Flawless Willstrop up to third after ending his two-year drought

James Willstrop ended the five-year Egyptian stranglehold on the Hong Kong Open title when he beat Karim Darwish in straight games in the final of the seventh PSA World Series squash event of the year to become the first English winner of the prestigious trophy since Peter Nicol in 2002.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Nov 2011, 09:52 BST

The 28-year-old third seed from Leeds was in awesome form allweek – reaching the final without dropping a game, then despatching second seed Darwish 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 in 53 minutes on an all-glass court at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

It was his first PSA Tour title since January 2010 and ends a run of five successive runner-up finishes over that period.

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“Every player who wins a World Series event knows how difficult it is,” said the jubilant champion.

“It takes a lot of time to put it together in a week like this. If I was going to win one World Series event, the World Open would be nice – but this comes a close second.

“This is as special as it gets.”

Willstrop acknowledged that he and Darwish had played each other “thousands of times” since their earliest meeting as juniors in 1991.

Their PSA Tour head-to-head record on the eve of the final showed the Englishman 11-5 ahead – with a string of seven successive wins over the past five years.

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But it was Darwish who triumphed in their most recent clash – in August’s World Team Championship final decider in Germany, where Egypt pipped England to the title.

“We know each other’s games so well now – but people change their games over the years and you can’t expect the same player every time,” said Willstrop.

The triumph marks the 13th – but biggest – Tour title of Willstrop’s career, and his fifth World Series crown.

Willstrop’s success also takes him up to third place in the latest 2011 Dunlop PSA World Series Standings.

Sheffield’s Nick Matthew, a quarter-final casualty in Hong Kong, heads the list, with Egypt’s Ramy Ashour, unable to compete due to injury, in second place.