New York's Alister Walker Wins Irish Open Crown
from PSA Media
29 April 2012 - Alister Walker claimed his second PSA World Tour trophy in two weeks when he beat Scot Alan Clyne in the final of the Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open, the PSA International 25 squash event in its tenth year at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.
The top seed from Botswana arrived in Dublin fresh from winning the Berkshire Open in the USA - and reached the final after despatching England's No4 seed Jonathan Kemp in a four-game semi-final.
His surprise opponent Clyne pulled off a notable upset in the other semi where he survived a 110-minute marathon against second seed Borja Golan, saving a match-ball in the decider to beat the higher-ranked Spaniard and former Irish Open champion.
"Clyne displayed amazing resilience to contest every point with Alister," reported event spokesman Sarah King. "Alister displayed faultless squash in the first two games, and looked set to win the match in straight games.
"The Scot went on to take the third game 11-9, however, but Walker came back strong in the fourth and took a 7-1 lead," added King.
But despite the third seed's determined efforts, favourite Walker maintained the upper hand to clinch the title 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3 after 54 minutes.
"I'm so happy to win my second event this week," said a delighted Walker after the 11th Tour title triumph of his career.
"Alan backed up incredibly well from his gruelling match with Borja last night. I knew it was going to be tough because he has a deserved reputation as an extremely fit and robust athlete and he proved that coming back from 9-6 down to win the third game."
Walker becomes the latest winner of the popular Dublin championship which includes illustrious former champions including Peter Nicol, John White, Thierry Lincou and Alex Gough.
"There are some great former winners of this title and it's an honour to have my name next to all the previous title winners here in Dublin," added the New York-based 29-year-old.
RESULTS: PSA International 25 Cannon Kirk Homes Irish Open, Dublin, Ireland
Final:
[1] Alister Walker (BOT) bt [3] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3 (54m)
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