Top Junior Finlay Withington, proved to be too strong for a determined Perry Malik, taking the title in four exciting games.
Fourth seed Withington started quickly in the first game as Malik, the third seed made a number of unforced errors and quickly won it 11-4.
A more fired up Malik came back firing in the second game, as he appeared to up the pace of the game with aggressive hitting and this tactic looked to work as he took a close game.
A much more composed Withington showed more patience in the thirdf and there were some punishing rallies for both players. Withington remained calm while Malik made a couple of crucial errors and also exchanged some words to the referee and looked upset at some of the decisions. Withington won the third on a no let which Malik was clearly not happy with.
A determined looking Malik started the fourth strongly and went out to a 3-1 lead, but made a string of errors and with his confidence riding high Withington went from 2-3 to winning the next 9 points straight and taking the title.
A wonderful weekend of high quality squash.
Semis : top seeds crash out as all-English final is set
Perry Malik will play Finlay Withington after winning their semi finals against top seeded Kiwi Chileshe brothere.
Perry Malik 3-0 Lwamba Chileshe
Malik started strongly and forced Chileshe into a number of errors in the first two games, gaining a good lead in both games, with a combination of power and use of the high lob.
There were many long rallies but Malik always looked in control. In the 3rd game Chileshe fought back and pushed his opponent , but Malik held on and won a tight third game.
Finlay Withington 3-2 Temwa Chileshe
A packed gallery were treated to an outstanding match between these two players.
Chileshe won a tight opening game and after winning the second comfortably looked to heading to the final, but Withington was able to win a tight third game and his confidence picked up and won the fourth well.
The fifth game was always going to be a hard battle with many outstanding rallies from front and back of the court, but a couple of unforced errors late in the game from Chileshe and Withington was through to the final.
Quarter-Finals :
The quarter finals have been played and the top 4 seeds have all made it to the semi finals.
Lwamba Chileshe 3-2 Lewis Doughty
Huge effort by both players who produced some outstanding squash in a match that could have gone either way. The match produced some long rallies which had both players showing their wonderful retrieving skills.
In the 5th game Chileshe at 8 all fell and hurt his ankle and had an injury break . When play restarted Doughty quickly moved to 10-8 match ball. Chileshe held is nerve and fought back to win 12-10 in the 5th after 67 mins.
Perry Malik 3-0 Elijah Thomas
A strong performance by Malik who looked in good form as he dispatched the up and coming New Zealand player.
The second game was tight with Malik taking it 13-11, Thomas showing a lot of fighting spirit and push the higher ranked player all the way. But in the end Malik was too consistent and ran out the winner.
Finlay Withington 3-1 Alasdair Prott
A wonderful game of speed and attacking shots as both players showed awesome skills in a fast and entertaining match. Withington went two games up as Prott made a number of errors, but Prott fought back and forced Withington to start making a few errors with some outstanding shot making.
Withington composed himself and ran out the winner in the fourth game, with a string of winners.
Temwa Chileshe 3-0 Joel Arscott
The battle of the New Zealanders saw Chileshe prove to be strong for his opponent . Both players know each other’s game well and it was always going to be a tight match.
Day ONE :
All the top seeds have progressed through to the quarter finals of the Harrogate Squash Open.
Top seed Lwamba Chileshe came through a tough first round match against Pablo Quintana Estevez winning in four games, while bother Temwa won a hard fought match against Frenchman Laouenan Loaec 3/0.
Perry Malik thirdrd seed, hard a tough four game win over Brazilian Vini Rodrigues. Finlay Withington looked strong in his victory over local Josh Rowley.
There are some exciting match ups for tomorrows quarter finals.
Lwamba Chileshe plays Lewis Doughty who over came Aron Allpress in the first round, Eijah Thomas will play Perry Malik, Finlay Withington plays Alasdair Prott from Scotland the sixth seed and last quarter final will be an all New Zealand affair with Temwa Chileshe playing Joel Arscott.