Training pays off for Aussie Matt
By SEAN REUTHE
Australian World No.109 Matthew Hopkin captured his fourth PSA World Tour title after overcoming sixth seed Martin Svec in the final of the Zenit Black Sea Open, PSA M5 tournament held at the Sport Life Fitness Club in Odessa, Ukraine.
Hopkin started his tournament with a walkover against Spaniard Aitor Zunzunegui, before putting Finland’s Jami Aijanen and England’s Patrick Rooney to the sword to seal a place in his second PSA World Tour final of 2016.
Svec, meanwhile, dispatched Navid Maleksabet in round one and the man from the Czech Republic followed that up with a tightly-contested 3-2 victory over Egypt’s Hesham Mohamed Aly and then a win over Italy’s Stephane Galifi in straight games.
The opening stages of the duo’s final clash saw Hopkin dictate the tempo of the match as he quickly rose to a two-game lead.
A resilient Svec dug in though in the third game to force Hopkin into a tie-break, but the Brisbane-born 25-year-old held firm to wrap up an 11-6, 11-8, 14-12 victory to claim his first PSA World Tour crown since January’s Suez Helsinki Winter Challenger.
Hopkin said: “I am happy that training is paying off. And it feels like a few things are coming together now, so thanks to my coaches Ben Ford and Robbie Temple.”
PSA M5 Zenit Black Sea Open 2016
Final:
[1] Matthew Hopkin (AUS) bt [6] Martin Svec (CZE) 11-6, 11-8, 14-12
Semi-finals:
[1] Matthew Hopkin (AUS) bt [4] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 14-12
[6] Martin Svec (CZE) bt [Q] Stephane Galifi (ITA) 12-10, 11-5, 11-6
Quarter-finals:
[1] Matthew Hopkin (AUS) bt Jami Äijänen (FIN) 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8
[4] Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt [8] Basem Makram (EGY) 11-2, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6
[Q] Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt [3] Matias Tuomi (FIN) 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 15-13
[6] Martin Svec (CZE) bt Hesham Mohamed Aly (EGY) 11-6, 10-12, 14-12, 10-12, 11-8
1st round:
[1] Matthew Hopkin (AUS) bt Aitor Zunzunegui (ESP) w/o
Jami Äijänen (FIN) bt [7] Julian Tomlinson (ENG) 11-5, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8
[8] Basem Makram (EGY) bt [Q] Belal Nawar (EGY) 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 5-11, 11-5
[4] Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Khaled Mostafa (EGY) 11-3, 14-12, 11-4
[3] Matias Tuomi (FIN) bt [Q] Seyed Mohammad Reza Ziyaekashani (IRI) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6
[Q] Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt [5] Ahmed Hussein (EGY) 5-11, 18-16, 11-4, 12-14, 11-4
[6] Martin Svec (CZE) bt [Q] Navid Maleksabet (IRI) 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5
Hesham Mohamed Aly (EGY) bt [2] Mark Fuller (ENG) 4-11, 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7
Qualifying finals:
Belal Nawar (EGY) bt Kostiantyn Rybalchenko (UKR) 11-3, 9-11, 14-16, 11-9, 11-7
Seyed Mohammad Reza Ziyaekashani (IRI) bt Ahmed Al Kiremli (IRQ) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5
Navid Maleksabet (IRI) bt Konstantin Kostrykin (RUS) 11-6, 11-8, 11-4
Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt Marc ter Sluis (NED) 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-3
1st qualifying round:
Belal Nawar (EGY) bt Konstantin Reshetniak (UKR) 11-6, 11-4, 11-2
Kostiantyn Rybalchenko (UKR) bt Dmytro Pogrebniak (UKR) 11-2, 11-4, 11-7
Seyed Mohammad Reza Ziyaekashani (IRI) bt Denys Podvornyi (UKR) 6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6
Ahmed Al Kiremli (IRQ) bt Valeriy Fedoruk (UKR) w/o
Navid Maleksabet (IRI) bt Tymofiy Zheludkov (UKR) 11-6, 11-3, 11-8
Konstantin Kostrykin (RUS) bt Dmytro Kravchuk (UKR) 12-10, 11-9, 11-5
Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt Artur Sikora (UKR) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6
Marc ter Sluis (NED) bt Ruslan Sorochinskiy (UKR) 11-5, 11-9, 11-6
Pictures by SquashTime