Alan Clyne loses 129-minute Montreal marathon to Mathieu Castagnet
By NATHAN CLARKE – Squash Mad PSA Correspondent
Scotland’s Alan Clyne bowed out of the Open de squash Financière Banque Nationale, PSA International 35 tournament taking place in Montreal, Canada following an epic 129-minute battle against Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet in the quarter-finals.
In what was the second longest match witnessed on the PSA World Tour this year, with Clyne also holding the record for the longest match following his brutal 140-minute duel with Egyptian Omar Abdel Meguid in February, it was the Frenchman who eventually prevailed in a tightly-fought encounter that saw two games move into nail-biting tie-break scenarios before he managed to assert the upper hand in the crucial fifth and deciding game.
It’s a victory that sees Castagnet move into the semi-finals, where he will now face Australian No.1 Cameron Pilley after the 6ft 3in man from Yamba pulled off a surprise win over World No.9 and tournament No.2 seed Daryl Selby from England.
Having proved a tough test for eventual winner Mohamed Elshorbagy during the recent Delaware Investments US Open, Pilley picked up on his improving form to see off Selby in straight-games and record his first ever victory over the man from Essex in four attempts on the PSA World Tour.
In the top half of the draw, Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez proved too strong for his fellow South American Diego Elias, the 17-year-old qualifier from Peru, while top seed Borja Golan continued his march towards the title with a 3-0 win over Gregoire Marche.
Open de squash Financière Banque Nationale, Montreal, Canada.
Quarter-finals :
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [7] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 [44m]
[3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Diego Elias (PER) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7 , 11-8 [33m]
[4] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-2: 9-11, 12-10, 17-15, 14-16, 11-1 [129m]
[5] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [2] Daryl Selby (ENG) 3-0: 13-11, 13-11, 11-9 [61m]
Semi-final Draw:
[1] Borja Golan (ESP) v [3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[4] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [5] Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Pictures courtesy of PSA