RESULTS: ISS Canary Wharf Squash Classic, East Wintergarden, London, England
Final:
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3 (88m)
French Ace Lincou Wins ISS Canary Wharf Classic
French squash ace Thierry Lincou powered his way past Australia's exhausted top seed Anthony Ricketts to win the ISS Canary Wharf Classic. Lincou won 11-9 6-11 11-7 7-11 11-3 in 88 minutes of high-octane squash at London's Docklands.
The match was evenly poised until Ricketts wilted in the fifth game at the conclusion of his fourth consecutive marathon match. Going into the final, Ricketts had been on court for 258 minutes of play compared to 112 by No2 seed Lincou.
However, the Reading-based Australian was still happy to prolong the rallies in a 28-minute opening game which Lincou pinched 11-9.
Ricketts hit back strongly to take the second but the pattern continued as Lincou won the third and the robust Ricketts responded yet again, drawing on his phenomenal reserves of energy to take the match to a fifth game.
The full house crowd at the spectacular East Wintergarden venue willed him to make one final effort but Lincou played tight, stylish and inventive squash to dominate the game.
At 6-1 down Ricketts mounted a mini recovery but Lincou was too solid to let it continue and he swiftly regained control to clinch victory.
A delighted Lincou hugged Ricketts, punched the air with joy and walked slowly around the court to savour the moment of victory.
He said: "I have waited a long time to win a tournament, since Pakistan last summer, and I need that to get back up to the top of the rankings.
"Anthony has had a lot of hard matches this week and has played 20 games in total. I guess that showed tonight, but I am very happy to win such an important tournament in a wonderful venue like this with a big, passionate crowd," said the Frenchman after his 15th PSA title success since 1996.
Ricketts admitted: "You could say that was one game too many at the end there, but Thierry is a class act and he played superb squash tonight. He is always one of the hardest guys to beat."
Next week Ricketts flies to New York to defend his Tournament of Champions title on the glass court at Grand Central Station and then heads home to Australia aiming for a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
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