WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Spear & Jackson Florida State Open, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

1st round:
[1] Stefan Casteleyn (BEL) bt Ben Howell (ENG) 15-10, 15-7, 15-7
[7] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [Q] Shahid Khan (ENG) 15-11, 15-9, 15-12
[3] Peter Genever (ENG) bt Luis Borges (BRA) 15-14, 15-12, 15-9
[5] Mark Heather (ENG) bt Karim Yehia (EGY) 15-11, 15-9, 15-7
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) bt John Rooney (IRL) 15-12, 15-8, ret.
[4] Gavin Jones (WAL) bt [Q] Imran Khan (PAK) 15-7, 15-9, 15-5
[6] Alister Walker (ENG) bt [Q] Patrick Chifunda (ZAM) 15-13, 17-15, 13-15, 15-10
[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Eric Galvez (MEX) 15-5, 15-11, 15-8
Quarter-finals:
[1] Stefan Casteleyn (BEL) bt [7] Jan Koukal (CZE) 15-7, 15-10, 12-15, 15-10
[3] Peter Genever (ENG) bt [5] Mark Heather (ENG) 15-12, 15-10, 15-13
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [4] Gavin Jones (WAL) 15-13, 12-15, 15-12, 15-13
[2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [6] Alister Walker (ENG) 15-12, 10-15, 15-13, 13-15, 15-13
Semi-finals:
[1] Stefan Casteleyn (BEL) bt [3] Peter Genever (ENG) 15-10, 15-2, 15-8
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [2] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 15-13, 15-12, 15-13
Final:
[8] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [1] Stefan Casteleyn (BEL) 15-13, 12-15, 5-15, 15-13, 15-14

Barker Bags Florida Open Title

England's Peter Barker despatched three higher-seeded players in the Spear & Jackson Florida State Squash Open in Boca Raton, USA, to claim his third PSA Tour title in only his second year as a full-time player.

Seeded eight, the 20-year-old from Upminster in Essex made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals when he knocked out fourth-seeded Welshman Gavin Jones in four games in 70 minutes.   In a 68-minute semi-final, the runner-up in last year's World Junior Championships dismissed Australia's No2 seed Cameron Pilley in straight games to reach the final.

Barker faced top seed Stefan Casteleyn in the final and after taking the opener, fell two games behind as the higher-ranked Belgian imposed his authority.

Barker, however, fought back to take the fourth and reach match-ball at 14-10 in the decider.  Casteleyn saved four match balls before the Englishman was able to celebrate his dramatic 15-13 12-15 5-15 15-13 15-14 victory in 89 minutes.

Champion Barker now returns to England where he will meet up with his rival James Willstrop, winner of the World Junior title, in next week's British U23 Super 8 Championships in Pontefract, Yorkshire.