England's Ben Coleman Captures Atlanta Open PSA Title by Nathan Clarke February 9, 2015
- English World No.70 Ben Coleman saw off unseeded Zac Alexander 3-1 to
secure victory in the final of the Life Time Fitness Atlanta Open, PSA
Challenger 10, in what is the biggest win of his career so far.
Coleman was in imperious form throughout the event, failing to drop a
game en route to the final while Alexander, who hails from Brisbane,
had to come through difficult games against number three seed Charles
Sharpes and six seed Todd Harrity in the first round and quarter-final,
respectively, in his first appearance at the tournament.
Coleman was the favourite for the match and duly lived up to his
billing as he opened up with an 11-8 win in the first game. Alexander
though had shown a lot of nerve throughout the event and the Australian
dug in to level things up in the second.
The third game was a tense affair with both players struggling to gain
the upper hand. It was Coleman though who raised his game to take it
11-9 and the 23-year-old followed that up by winning the final game to
earn his fifth PSA World Tour title.
“I’m happy with the win and I will be well prepared for the British
Nationals in Manchester. I want to thank all the sponsors and I’m
looking forward to playing the Life Time Houston Open in April,” said
Coleman.
Alexander though will take heart from his performances throughout the
tournament. Not only did he see off the aforementioned Sharpes and
Harrity, he also shocked number five seed Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi in the
semi-final. The Qatari knocked out number one seed Karim Ali Fathi in
the previous round but found it hard to handle Alexander’s blistering
start which saw him take all three games without reply to make it to
the final against Coleman.
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 Life Time Atlanta Open, Atlanta, United States
1st round:
[1] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [Q] Sunil Seth (GUY) 3-1: 11-4, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8
[5] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Eric Galvez (MEX) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-9
[6] Todd Harrity (USA) bt [WC] Sean Conroy (IRL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-8
Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [3] Charles Sharpes (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 13-11, 10-12, 12-10
[4] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [Q] Christopher Binnie (JAM) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-8
[7] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt James Huang (TPE) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-9
[8] Andrew Schnell (CAN) bt [Q] Graeme Schnell (CAN) 3-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8
[2] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt [Q] Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 3-2: 7-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10
Quarter-finals:
[5] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [1] Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-2
Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [6] Todd Harrity (USA) 3-2: 11-4, 11-4, 8-11, 11-13, 13-11
[4] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [7] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-2
[2] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt [8] Andrew Schnell (CAN) 3-2: 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 15-13, 11-6
Semi-finals:
Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [5] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 11-6
[4] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [2] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 11-8
Final:
[4] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Zac Alexander (AUS) 3-1: 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5
