First PSA title for England youngster
By Squash Mad Correspondent
England’s Tom Ford kicked off his five-week squash tour of South Africa in the best possible way – reaching his first PSA World Tour final, and then clinching the NSA Open title in Pretoria as the third seed.
Ranked outside the world’s top 100, the 20-year-old from Cheltenham made his breakthrough in the PSA Challenger 5 event in its second year at the Pretoria Country Club when he upset top seed Aqeel Rehman, the 28-year-old world No90 from Austria, in the semi-finals.
His opponent in the final was Muhammad Saqib Yousaf, the 22-year-old from No.4 seed from Pakistan who also survived a four-game semi to make the climax, the second Tour final of his career.
“The final was close in the first game,” said tournament promoter Steven Doëg. “However Muhammad could not continue from where he left off in his semi-final and made numerous errors which the steady Tom took full advantage.”
The 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 victory in 38 minutes earns Ford (pictured below with women’s champion Nadine Ayman Shahin) his first Tour title.
The Gloucestershire left-hander now moves on to Johannesburg where he is the No.3 seed in the Assore Central Gauteng Open.
NSA Open, Pretoria, South Africa:
1st round:
[1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [Q] Marco Fourie (RSA) 11-8, 11-4, 11-0 (10m)
Sanjay Singh (MAS) bt [Q] Jason Kershaw (RSA) 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 (26m)
Kyle Maree (RSA) bt [Q] Lawrence Kuhn (RSA) 12-10, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-2 (60m)
[7] Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA) bt Tristan Eysele (ENG) 11-4, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9 (50m)
[5] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) bt [Q] Andrew Martin (RSA) 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 (42m)
[Q] Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) bt Hesham Mohamed Aly (EGY) 11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 (54m)
[Q] Nell van der Merwe (RSA) bt Mubarak Mohsin (UAE) 11-5, 5-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-2 (41m)
[3] Tom Ford (ENG) bt Christo Potgieter (RSA) 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (28m)
[4] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) bt Benjamin Coates (ENG) 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (17m)
[Q] Ray Simbule (ZAM) bt Baba Tunde Ajagbe (NGR) 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8 (42m)
Michael Wood (RSA) bt [WC] Ruan Olivier (RSA) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (18m)
[8] Arthur Moineau (FRA) bt Nasr Khan (PAK) 11-3, 11-4, 11-1 (11m)
Piedro Schweertman (NED) bt [6] Anthony Graham (ENG) 6-1 ret.
[Q] Oliver Pett (ENG) bt Gareth Naidoo (RSA) 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (22m)
Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt Ahmed Effat Ashoush (EGY) 4-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (53m)
[2] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Haseeb Gul (PAK) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (22m)
2nd round:
[1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Sanjay Singh (MAS) 11-6, 5-11, 11-1, 11-9 (40m)
[7] Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA) bt Kyle Maree (RSA) 11-5, 14-12, 6-11, 11-0 (49m)
[5] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) bt [Q] Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) 11-7, 12-14, 11-3, 11-7 (65m)
[3] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [Q] Nell van der Merwe (RSA) 11-6, 11-4, 11-1 (23m)
[4] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) bt [Q] Ray Simbule (ZAM) 6-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7
Michael Wood (RSA) bt [8] Arthur Moineau (FRA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-9
Piedro Schweertman (NED) bt [Q] Oliver Pett (ENG) 9-11, 11-5, 11-1, 8-11, 12-10 (68m)
Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt [2] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 12-10, 11-2, 11-7 (44m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [7] Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (33m)
[3] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [5] Thoboki Mohohlo (RSA) 13-11, 3-11, 2-11, 13-11, 11-9 (80m)
[4] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) bt Michael Wood (RSA) 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 11-1 (40m)
Piedro Schweertman (NED) bt Amaad Fareed (PAK) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (30m)
Semi-finals:
[3] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [1] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (51m)
[4] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) bt Piedro Schweertman (NED) 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3 (48m)
Final:
[3] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [4] Muhammad Saqib Yousaf (PAK) 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (38m)
Picture by Steve Cubbins (SquashSite)