Lee lands Oregon title after quick final flourish in Portland
England’s Joe Lee celebrated the biggest PSA Tour title of his career after upsetting the seedings to cruise past Omar Abdel Meguid in the final of the Oregon Open in Portland, USA.
Lee, the number four seed for the PSA Challenger 15 event, survived an 85-minute semi-final marathon against Mexican qualifier Alfredo Avila but his exertions were incomparable to the 140 minute epic Meguid experienced in overcoming Scottish number one Alan Clyne in the last four.Â
Meguid, the world number 30, was also taken to five games in his quarter-final encounter against fellow Egyptian Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry and Lee capitalised on the top seed’s waning energy levels to secure an 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 victory in 34 minutes.
It was anti-climatic end to an otherwise intriguing tournament that witnessed several big name scalps in the opening round, including second seed Ryan Cuskelly.Â
Lee, though, was left celebrating his third PSA Tour title and his first since winning the NASH Cup in September.
The victory also denied Meguid the perfect present on the eve of his 26th birthday and will give Lee, the world number 34, confidence heading into his first qualifying match against Philip Demeulenaere at the Windy City Open later this week.
Oregon Open, Portland, Oregon, USA. Final Result:
[4] Joe Lee (ENG) 3-0 [1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 (34m)
Semi-final Results:
[1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 3-2 [3] Alan Clyne (SCO) 4-11, 11-8, 18-16, 11-13, 11-9 (140m)
[4] Joe Lee (ENG) 3-2 [Q] Alfredo Avila (MEX) 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 4-11, 11-6 (85m)
Quarter-Final Results:
[1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 3-2 [5] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) 18-20, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-1 (96m)
[3] Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-0 Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (44m)
[4] Joe Lee (ENG) 3-0 [6] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 12-10, 11-3, 11-9 (42m)
[Q] Alfredo Avila (MEX) 3-0 Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (37m)
First Round Results:
[1] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 3-0 [Q] Shahjahan Khan (PAK) 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (38m)
[5] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) 3-0 [Q] Andrew Schnell (CAN) 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 (37m)
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 3-1 [8] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 (70m)
[3] Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-1 [Q] Todd Harrity (USA) 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 11-5 (55m)
[4] Joe Lee (ENG) 3-0 [WC] Adam Perkiomaki (USA) 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 (26m)
[6] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 3-0 Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-3, 11-5, 17-15 (57m)
[Q] Alfredo Avila (MEX) 3-0 [7] Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (44m)
Shawn Delierre (CAN) 3-2 [2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 14-12, 6-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-8 (94m)
Pictures courtesy of the Oregon Open