Hinds secures Stratos Seattle Open title as Gaskin limps to an agonising defeat
By MICHAEL CATLING – Squash Mad Chief Reporter
Top seed Joel Hinds fought off a superb fightback from Irish number one Arthur Gaskin to win a dramatic final game and clinch the Stratos Seattle Open title at the Seattle Athletic Club Downtown in Seattle, USA.
Gaskin, the number two seed, stormed back from 2-0 down to force a decider but fell short in the fifth game as Hinds capitalised on an apparent groin injury for the Dublin-born 29-year-old to prevail 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7 at the PSA World Tour Challenger $5,000 event.
Victory for Hinds marked only his fourth PSA Tour title, while Gaskin was left to contemplate his fifth consecutive runner-up finish in a PSA ranking event.
Hinds, the world number 75 from Birmingham, dominated the opening exchanges in Seattle as Gaskin struggled to deal with the Englishman’s deception at the front of the court.
With several drop shots contributing to Hinds’ winner count, the 26-year-old edged the opening two games to take a commanding lead.
However, a contentious referring decision halted Hinds’ momentum and the distraction culminated in three unforced errors in the next four points as Gaskin halved the deficit.
The world number 90 equalised the scores with a comfortable victory in the fourth but was soon grimacing in pain after clutching his groin muscle following the opening two rallies of the fifth game.
Sensing Gaskin’s struggles, Hinds raced into a 6-0 lead and was barely troubled thereafter to secure his first tournament victory this year in 60 minutes.
Final Result:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) 3-2 [2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7 (60m)
Semi-Final Results:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) 3-0 [4] Todd Harrity (USA) 11-7, 14-12, 11-6
[2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 3-1 [5] Richie Fallows (ENG) 12-14, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4
Quarter-Final Results:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) 3-1 [7] James Earles (ENG) 9-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-7
[4] Todd Harrity (USA) 3-1 [6] Robert Downer (ENG) 11-4, 11-2, 6-11, 11-6
[5] Richie Fallows (ENG) 3-0 [3] Matthew Serediak (CAN) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7
[2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 3-1 [8] Tom Pashley (ENG) 3-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5
First round Results:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) 3-0 [Q] Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7
[7] James Earles (ENG) 3-0 Jonathan Maloney (ENG) 11-3, 11-6, 11-7
[6] Robert Downer (ENG) 3-0 [Q] Ashley Davies (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8
[4] Todd Harrity (USA) 3-1 [Q] Bart Ravelli (NED) 9-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-1
[3] Matthew Serediak (CAN) 3-0 Jonathan Geekie (SCO) 11-6, 11-3, 11-5
[5] Richie Fallows (ENG) 3-2 [LL] Shahjahan Khan (PAK) 7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-4, 11-6 (120m)
[8] Tom Pashley (ENG) 3-0 [WC] Adnan Gul (PAK) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3
[2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 3-0 [Q] Adam Perkiomaki (USA) 11-8, 12-10, 11-6