Rodriguez Records Historic Win In Sao Paulo
by Howard Harding
Rodriguez photo courtesy Steve Cubbins
12 October 2011 - Colombian squash star Miguel Angel Rodriguez has extended his remarkable unbeaten record in PSA World Tour finals to 12 titles since 2007 after winning the Squash Grupo Pao de Acucar Open in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
But the 25-year-old from Bogota was taken the full distance by Czech number one Jan Koukal in the final of the PSA Challenger 15 event at Academia Pao de Acucar.
It was in the semi-finals that the Colombian number one ended local interest in the event, beating fourth seed Rafael Alarcon, the top-ranked Brazilian from Sao Paulo, in four games.
In the other semi, second seed Koukal had weathered the storm from surprise opponent Joe Lee, the unseeded 22-year-old from England who made the last four after ousting third-seeded Canadian Shawn Delierre in the quarter-finals.
And 28-year-old Koukal, celebrating his 30th appearance in a Tour final, built up a two-game lead as an upset against top seed Rodriguez looked on the cards.
But the Bogota-born world No38 reclaimed control of the clash to close out the match 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 to win the 17th Tour title of his career.
It was at the Mexico City Open in December 2007 that Rodriguez began his sensational run in PSA World Tour finals - reaching the finals, and winning, the Curitiba Open, the Brasilia International and the Colombian Open in 2008; the Internacional Sporta Open, Aberto Internacional de Joinville de Squash and Enjoy Tour Open in 2009; and the Tortugas Open, Pachuca Open, Colombian Open and Ecuador Open last year before this maiden success in 2011 in Sao Paulo.
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 Squash Grupo Pao de Acucar Open, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1st round:
[1] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10
[Q] Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) bt Chris Truswell (ENG) 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-2
Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [Q] Manoel Pereira (BRA) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6
[4] Rafael Alarcon (BRA) bt Josimar Silva (BRA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
[3] Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt [Q] Steven London (ENG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4
Joe Lee (ENG) bt [Q] Robert Downer (ENG) 12-10, 11-6, 11-9
Fred Reid (CAN) bt Matthew Serediak (CAN) 9-11, 5-11, 13-11, 15-13, 11-4
[2] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Alex Ingham (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8
Quarter-finals:
[1] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) w/o
[4] Rafael Alarcon (BRA) bt Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9
Joe Lee (ENG) bt [3] Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-9, 11-5, 11-8
[2] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Fred Reid (CAN) 11-9, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5
Semi-finals:
[1] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [4] Rafael Alarcon (BRA) 11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9
[2] Jan Koukal (CZE) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7
Final:
[1] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [2] Jan Koukal (CZE) 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9
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