Knight Back For Revenge In Ottawa
by Howard Harding

10 November 2013 - Top seed Martin Knight has reached the final of the GoodLife Open for the second year in a row - and will hoping to make up for the disappointment of a runner-up finish last year when he takes on No 2 seed Danish Atlas Khan in the climax of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event in its ninth year at GoodLife Fitness in the Canadian capital Ottawa.

The 29-year-old world No 50 from New Zealand took just 38 minutes to end Canadian interest in the event by beating third seed Dane Sharp 11-8, 11-4, 11-2.

"The players traded points in the first game which was close with long rallies," said tournament promoter Heather Wallace. "Dane lost patience midway through the second game with three errors in quick succession, which gave Martin a good lead.

"He capitalised on this and took the second game. Dane started to tire in the third, with Martin running out the third game easily."

Teenager Khan, the world No 73 from Peshawar, denied Eric Galvez a third appearance in the final since 2006 when he beat the fourth-seeded Mexican 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 in 54 minutes.

"The first game was very chippy," Wallace reported. "But from the second game onwards Danish picked up the pace, taking the ball much earlier - forcing Galvez to scramble for the remainder of the match."

Knight and Khan will be celebrating their first Tour meeting. The Kiwi is marking his fourth Tour final in the past three months - and the 12th of his career - while 19-year-old Khan is celebrating his third final appearance since September and the ninth of his career.

RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 GoodLife Open, Ottawa, Canada

Semi-finals:
[1] Martin Knight (NZL) bt [3] Dane Sharp (CAN) 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (38m)
[2] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [4] Eric Galvez (MEX) 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (54m)






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