Brown & Almezayen Deny Home Double In Hong Kong
Women's semi-finals:
[1] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [5] Donna Urquhart (AUS) 9-4, 9-1, 9-1 (36m)
[2] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt [7] Annie Au (HKG) 9-4, 9-2, 9-2 (29m)
Final:
[1] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [2] Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9-3, 9-2, 9-7 (45m)
Men's semi-finals:
[1] Dick Lau (HKG) bt [4] Max Lee (HKG) 11-9, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10 (55m)
[7] Abdullah Almezayen (KUW) bt [2] Steve Finitsis (AUS) 6-11, 11-2, 4-11, 11-6, 11-4 (57m)
Final:
[7] Abdullah Almezayen (KUW) bt [1] Dick Lau (HKG) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (36m)
Australian Kasey Brown and Kuwaiti Abdullah Almezayen denied the hosts a home double in the Crocodile Squash Challenge Cup with victories over Hong Kong champions Rebecca Chiu and Dick Lau, respectively, in the finals of the Tour event at the Hong Kong Squash Centre in Hong Kong.
The top two seeds contested the women's final of the $12,000 WISPA World Tour championship - and there were no surprises when favourite Kasey Brown, the world No13 from New South Wales beat Chiu, ranked a single place below, 9-3, 9-2, 9-7 in 45 minutes.
The final of the men's Super Satellite PSA Tour event produced a historic outcome when seventh seed Abdullah Almezayen beat favourite Dick Lau to become the first Kuwaiti ever to win a PSA Tour title.
The 20-year-old from Kuwait City, ranked 138 in the world and playing in only his seventh Tour event, despatched higher-ranked Australians Matthew Karwalski and Steve Finitsis - seeded three and two, respectively - on the way to the final.
Undaunted by either his opponent or the partisan crowd in the final, Almezayen maintained his giant-killing Hong Kong run by upsetting Lau 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 in 36 minutes.
It was not only the Kuwaiti's maiden Tour triumph, but also his first appearance in a PSA final.