Gordon Beats Cuskelly To Make NY PSA Metro Final
by Howard Harding
18 April 2013 - New York-born Christopher Gordon is celebrating the sixth PSA World Tour final of his career - but his first on home soil and in his home city - after upsetting top-seeded Australian Ryan Cuskelly in the semi-finals of the Oliver NY Metro Open - Squash Revolution, the inaugural PSA Challenger 15 squash event which has been staged across four venues in Metropolitan New York in the USA.
In a rare Tour final between two unseeded players, world No54 Gordon will face Shaun le Roux, the world No59 from South Africa who also needed more than an hour to see off Australian Matthew Karwalski in the other semi.
Gordon, the now Hartford-based 26-year-old who won the country's national title for the first time last month, recovered from two games down to beat Cuskelly, ranked 27 places higher, 6-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 in 73 minutes at Street Squash in New York.
"Gordon seemed out of sorts in the opening games," explained tournament spokesman Alwyn Callender. "He played well but was not able to cause much discomfort to his opponent who played a masterful front game, forcing Gordon to put lots of miles on his shoes.
"At the end of game two it seemed that it was going to be a straight games win for Cuskelly.
"However, the hard grinding opening games also took their toll on Cuskelly who was only able to garner two points in the third. There was a marked difference in Cuskelly's movement and shot selection. After the opening serve, he was only able to win back his serve on two occasions as Gordon unleashed a four-point streak to move from 2-1 to 6-1, before closing out the game at 11-2.
"The remaining two games were hard fought with Gordon emerging the victor over a progressively slower and impatient Cuskelly who made too many mistakes to threaten Gordon. Credit must be given to Gordon who seemed to be in for the long haul and appeared quite calm despite losing the first two games."
There was also a fight back in the second semi where Karwalski, the world No60 from New South Wales, led 2/1 before Le Roux reclaimed the advantage to take the match 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6 in 71 minutes.
The Cape Town-born 26-year-old, based in the UK, is celebrating the 12th Tour final of his career.
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 15 Oliver NY Metro Open, Metropolitan New York, USA
Semi-finals:
Christopher Gordon (USA) bt [1] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 6-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 (73m)
Shaun le Roux (RSA) bt Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6 (71m)
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