Men’s $1.5k PSA Challenger, 25-27 Mar, Waikato, New Zealand
Lwamba beats Temwa to claim first PSA title
A good result for New Zealand squash No.3 Lwamba Chileshe as he was won his first PSA Challenger title and was victorious over younger brother Temwa, in the process in the final of the Morrinsville Open PSA Challenger tournament.
Temwa, 20 and ranked 257 in the world, had won the last two tournament finals they have played each other, at Eden Epsom in what was a held-over final played in Hamilton during an Auckland lockdown and at the Whakatane Open.
On this occasion older brother Lwamba, 21 at 152 in the world and the finalist at the 2020 National Squash Champs, initially scrambled his way to victory finding himself down in the early stages of the first two games, but then working his way back and capitalising on two or three unforced errors from Temwa to take the first two sets 11-9, 11-8.
However in the third Temwa turned the table and this time held his lead before a couple of rash Lwamba shots gave the younger sibling the game 11-6.
In the fourth game Lwamba took the initiative and never let go. Although there were some nerves near the end of the match as Temwa cut the lead significantly before Lwamba won the title with an 11-7 scoreline for his first PSA Challenger title.
Earlier in the day Lwamba beat Zac Millar in an entertaining semifinal in straight games with plenty of power from both players to the fore. Temwa had the more difficult semifinal beating close friend and rival Joel Arscot in five games.
The Chileshe’s will now re-set themselves for PSA Challenger tournaments at the Waikato Open, Panmure Open and Auckland Open plus various Satellite events over the next two months