Alexander and Tsz-Wing Lift Tasmanian Open Titles
by Sean Reuthe

photo PSA

July 11, 2016 - Australian top seed Zac Alexander lifted his seventh successive PSA World Tour title after a dominant 3-0 win over South Korea’s Ko Youngjo in the final of the Tasmanian Open, PSA M5 tournament saw the World No.94 extend his unbeaten run to 30 matches.

Alexander, who has not lost on the PSA World Tour since August 2015, stormed into the final without losing a game as he put Vivian Rhamanan, Darcy Evans and Thomas Calvert to the sword in a series of dominant displays.

Youngjo was making his first PSA World Tour appearance since he lost out in the final of the City of Kalgoorlie & Boulder Golden Open to veteran Mike Corren last month and achieved his place in a third Tour final courtesy of victories over Solayman Nowrozi, Elliot Selby and Sandeep Ramachandran.

The early stages of the final were closely-contested and played at a fast pace as both players varied their shots in a bid to get on top.

Alexander’s pressure finally told as he narrowly took the first game and he dominated from that point onwards to romp to his 21st PSA World Tour title by an 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 scoreline.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong duo Tong Tsz-Wing and Vanessa Chu contested the Women’s final, with the former coming through in four to capture the title.

Each player took a game apiece before Tsz-Wing prevailed in a dramatic third game tie-break, winning it 15-13 to take the lead for the first time in the Devonport Sport & Recreation Centre.

With the match drawing to a close, Tsz-Wing again triumphed on the tie-break in the fourth to seal a 2-11, 11-5, 15-13, 13-11 victory to win her second successive PSA World Tour title.

Result – Final: Men’s Tasmanian Open 2016
[1] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [3] Ko Youngjo (KOR) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 (30m)

Result – Final: Women’s Tasmanian Open 2016
[2] Tong Tsz-Wing (HKG) bt [1] Vanessa Chu (HKG) 3-1: 2-11, 11-5, 15-13, 13-11 (55m)