Perry and Alexander Claim NT Open Titles

#PSAWorldTour

Former World No.3 Madeline Perry made a winning return to the PSA World Tour after retiring from professional squash in April of last year by winning the Squash NT Open, PSA W5 tournament – while home hero Zac Alexander claimed the Men’s title in Darwin.

Perry, whose final match as a member of the Tour yielded the Irish Open crown just over a year ago, entered the NT Open as a local and put in a number of sensational performances to reach the final, with second seed Sarah Cardwell, Tamika Saxby and Lakeesha Rarere all being put to the sword by the 39-year-old.

The 15-time Irish Nationals winner came up against Australia’s Lisa Camilleri in the final after the World No.80 had overturned a 2-1 deficit against Samantha Foyle in the previous round.

Perry was in superb form throughout the encounter and powered to an 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 victory to bring the curtain down on a sparkling return to action.

Despite her success, Perry, who took up the post of Head Professional at the East Coast Squash Academy in February, admits that she has no plans of returning to the PSA World Tour full time.

“It was very strange to be back playing, but it was nice to play with no pressure and feel relaxed and just enjoying playing matches,” said Perry.

“My plans are just to continue with coaching. I may play the odd event in the future as I still enjoy playing, but I have no plans to train full time again or play a lot competitively.”

Meanwhile, Alexander came through a dramatic fixture with England’s Adam Murrills to claim his fourth successive PSA World Tour title.

The former World No.36 was appearing at his first tournament of the year but showed no signs of rustiness as he stormed into a 2-0 lead.

Murrills rallied and eventually levelled, but Alexander took the deciding fifth game to close out the win and capture the 18th PSA World Tour of his career.

Result – Final: Men’s Squash NT Open 2016
[1] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [2] Adam Murrills (ENG) 3-2: 11-2, 11-5, 8-11, 5-11, 11-5

Result – Final: Women’s Squash NT Open 2016
[L] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [6] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 11-2