Frenchman Thierry Lincou triumphed in a 73-minute final of the fifth edition of the Bluenose Classic, beating England’s Daryl Selby in four games in the climax of the $40,000 PSA Tour squash event at St Mary’s University Tower in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to win his first title in Canada.
Lincou, the former world champion from Marseille, was the third seed – but made his breakthrough in the semi-finals by beating Australian rival and fellow 33-year-old David Palmer, the defending champion and second seed.
Like the Frenchman, Daryl Selby also only dropped one game en-route to the final. The fourth seed toppled top seed and fellow countryman Peter Barker in the other semi-final.
Lincou easily won the opening game and led 8-5 in the second. But Selby fought back to draw level and, after Lincou won the third, sprung to a 6-2 lead in the fourth to suggest that a fifth game decider was on the cards.
But Lincou won six points in a row to claw back the deficit before clinching the title on his second match ball to win 11-2, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10.
The success chalks up Lincou’s first Tour win since last June – but the 22nd of his illustrious career.
Final:
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [4] Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-2, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10 (73m)
Semi-finals:
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [1] Peter Barker (ENG) 8-11, 15-13, 11-9, 11-5 (105m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [2] David Palmer (AUS) 11-8, 11-5, 2-11, 11-7 (60m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 (57m)
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 11-5, 11-9, 11-2 (55m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [5] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-6, 11-7 ret. (33m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [6] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (57m)
1st round:
[1] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4 (68m)
Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [8] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-1 (42m)
[4] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Martin Knight (NZL) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (46m)
Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) bt [7] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-7, 5-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7 (98m)
[5] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (52m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 13-11 (40m)
[6] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt David Phillips (CAN) 11-4, 14-12, 11-4 (36m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 (39m)
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