RESULTS: XII Abierto Colombian Squash Open, Bogota, Colombia
Final:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [2] Borja Golan (ESP) 12-10, 11-13, 12-10, 5-11, 12-12 ret. (104m)
After an epic 104-minute final of the XII Abierto Colombian Open - in which second seed Borja Golan was forced to retire at 12-12 in the decider - favourite David Palmer emerged triumphant in the $30,000 PSA World Tour squash championship at Club El Nogal in the Colombia capital Bogota.
"With no doubt whatsoever, Palmer and Golan played the best final of the 12 editions of the Colombian Open, which unfortunately ended with the injury of Golan in the tie break of the fifth and final game," said tournament spokesman Juan Carlos Santacruz.
"It was 100 minutes of intense squash, deep, technical, thoughtful and emotive. Four of the five games played were defined in a tie break demonstrating the parity of level of the players."
Palmer, the world No6 from Australia competing in his 53rd Tour final, took the opening game - but Spaniard Golan upped the tempo in an ill-tempered second game before drawing level, again after a tie-break.
The 33-year-old from New South Wales reclaimed the advantage after the third - but again Golan came back, taking advantage of several unforced errors from Palmer to force the match into a decider.
"The final game was the best of all the games played in the tournament," added Santacruz.
Despite surviving a 126-minute five-game semi-final, world No11 Golan maintained the pressure on his higher-ranked opponent and impressed the crowd with his winning back hand drop shots that left Palmer stranded.
But the Australian would not surrender - and the more he was under pressure, the better shots he played! And it was a drop shot that ultimately won Palmer the title - as Golan injured his knee attempting to retrieve the shot, and was forced to concede the match.
"It was truly an unexpected outcome for the final and sad for the crowd that cheered for Borja," concluded Santacruz. "Palmer became the champion."
The win marks the third Tour title of the year for Palmer, and takes the US-based former world number one's career tally to 26, more than any other player currently on the PSA World Tour.
The triumph will also boost Palmer's confidence as he now heads to Chicago to compete in the Aon US Open - and thereafter to Manchester in England where he will defend his title in the internationalSPORTgroup British Open.