RESULTS: Cloudy Tour Kranj Squash Open, Kranj, Slovenia
1st round:
[1] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [Q] Miha Kavas (SLO) 12-10, 11-5, 12-10
[Q] Martin Mosnik (SLO) bt [7] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) 12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4
[3] Neil Hitchens (ENG) bt Benjamin Fischer (SUI) 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4
Klemen Gutman (SLO) bt [8] Domagoj Spoljar (CRO) 11-3, 11-7, 11-3
[5] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [Q] Andrew Birks (ENG) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6
[4] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Alex Ingham (ENG) 11-5, 7-11, 14-12, 7-11, 11-9
[6] Peter Creed (WAL) bt Reiko Peter (SUI) 4-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-4, 11-6
[2] Chris Truswell (ENG) bt [Q] Richard Birks (ENG) 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7
Quarter-finals:
[1] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [Q] Martin Mosnik (SLO) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8
[3] Neil Hitchens (ENG) bt Klemen Gutman (SLO) 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7
[5] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [4] Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3
[6] Peter Creed (WAL) bt [2] Chris Truswell (ENG) 11-7, 4-11, 11-3, 11-9
Semi-finals:
[3] Neil Hitchens (ENG) bt [1] Lewis Walters (ENG) 12-10, 11-7, 11-9
[5] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [6] Peter Creed (WAL) 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7
Final:
[5] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [3] Neil Hitchens (ENG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-3
English teenager Adrian Waller clinched his maiden PSA World Tour squash title at the Cloudy Tour Kranj Open in Slovenia when he beat higher-ranked compatriot Neil Hitchens in straight games in the final of the $3,000 Satellite event at the Mega Center in Kranj.
Neither player had been expected to reach the final. Firth seed Waller, a 19-year-old left-hander from Enfield, made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals by upsetting India's fourth seed Harinder Pal Sandhu. The former British Junior champion, competing in only his ninth Tour event since making his debut last October, went on to beat Welshman Peter Creed, the sixth seed, to reach the final.
Hitchens, the third seed from Essex, claimed the unexpected place in his first PSA final after ousting top-seeded fellow countryman Lewis Walters in the semi-finals.
The final between the two training partners looked a promising match-up, and from the start Waller Adrian was very much in command. The tall Middlesex man grew in confidence as the game progressed before ultimately claiming his 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 victory, and his debut Tour trophy.