RESULTS: Bluenose Squash Classic, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Final:
[1] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [2] Bernardo Samper (COL) 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1), 3-11, 11-10 (5-3) (84m)
Delierre Delivers Bluenose Title In Nova Scotia
Canadian top seed Shawn Delierre provided a home win for the packed crowd in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he beat Colombia's No2 seed Bernardo Samper in the final of the Bluenose Squash Classic to claim his third PSA Tour title in less than two years.
"The PSA rankings have them at 64 and 65 in the world, but the crowd who witnessed the final would maintain that they're more closely-matched than that!" said event organiser Patrick Kelly. "Shawn and Bernardo put on a brilliant show for the masses."
The first game took half an hour and went to a tie break. The second game took almost as long and went to a tie break. The third game was an anomaly. The fourth game took 19 minutes and went to a tie break. All three tie breakers went Delierre's way in the marathon 84-minute encounter.
The first game started well for the Colombian, who forged leads of 4-0 and 9-4. Samper had three game balls from 10-6, but Delierre saved them all as he drew level. At the first game ball to the 23-year-old from Montreal, Samper hit the ball into the tin to give Delierre an unexpected first game lead.
The second game again saw the 23-year-old from Bogotá take an early lead before DeLierre found his stride. This time it was Delierre who reached game ball first – but again the battle moved into tie-breaks which the Canadian eventually converted.
The aforementioned anomaly was a direct result of Samper's now traditional fast start. He was up by 5 in a couple of minutes and Delierre soon elected not to pursue a distant possibility, chased nothing and purposely sent a couple of serves out of court to give the game to Samper after just 4 minutes.
For the fourth consecutive time Samper led right away, and looked to be forcing the match into a fifth game decider when leading in the tie-break. But Delierre fought back to win the game 5-3 in the tie-break, and the match 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1), 3-11, 11-10 (5-3).