Home hero Le Roux rocks Reda in 84-minute marathon final
By Squash Mad Correspondent
Home-town boy Shaun Le Roux triumphed in the final of the 2014 Laser Western Provence PSA Challenger 10 tournament in Cape Town, beating number one seed Ali Anwar Reda of Egypt 3-2 to claim the honours.
In front of a capacity crowd, Le Roux was made to work hard for his title, with Reda, the world No.41, pushing the home favourite all the way in a thrilling 84-minute back and forth battle which the local favourite eventually sealed 10-12, 13-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-6 .
The victory sees Le Roux claim his third PSA World Tour title so far in 2014, with the Cape-town born star, who is now based in the UK, having already lifted the Northumbria Open and the IG Open De Paris.
“The last two weeks have been really special for me to play in front of my home crowds, I don’t often get to play here and in front of my family so to see the huge crowds turn out and create the atmosphere they have for all the players has been really incredible,” said Le Roux.
“Reda and I played just over a year ago and he won 11-8 in the 5th so it was hard not to think about that but I felt I was able to give it one last push mentally towards the end and that made the difference today.
“A special thank you to Paul and WP Squash for putting the event on and a massive thank you to Phil and The Laser Group for supporting the tournament.”
While Le Roux claimed the title in Cape Town, it was another local, Gary Wheadon, who captured the imagination of the fans with a dramatic and unexpected run to the semi-finals where he eventually fell to Le Roux.
Having lost in the event’s qualifying stages, Wheadon found himself back in the tournament as a Lucky Loser and he made the most of his opportunity, dispatching number six seed Alex Ingham and number three seed Tayya Aslam on his way to the semi-finals.
“Having stopped playing on tour a few years ago, I relish the chance to give the current players a bit of a run, even more so on my own doorstep,” said Wheadon.
Laser Western Province Open 2014:
First Round:
[1] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [Q] Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 (3-0) [34m]
Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt [Q] Rodney Durbach (RSA) 11-7, 9-11, 5-11, 11-3, 11-9 (3-2) [54m]
[WC] Christo Potgieter (RSA) bt Haseeb Gul (PAK) 6-11, 3-11, 4-11 (0-3) [19m]
[5] Nathan Lake (ENG) bt [Q] Daniel Smith (RSA) 4-11, 0-11, 2-11 (0-3) [22m]
8] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) bt [Q] Aaron Fuchs (RSA) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (3-0) [26m]
Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) bt Courtney West (AUS) 11-2, 11-7, 12-10 (3-0) [31m]
Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA) bt Marc ter Sluis (NED) 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 13-15, 7-11 (2-3) [83m]
[4] Tom Ford (ENG) bt Kyle Maree (RSA) 6-11, 4-11, 9-11 (0-3) [28m]
[3] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Jonathan Maloney (ENG) 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (3-0) [24m]
[Q] Hossam Nasser (EGY) bt Baba Tunde Ajagbe (NGR) 9-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5, 5-11 (2-3) [42m]
[Q] Gary Wheadon (RSA) bt Gareth Naidoo (RSA) 6-11, 8-11, 10-12 (0-3) [36m]
[6] Alex Ingham (ENG) bt Anthony Graham (ENG) 8-11, 5-11 retired (0-2)
[7] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) bt [Q] Paul Atkinson (RSA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (3-0) [21m]
Munro Montanus (RSA) bt [Q] Nasr Khan (PAK) 11-2, 11-1, 11-1 (3-0) [18m]
Shehab Essam Hosny (EGY) bt Ahmed Effat Ashoush (EGY) 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (3-0) [29m]
[2] Shaun Le Roux (RSA) bt Mubarak Mohsin (PAK) 5-11, 5-11, 5-11 (0-3) [15m]
Second Round:
[1] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Amaad Fareed (PAK) 11-3, 11-8, 14-12 (3-0) [42m]
[5] Nathan Lake (ENG) bt [WC] Christo Potgieter (RSA) 9-11, 2-11, 5-11 (0-3) [32m]
[8] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) bt Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) 5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 (3-1) [35m]
[4] Tom Ford (ENG) bt Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA) 5-11, 3-11, 2-11 (0-3) [28m]
[3] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt [Q] Hossam Nasser (EGY) 10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6 (3-2) [52m]
[Q] Gary Wheadon (RSA) bt [6] Alex Ingham (ENG) 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6 (3-1) [47m]
[7] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) bt Munro Montanus (RSA) 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 11-7 (3-1) [35m]
[2] Shaun Le Roux (RSA) bt Shehab Essam Hosny (EGY) 5-11, 4-11, 2-11 (0-3) [30m]
Quarter-finals:
[1] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [5] Nathan Lake (ENG) 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10 (3-2) [96m]
[4] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [8] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) 3-11, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11 (1-3) [51m]
[Q] Gary Wheadon (RSA) bt [3] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 8-11, 9-11, 11-13 (0-3) [50m]
[2] Shaun Le Roux (RSA) bt [7] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) 11-6, 8-11, 5-11, 6-11 (1-3) [49m]
Semi-finals:
[1] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [4] Tom Ford (ENG) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7 (3-2) [79m]
[2] Shaun Le Roux (RSA) bt [Q] Gary Wheadon (RSA) 3-11, 4-11, 4-11 (0-3) [27m]
Final:
[2] Shaun Le Roux (RSA) bt [1] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 10-12, 13-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-6 (3-2) [84m]
Picture courtesy of PSA