Kiwi Martin suffers after a hard day’s Knight against Lucas Serme
By Squash Mad Reporter
Ryan Cuskelly kept the Life Time Phoenix Open trophy in Australian hands after defeating New Zealander Martin Knight in the final of the PSA Challenger 10 squash event at Life Time Fitness Tempe in Tempe in the US state of Arizona.
Both finalists survived four-game semis – top seed Cuskelly beating England’s No.3 seed Ben Coleman and second seed Knight eventually getting the better of in-form Frenchman Lucas Serme, the fourth seed who won the Rotterdam Open last month.
Cuskelly and Knight were marking their seventh meeting on the PSA World Tour – and the 27-year-old left-hander from New South Wales extended his unbeaten record over the Kiwi with his 11-7, 11-0, 11-6 triumph.
“Knight was saying he was still feeling his semi-final game against Serme from last night and was unable to get going today,” reported tournament promoter Andre Maur.
The match was over in 45 minutes, a lot shorter than last year’s final, when Rex Hedrick beat Pakistan’s Syed Buhkari in a battle lasting 120 minutes.
The win notches up Cuskelly’s ninth Tour title – but his first since winning the Toronto Cup in November 2012.
PSA Challenger 10 Life Time Phoenix Open, Tempe, Arizona, USA:
1st round:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [Q] Chris Hanson (USA) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8
[5] Todd Harrity (USA) bt [Q] Christopher Binnie (JAM) 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4
[8] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) bt [Q] Baba Tunde Ajagbe (NGR) 11-6, 11-3, 11-2
[3] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Andrew Schnell (CAN) 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6
[4] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [Q] Faraz Khan (USA) 11-9, 10-12, 11-2 ret.
[7] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt Diego Elias (PER) 4-11, 11-8, 11-7, 13-11
[6] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Shahjahan Khan (PAK) 7-11, 12-10, 14-12, 10-12, 11-6
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) bt [WC] Heraclio Salaiz Estrada (MEX) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2
Quarter-finals:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [5] Todd Harrity (USA) 11-8, 11-5, 11-8
[3] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [8] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) 13-15, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4
[4] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [7] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 11-8, 11-8, 11-9
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) bt [6] Paul Coll (NZL) 11-6, 3-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-7
Semi-finals:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [3] Ben Coleman (ENG) 11-4, 11-8, 11-13, 11-3
[2] Martin Knight (NZL) bt [4] Lucas Serme (FRA) 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4
Final:
[1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [2] Martin Knight (NZL) 11-7, 11-0, 11-6 (45m)
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Picture courtesy of PSA