Boast and drive as Canadian beats top seed Martin Knight
By Squash Mad Reporter
Canadian number two seed Shawn Delierre defeated 2013 runner-up Martin Knight on home-soil to earn his second PSA World Tour title of 2014 at the Saskatoon Movember Boast, Challenger 10 tournament.
The pairing clashed in a magnificent match that saw 32-year-old Delierre roll back the years to beat Knight in straight sets and claim his third victory in a row against his opponent from New Zealand.
Number three seed Jamie Haycocks fell short of expectations when he went out to Andrew Schnell in the quarter-final. Schnell had already been through a gruelling five-game encounter with his brother Graeme in the first round but there were no signs of any tired legs as he put in a dogged performance against the Englishman.
The shock of the event was undoubtedly qualifier Youssef Soliman’s victory over Dane Sharp in the quarter-final. Soliman, who had already shocked Canadian Michael McCue in the previous round, dropped the first game by a 11-9 scoreline but he had enough in his locker to turn the match on its head and take the next three games in a row.
His progress was cut short by Knight in the semi-final when the New Zealander gunned Soliman down in a 3-1 victory.
Knight was also number six seed Matthew Serediak’s conqueror. The 30-year-old Canadian would have been hoping to progress to the latter stages of the event but was unfortunate to meet a dominant Knight in the quarter-finals.
Knight was brutal in his dismantling of Serediak and won it 11-9, 11-2 and 11-7 in the pair’s first ever meeting on the PSA World Tour.
Carlos Cornes Ribadas, the only Spanish representative in the draw, made it to the second round courtesy of a 3-0 win over qualifier David Baillargeon but his progress was halted by Delierre en route to his tournament triumph.
Results: 2014 Saskatoon Movember Boast:
1st round:
[1] Martin Knight (NZL) bt Reuben Phillips (ENG)3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 14-12 (28m)
[6] Matthew Serediak (CAN) bt Matias Tuomi (FIN) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (48m)
[Q] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt [8] Michael McCue (CAN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (47m)
[4] Dane Sharp (CAN) bt Rodrigo Pezzota (ARG) 3-0: 11-5, 12-10, 12-10 (60m)
[3] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) bt [Q] Joe Green (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (34m)
[5] Andrew Schnell (CAN) bt [Q] Graeme Schnell (CAN) 3-2: 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 (86m)
[7] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) bt [Q] David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (22m)
[2] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [WC] Nicholas Sachvie (CAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-9 (38m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Martin Knight (NZL) bt [6] Matthew Serediak (CAN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 11-7 (34m)
[Q] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt [4] Dane Sharp (CAN) 3-1: 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (73m)
[5] Andrew Schnell (CAN) bt [3] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4 (49m)
[2] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [7] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 14-12 (58m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Martin Knight (NZL) bt [Q] Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 12-10, 12-14, 11-8
[2] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [5] Andrew Schnell (CAN)3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-4
Final:
[2] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [1] Martin Knight (NZL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (66m)
Picture  from Squash Mad archiveÂ