Lincou Tops Palmer in Four in Detroit to Claim 2014 PST Championship from Tour Media May 4, 2014
- Thierry Lincou beat David Palmer in four games to win the 2014
Professional Squash Tour World Championship on Sunday afternoon in
front of a capacity crowd at the Detroit Athletic Club in Detroit,
Michigan.
Game scores were 11-5, 11-5, 3-11, 14-12. Tournament action was presented by First American Title Insurance Company.
The championship match
started with Lincou looking very much the stronger player. He won both
games one and two by a score of 11-5. Game three, however, saw
Palmer dramatically increase his intensity as he found more
opportunities to take the ball early off of the front wall. He coasted
to an 11-3 victory in the third game. Game four was action
packed from the start. Both players fought corner to corner. The
rallies were noticably longer, and neither player seemed willing to
relent. Lincou did have four match balls with a 10-6 lead. However, as
Palmer has been known to do in the past, he fought fearlessly to level
the match at 10-10. The final points were
brilliant at times at mystifying at others. For example, both players
won a rally when their opponent quixotically swung and missed the ball
from a relatively easy position. But game four’s action was mostly
corner to corner combinations of brilliant lobs, drops and drives with
both players using every tool at their disposal. PST Commissioner Joe
McManus said, “It was the greatest final we’ve had to date on the
Professional Squash Tour. The capacity crowd’s standing ovation for
both players was testament to that.” This marked Palmer’s
third consecutive appearance in the PST finals. He entered this year’s
event as the tour’s reigning champion. 2014 was Lincou’s first
appearance in the PST finals. Both won early round matches 3-0. Lincou
beat Rob Wilkins (Wales) in his quarter final match and Robbie Temple
(England) in the semis. Palmer beat Phil Wilkins (Wales) in the
quarters and John Roberts (Northern Ireland) in the semis. This year marked PST’s
third consecutive year hosting its tour championship at the Detroit
Athletic Club. PST’s “Road to Detroit” will continue next year as the
DAC celebrates the 100th anniversary of their current building’s
existence.
