Golan Glides Into Valencia PSA Final
by Howard Harding
8 October 2011-
Top-ranked Spaniard Borja Golan delighted the partisan crowd at the
inaugural Valencia Open when he brushed aside Bradley Hindle to reach
the final of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 squash event at Club
Olympia in Valencia, the third largest city in Spain.
The favourite from Santiago de Compostela had reached the semi-finals
without dropping a game - and continued his confident run by dismissing
unseeded Hindle, from Malta, 11-2, 11-4, 11-1 in just 25 minutes.
"Today I was more relaxed than yesterday and I felt pretty comfortable
with my moments and shots," explained Golan, the former world No10 who
is the highest-ranked Spaniard of all-time. "Bradley is a great player
but maybe he felt the five games from yesterday.
"I want to thank all the Valencian supporters and the organisation to
make possible one of the best tournaments that I ever played," added
the 28-year-old, now in the 32nd PSA Tour final of his career, but his
first for a year.
Golan will line up against second seed Omar Abdel Aziz in the final.
The Egyptian ended Max Lee's brave run, beating the world No58 from
Hong Kong 11-7, 11-4, 11-6.
Lee made his breakthrough in the first round where he ousted third seed
Chris Simpson. "It's a nice tournament," said the 23-year-old. "I am
very happy to win two tough matches - but not very happy for today. I
made many errors!"
Aziz, the 28-year-old world No42 from Cairo, is celebrating the 11th Tour final of his career, and his third this year.