Grant Survives Rotterdam Final Marathon
by Howard Harding

September 2, 2013 - England's Adrian Grant survived his longest match for seven years - and saved three match balls against him - to see off underdog Mathieu Castagnet in the final of the Double AR Rotterdam Open Squash 2013 to win the new PSA World Tour Challenger 15 title in the Dutch city of Rotterdam after 132 minutes.

The 32-year-old Londoner, ranked 24 in the world, beat surprise finalist Castagnet - the fourth-seeded Frenchman who ousted home favourite Laurens Jan Anjema in the semis - in a brutal match which went right down to the wire in front of a capacity crowd on the centre court of Victoria Squash, the venue which also hosted the combined Men's & Women's World Squash Championships in 2011.

Castagnet, the world No28, took the first with ease, but the Englishmen levelled after around 30 minutes of play. Grant looked set to go 2/1 up at 10-6 in the third, but the French international fought back and unexpectedly took the lead.

The 26-year-old from Aix-en-Provence continued his good form in the fourth to reach match ball at 10-7, but this time it was Grant's turn to come back and sneak the game on a tiebreak.

The fifth and final game saw yet another couple of turnarounds with Castagnet fighting back from 0-7 down to 8-8, before Grant regrouped to reach match ball at 10-8.

Yet again Castagnet - now in the longest recorded match of his career - fought back, but Grant finally clinched the title 6-11, 11-8, 11-13, 15-13, 13-11 on his fourth match ball after 132 minutes of intense and high-quality squash.

Presentation picture shows Grant with Double AR CEO Brenno Zuccarello

"It's great to win the title here, in particular after such an intense match," said Grant, now celebrating the 19th PSA Tour title of his career - but his first for more than two years. "At the end it was a lottery and I am really glad that I managed to sneak the win.

"I want to thank Neeraj (Aggarwal) and Tommy (Berden) for putting up this event, and of course Double AR (which is also my personal sponsor) and the city of Rotterdam for making it happen."

Tournament promoter Neeraj Aggarwal added: "It was a fantastic and fitting end to this championship. The athleticism and determination Adrian and Mathieu displayed, showed yet again that squash deserves to be an Olympic sport.

"The effort they put in was simply incredible. From an event perspective, I can't be more happier either with the great matches and crowds we have had all week."

RESULTS: Double AR Rotterdam Open, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Final:
[2] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [4] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 6-11, 11-8, 11-13, 15-13, 13-11 (132m)