RESULTS: Prince Prague Squash Open, Prague, Czech Republic
1st round:
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [Q] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 11-5, 11-0, 11-4 (21m)
Peter Kviecinsky (SVK) bt [8] Marek Manik (SVK) 11-9, 11-4, 4-11, 12-14, 11-6 (90m)
[Q] Jaroslav Cech (CZE) bt [3] Colin Ramasra (TRI) 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (30m)
Petr Martin (CZE) bt [7] Stefan Brauneis (AUT) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (25m)
[6] Rene Mijs (NED) bt [Q] Lucas Vauzelle (FRA) 10-12, 8-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-1 (53m)
Ondrej Ertl (CZE) bt [4] Issa Kamara (SLE) 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6 (54m)
[5] Lukas Jelinek (CZE) bt [Q] Jakub Stupka (CZE) 11-6, 6-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6 (45m)
[2] Ben Ford (ENG) bt Tomas Toth (SVK) 10-12, 11-3, 11-9, 11-6 (37m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Peter Kviecinsky (SVK) 11-3, 11-3, 11-9 (26m)
Petr Martin (CZE) bt [Q] Jaroslav Cech (CZE) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (31m)
[6] Rene Mijs (NED) bt Ondrej Ertl (CZE) 11-8, 11-8, 11-13, 11-4 (48m)
[2] Ben Ford (ENG) bt [5] Lukas Jelinek (CZE) 11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6 (63m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Petr Martin (CZE) 11-5, 11-1, 11-4 (22m)
[2] Ben Ford (ENG) bt [6] Rene Mijs (NED) 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9 (79m)
Final:
[1] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [2] Ben Ford (ENG) 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 (29m)
National number one Jan Koukal delighted local crowds at the Prince Prague Open when he beat Englishman Ben Ford in the final of the $3,000 PSA World Tour squash event at Squashcentrum Strahov in the Czech Republic capital Prague to win the title for the fourth time since 2005.
While the top-seeded Czech reached the final after a straight games victory over fellow countryman Petr Martin in just 22 minutes, second seed Ford was made to toil for 79 minutes to overcome Dutchman Rene Mijs 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9 before reaching the sixth Tour final of his career.
But the final turned out to be a one-sided affair, with Ford only able to keep pace with the local favourite for just the first few rallies.
"After that, it was obvious it was one match too far for him," explained tournament organiser Tomas Forter. "The average length of Ford's three matches so far was very similar to the amount of time Kouki spent on court in his three matches together!
"Ben tried to slow the pace down and hit some shots but Kouki got everything back. He was volleying a lot to keep the pace as high as possible and Ben was simply not able to cope with it."
Koukal took just 29 minutes to despatch Ford 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 to win his fourth Prague Open crown - and the 10th PSA title of his career.
"I am happy I won," said the 26-year-old from Prague. "I have to thank Ben's opponents from previous rounds for tiring him down. I tried to use it as much as I could and it worked well."
Ford admitted he was tired: "I was tired from the whole tournament but Jan played really well," said the London-born 34-year-old. "I saw him play a few times before and today was the best I ever saw him play. He was moving well and taking the ball very early. I was always one step off the pace."