RESULTS: PSA International 35 Comfort Inn Open, Vancouver, Canada
Final:
[2] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 (59m)
England’s Daryl Selby brought Hisham Mohd Ashour‘s impressive run in the Comfort Inn Open to an end in the final – but the unseeded Egyptian took second seed Selby the full distance in the climax of the PSA World Tour International 35 event in its seventh year at the Evergreen Squash Club in Vancouver.
Ashour claimed his place in the final after upsetting top seed David Palmer, the former world number one from Australia who was the event’s top seed.
The higher-ranked Englishman took the opening game – but Ashour, the world No18 from Cairo, pulled back to move 2/1 ahead.
After surviving a close fourth, world No10 Selby came storming back to clinch a magnificent 11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5 victory after 59 minutes – and his second Comfort Inn title in three years.
“It was a thrilling match to watch and it was played with a sense that both players enjoyed the experience and respected each other while playing their hearts out,” said tournament organiser Paul Marley.
“As well, it must be said again that Selby showed incredible sportsmanship as at least five times in the past two matches he has made a call on himself or overturned a referee’s decision. One of these times was late in third game today when the score was 8-7 in his favour and he called a “double bounce” on himself.
“He eventually lost the game 9-11. It’s wonderful to see world class sportsmanship by a world class athlete as it is great modelling for our squash community,” concluded Marley.
The win marks up Selby’s tenth career Tour title.