Snell Snaps Up First Tour Title In Japan
1st round:
[1] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt [Q] Bumpei Kawano (JPN) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (30m)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 15-13, 12-10, 15-13 (50m)
[3] Anson Kwong (HKG) bt Tsukue Shinnosuke (JPN) 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 (29m)
[6] Peter Kviecinsky (SVK) bt Paul Mathieson (ITA) 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (28m)
[8] Mohamed El Kady (EGY) bt [Q] Jun Matsumoto (JPN) 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 (54m)
[Q] Yuta Fukui (JPN) bt [4] Cheng Yao Huang (TPE) 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-4 (56m)
[7] Nyeon-Ho Lee (KOR) bt Hon Fung Wong (HKG) 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (38m)
[2] James Snell (ENG) bt [Q] Ken Okada (JPN) 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (26m)
Quarter-finals:
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [1] Christopher Gordon (USA) 6-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-13, 11-5 (69m)
[3] Anson Kwong (HKG) bt [6] Peter Kviecinsky (SVK) 11-4, 11-5, 11-9 (37m)
[Q] Yuta Fukui (JPN) bt [8] Mohamed El Kady (EGY) 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8 (67m)
[2] James Snell (ENG) bt [7] Nyeon-Ho Lee (KOR) 11-9, 12-10, 11-9 (43m)
Semi-finals:
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [3] Anson Kwong (HKG) 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 (53m)
[2] James Snell (ENG) bt [Q] Yuta Fukui (JPN) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 (39m)
Final:
[2] James Snell (ENG) bt [5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-6, 11-9, 14-12 (63m)
England's James Snell secured his first title on the PSA World Tour when he beat Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad in the final of the Japan Pro Squash Kansai, a $3,000 event at the XIST Sports Club in Wakayama, Japan.
The second seed from Devon comfortably reached the final without dropping a game - while Abdel Gawad, the fifth seed, made his breakthrough after upsetting top seed Christopher Gordon in the quarter-finals.
Underdog Gawad kept Snell on court for more than an hour - but the 21-year-old from Exeter ultimately prevailed 11-6, 11-9, 14-12 in 63 minutes to earn his maiden Tour title.