Le Roux Makes It Ten In Paris from PSA Media April 14, 2014
- South African Shaun le Roux celebrated the tenth PSA World Tour title
success of his career when he beat England’s Ben Coleman in the final
of the IG Open de Paris, the PSA Challenger 10 squash event in its
second year at Société Sportive de Jeu de Paume et de Racquets in the
French capital. It was disappointing
outcome for Coleman, however, after the sixth seed from Essex scored
one of the best wins of his life when he upset second-seeded Malaysian
Ivan Yuen 8-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9 in the semi-finals. The 105-minute battle
proved to be his longest-ever win on the Tour – but Coleman was denied
his first ever title triumph on his 23rd birthday. The experienced UK-based Le Roux was marking his 15th Tour final appearance – and his second of the year. And, despite surviving
an energy-sapping 115-minute semi-final 24 hours earlier against
Australia’s No3 seed Rex Hedrick, top seed Le Roux had plenty in
reserve to despatch Coleman 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 in 62 minutes to notch up
his tenth Tour title. “I’m really happy to
have won the tournament,” said the Cape Town-born 27-year-old
later. “It’s been a hard week, I’ve felt, and a lot of it was
more mentally tiring than physical. “It was hard because I
had to be prepared for a long match every time I went on court so from
that point of view I’m even more happy. I feel I’ve played solid
squash all through the week and pleased to get rewarded for it. “A big thank you to
Danny and his team for putting on such a great event,” added the World
No.53. “I’ve really enjoyed Paris and hopefully will be back next
year. Well done to Ben as well for a good tournament and I’m sure
he’ll get that tournament win soon.” Coleman
responded: “I really enjoyed my first time in Paris – and I look
forward to returning soon. I gave it all I had in the final but
unfortunately it wasn’t quite good enough this time. “Congratulations to
Shaun, he lived up to his top seed billing. Hopefully next time I
am back I can finish as the winner instead of runner up - but it’s been
a very positive week for me. Thank you to everyone involved in
making this event work. “Now it’s time for me to get home and enjoy the rest of my birthday with my family.” RESULTS: IG Open de Paris, Paris, France 1st round: [1] Shaun le Roux (RSA) bt Alejandro Garbi Caro (ESP) 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (91m) [8] Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) bt Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) 11-8, 11-3, 11-4 (25m) [7] Jens Schoor (GER) bt [Q] Benjamin Fischer (SUI) 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (50m) [3] Rex Hedrick (AUS) bt [Q] Tim Weber (GER) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (44m) [Q] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) bt [4] Jan Koukal (CZE) 4-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8, 11-4 (82m) [6] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Geoffrey Demont (FRA) 11-9, 11-5, 12-10 (60m) [5] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt [WC] Johan Bouquet (FRA) 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5 (73m) [2] Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt [Q] Reiko Peter (SUI) 11-8, 11-13, 11-3, 11-8 (50m)
