Fifth For Hedrick In Hitachi Queensland
by Howard Harding
29 October 2012 - Australian Rex Hedrick claimed his fifth PSA World Tour squash title of the year when he wore down third-seeded Englishman Eddie Charlton to win the Hitachi Queensland Open in straight games at the Sandgate Squash Centre in Brisbane, Australia.
The top seed from Melbourne was able to absorb everything Charlton tried in the climax of the PSA Challenger 5 event - then turned the screws in the third game to win the final 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 in a match that lasted just over an hour.
Charlton had reached the final - the ninth of his career - after a five-game upset over Mike Corren, the second-seeded Australian who was bidding the win the 44th Tour title of his career.
Hedrick now heads to Canada for two tournaments before he attempts to qualify for the PSA World Championship in Qatar in December.
He leaves Australia in a rich vein of form, having won the ACT, NSW and South Australian Opens this year as well as the Australia Day Challenge in January.
"I started the year with the plan to win some tournaments, because I was runner-up for quite a few before I finally broke through, and now they're coming a bit more often," said the world No70. "It's probably time now to start going for some bigger events and trying to break in a bit further by playing the higher-ranked boys."
Hedrick has always been known for his pace and conditioning and he used both to full effect against Charlton.
"I've been working a lot on my speed and fitness and in such hot conditions you kind of just have to rally up and down the wall a little bit," he said.
"He played the type of game I expected, although I thought he would try and take me in short a little bit more than he did because he's got nice racket skills.
"But again because the ball was so hot it was hard to do that because I could counter him quite quickly."
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 5 Hitachi Queensland Open, Brisbane, Australia
1st round:
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt Joshua Stack-Masula (AUS) 11-6, 11-3, 11-1
Yuta Fukui (JPN) bt Will John (WAL) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4
Lance James Beddoes (NZL) bt [Q] Andrew Pringle (AUS) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7
Cameron Stafford (CAY) bt [8] Chris Lloyd (NZL) 12-10, 11-5, 15-13
[7] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) bt [Q] Bradley Freeme (AUS) 6-11, 13-11, 11-4, 7-11, 12-10
Sunil Seth (AUS) bt [Q] Dominic Mobbs (AUS) 13-11, 11-2, 11-8
Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt [Q] Andrew Fraser (AUS) 6-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9, 13-11
[4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Sehyun Lee (KOR) 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8
[3] Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt [Q] Sheng Kai Chen (TPE) 11-1, 11-0, 11-5
[Q] JaeJin Yoo (KOR) bt T J Rarere (AUS) 11-8, 11-8, 11-5
Joshua Southwell-Nobbs (AUS) bt Thomas Calvert (AUS) 11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5
[5] Paul Coll (NZL) bt James Skiffington (NZL) 11-3, 11-6, 11-7
[6] Jamie McErvale (AUS) bt Tim Cowell (AUS) 11-9, 11-5, 11-9
Courtney West (AUS) bt Corey Sergeant (AUS) 11-7, 11-8, 11-1
Rory Pennell (ENG) bt Joseph Watts (NZL) 11-6, 15-13, 10-12, 11-5
[2] Mike Corren (AUS) bt [Q] SungYoung Kim (KOR) 11-6, 12-10, 12-10
2nd round:
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt Yuta Fukui (JPN) 11-3, 11-5, 11-5
Lance James Beddoes (NZL) bt Cameron Stafford (CAY) 3-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5
[7] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) bt Sunil Seth (AUS) 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-2, 12-10
[4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Joshua Larkin (AUS) 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6
[3] Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt [Q] JaeJin Yoo (KOR) 11-6, 11-3, 13-11
[5] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Joshua Southwell-Nobbs (AUS) 11-2, 11-6, 11-7
[6] Jamie McErvale (AUS) bt Courtney West (AUS) 3-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3
[2] Mike Corren (AUS) bt Rory Pennell (ENG) 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8
Quarter-finals:
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt Lance James Beddoes (NZL) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5
[7] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) bt [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8
[3] Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt [5] Paul Coll (NZL) 11-8, 11-3, 11-8
[2] Mike Corren (AUS) bt [6] Jamie McErvale (AUS) 11-6, 11-5, 11-6
Semi-finals:
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [7] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) 10-12, 11-1, 11-5, 11-4 (43m)
[3] Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt [2] Mike Corren (AUS) 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-1, 11-5
Final:
[1] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [3] Eddie Charlton (ENG) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5
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