RESULTS: PSA Northern Ontario Championship, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Final:
[2] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt [Q] Shawn Delierre (CAN) 9-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-1, 11-7 (70m)
Czech squash star Jan Koukal held off a 70-minute challenge from local qualifier Shawn Delierre in the final of the inaugural PSA Northern Ontario Championship to win the $10,000 PSA World Tour title at Sudbury YMCA in Sudbury, Canada.
It was one match too far for Delierre, the 27-year-old from Montreal who made the main draw after qualifying, then strung together a series of upsets before reaching the final after surviving a marathon 140-minute five-game semi against his top-seeded compatriot Shahier Razik.
Delierre twice led in the final, but second seed Koukal held his nerve to close out the match 9-11, 11-3, 5-11, 11-1, 11-7 - thereby celebrating his fourth Tour final appearance in North America this year with his second title triumph.
"I felt OK about the match today, but I lost control," explained Delierre later. "I had to wait for his errors and he wasn't making very many. I kept stringing myself along and I wasn't hitting my best. It was tough, very tough."
Jan Koukal, the 26-year-old world No63 from Prague, now has 13 PSA World Tour titles to his name, since winning in his first at the Czech Open in February 2004.