Shahier Razik Reigns In National Capital Open by Nathan Clarke October 9, 2014
- Canadian Shahier Razik, the number three seed, claimed the Squash
Revolution National Capital Open title for the third time in his career
after defeating Englishman Lewis Walters, the number four seed, 3-1 in
a tense final at the Chevy Chase Athletics Club.
The 36-year-old, who
claimed the 2009 and 2010 titles, dominated the first game of the
encounter winning 11-2 and followed it up to take the second 11-5 and
establish a dominant looking lead.
However 26-year-old
Walters hit back with a tenacious performance in the third game,
winning it 11-4 and keeping his hopes of victory alive but there was no
beating Razik, as the elder statesman redoubled his efforts to stop
Walters’ resurgence and edge a close 11-9 win in the final game to take
the title.
It was a final full of
excitement and entertainment and was a fitting end to a tournament that
had more than its fair share of shocks and upsets from day one – with
some of the top seeds falling at the first hurdles.
Tournament favourite
and number one seed Dane Sharp, the World No.88, fell to unseeded
Ashley Davies in a shock 3-0 defeat on the opening day with Davies’
performance belying his world ranking of 168 while Arthur Gaskin, the
No. 2 seed, also bowed out on day one to unseeded opponent Ahmad
Alzabidi – the World No.229.
Alzabidi followed up
his impressive first round performance with victory over fellow
qualifier Baba Tunde Ajagbe, who earned his passage to the last eight
courtesy of a walkover victory against Karamatullah Khan, in the
quarter-finals before falling to Razik at the semi-final stage.
Squash Revolution National Capital Open 2014:
First Round Results: Ashley Davies (ENG) bt [1] Dane Sharp (CAN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 [7] David Letourneau (CAN) bt [Q] Mubarak Mohsin (PAK) 3-1: 11-4, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6 Anthony Graham (ENG) bt [5] Michael McCue (CAN) 3-0: 12-10, 11-3, 11-8 [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Nosherwan Khan (PAK) 3-1: 11-9, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5 [3] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [WC] Omar Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 [Q] Chris Hanson (USA) bt [6] Adrian Leanza (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-1 [Q] Baba Tunde Ajagbe (NGR) bt [8] Karamatullah Khan (PAK) (Walkover) [Q] Ahmad Alzabidi (JOR) bt [2] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 3-1 (retired) Quarter-final Results: [7] David Letourneau (CAN) bt Ashley Davies (ENG) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9 [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Anthony Graham (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 [3] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [Q] Chris Hanson (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 [Q] Ahmad Alzabidi (JOR) bt [Q] Baba Tunde Ajagbe (NGR) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 Semi-final Results: [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [7] David Letourneau (CAN) 3-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 [3] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [Q] Ahmad Alzabidi (JOR) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-2 Final: [3] Shahier Razik (CAN) bt [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) 3-1: 11-2, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9
