (29m)
Final:
[Q] Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt [2] Geoffrey Demont (FRA) 6-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 13-11 (86m)
Picture by