SPAIN’S world No.9 Borja Golan claimed his 27th PSA title in Canada last night when he took out England’s Daryl Selby in a scintillating FBN Montreal Open final.

Selby took the opening game 11-9 in a gruelling 27 minutes but the 30-year-old Spaniard came roaring back taking the second game 11-3 inside seven minutes. The third was again dominated by Golan who surrendered just two points.

Game four was full of fireworks and contention. Selby got off to a flier bagging the opening three points but they were quickly tied at 6-6 , 9-9 and 10-10. It took 38 punishing minutes for the game to be decided with Selby squeaking home 14-12.

Golan came out for the fifth looking energised and determined. He opened up a swift 6-1 lead and eventually took the decider 11-5.

Semi Final Reports

Top seeds Borja Golan and Daryl Selby meet in the final of the FBN Montreal Open after both came through tough semi-finals in  Canada last night.

Essex man Selby came through a gruelling  five-game quarter-final on Friday and was again stretched in the semis by unseeded compatriot Adrian Waller.

A confident performance by the world No14 saw Selby (pictured below with Waller) take the first two games.

“Down 0-2  and with nothing to lose, Waller goes for broke and starts aiming for the nick,” explained tournament spokesman Radu Neacsu. “It works! Numerous winners later Waller is up 8-4. Selby digs in and starts to mount a comeback with incredible retrieving. But Waller keeps his focus and closes out the game 11-8.”

No.2 seed Selby reclaimed the advantage in the fourth to close out the match 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 after 54 minutes.

“Thought I played well today, was a good hard match with @Adiewaller who played some class rallies in third and fourth,” tweeted 30-year-old Selby later. “Ice bath time…#brrr.

“Onwards to the final of @mtlsquashopen against @golansquash who played very well today. Gonna be tough but will give it everything I have..”

Spaniard Borja Golan admitted that he had to play his best squash to see off Saurav Ghosal, the third seed from India, in the other semi.

It was the pair’s fifth Tour encounter – and, after 45 minutes, world No9 Golan recorded his fifth win over the new world No17 from Kolkata in an 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 scoreline.

“I beat Ghosal 3/0 playing my best squash,” Golan (pictured above with Ghosal) told his Twitter followers. “Happy! Tomorrow final!”

Ghosal tweeted: “Lost 3/0 to Golan today. He was very good and I wasn’t at my best. Will have to learn from this and come back stronger! Disappointed”

Semi-finals:
[2] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 (54m)
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 (45m)

England’s second seed Daryl Selby (above)  was taken the full distance by unseeded Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet before surviving a 98-minute quarter-final marathon in the FBN Montreal Open in Canada.

Playing on an all-glass court at the Montreal Forum, world No14 Selby came back from two games down to beat the rapidly-improving Frenchman – ranked 30 in the world – 8-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-4.

“Sometimes squash is just about pure grit and determination,” the 30-year-old from Essex told his Twitter followers later. “Proud of myself for digging very deep to beat Mathieu from 2-0 down.”

Selby, runner-up in the event in 2010, now faces surprise English opponent Adrian Waller, the unseeded world No35 who stunned fourth-seeded compatriot Chris Simpson 11-3, 11-7, 11-9.

Channel Islander Simpson is playing in his first event since celebrating a career-high world No21 ranking this month.

The other semi-final will be the match predicted by the draw – between Spanish favourite Borja Golan and India’s No3 seed Saurav Ghosal.

Golan, the world No9 from Santiago de Compostela, also prevailed in a marathon battle – a four-game encounter which lasted 102 minutes, but included a 23-minute injury break.

Scotland’s world No32 Alan Clyne took the opening game and forced the second to a tie-break – but the Spanish number one ultimately prevailed 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9.

Ghosal, the highest-ranked Indian of all-time who celebrated a best-ever world number 17 this month, was also taken to four games by Omar Abdel Aziz – but overcame his 30-year-old Egyptian opponent in less than an hour, winning 11-3, 11-4, 2-11, 11-4.

“Happy to win my match 3-1 today,” tweeted the 27-year-old from Kolkata later. “Aziz played some good stuff but thankfully my squash was better than yesterday!”

Quarter-finals:
[2] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 8-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 (98m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [4] Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 (45m)
[3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-3, 11-4, 2-11, 11-4 (54m)
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9 (102m)

Semi-final line-up:
[2] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) v [3] Saurav Ghosal (IND)

1st round:
[2] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [WC] Andrew Schnell (CAN) 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-3 (59m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 (72m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [Q] Dane Sharp (CAN) 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 (33m)
[4] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (47m)
[3] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [Q] Steven Finitsis (AUS) 7-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-5 (57m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt [Q] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 11-8, 12-10, 11-6 (43m)
Alan Clyne (SCO) bt [Q] Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-8, 12-10, 11-6 (54m)
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (27m)

First Round Reports

India’s Saurav Ghosal and England’s Chris Simpson last night bagged impressive first round victories in the Financière Banque Nationale Montreal Open. 

Third seed Ghosal faced Australian qualifier Steven Finitsis. After dropping the opening game, the new world No17 Ghosal – India’s highest-ranked player of all-time – recovered to win in 57 minutes.

Simpson, the Guernsey-born 26-year-old who leapt four places to 21 to become England’s fifth highest-ranked player for the first time, beat France’s Gregoire Marche 11-7, 11-7, 12-10.

“Very happy to win 3-0 tonight over Frenchie Gregoire Marche, especially when he saved 3 match balls to force a tie-break in the 3rd,” the fourth seed told his Twitter followers.

Top seed Borja Golan, the world No9 from Spain, overcame Finn Henrik Mustonen in straight games while second-seeded Englishman Daryl Selby was taken to four by Canadian wildcard Andrew Schnell.