American claims second PSA title after wonderful week in Wisconsin
By NATHAN CLARKE – Squash Mad PSA Correspondent
American Todd Harrity claimed his second PSA World Tour title when he beat England’s Declan James on home soil in the final of the 2014 Madison Open, PSA Challenger 10 tournament.
The number five seed was impressive throughout the tournament and ended his week in the state capital of Wisconsin with an excellent 3-0 victory over number four seed James in the finale.
The first game ended in an 11-4 win to Harrity, whose clever play and strength caused James issues in all four corners of the court.
The second game followed in much the same vein, with Harrity taking it 11-6 before completing the win with an 11-4 triumph in the third to claim victory in the duo’s first meeting on the PSA World Tour.
Harrity progressed to the final relatively unscathed, only dropping games against number one seed New Zealander Campbell Grayson, the World No.51 who is 32 places ahead of him on the rankings, in what was one of his most impressive victories throughout the competition.
Grayson had triumphed in their only previous encounter, in the Charlottesville Open in September, but Harrity levelled the head-to-head by defeating Grayson in a tense 3-2 encounter, with two of the games going into tie-break territory.
Number two seed Mohd Ali Anwar Reda was knocked out in the quarter-finals by World No. 74 Jens Schoor after the German shot out of the traps to race into a 2-0 victory before holding his nerve to see out a 3-1 win.
Schoor made it to the semi-finals before falling to James while Joel Hinds, the number three seed, was forced to retire in the quarter-finals.
Madison Open 2014, Madison, USA
Round One:
[1] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Shahjahan Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-6
[5] Todd Harrity (USA) bt Benjamin Fischer (SUI) 3-0: 1-8, 11-4, 11-2
[8] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt Geoffrey Demont (FRA) 3-0: 1-9, 11-6, 14-12
[3] Joel Hinds (ENG) bt Michael Harris (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7
[4] Declan James (ENG) bt Jonathan Maloney (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-3
[7] Reiko Peter (SUI) bt Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (PAK) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 11-1
[6] Jens Schoor (GER) bt [WC] Adrian Leanza (USA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-1
[2] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Sunil Seth (GUY) 11-7, 8-11, 11-4 ret.
Quarter-Finals:
[5] Todd Harrity (USA) bt [1] Campbell Grayson (NZL)Â 3-2: 11-6, 3-11, 12-10, 6-11, 12-10
[8] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt [3] Joel Hinds (ENG) 9-11, 15-13, 11-4, 2-0 ret.
[4] Declan James (ENG) bt [7] Reiko Peter (SUI) 3-0: 13-11, 11-4, 12-10
[6] Jens Schoor (GER) bt [2] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5
Semi-Finals:
[5] Todd Harrity (USA) bt [8] Richie Fallows (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-8
[4] Declan James (ENG) bt [6] Jens Schoor (GER) 3-2: 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5
Final:
[5] Todd Harrity (USA) bt [4] Declan James (ENG)Â 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-4
Picture courtesy of PSAÂ