Sharpes Downs Makin in Marathon Battle to Claim Stortford Classic Title

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England’s Charles Sharpes came out on top of an almighty clash with Welshman Joel Makin in the final of the Flo.Money Stortford Classic, with a 111 minute marathon deciding the fate of the PSA M10 title at the Bishop’s Stortford Squash & Racketball Club.

Both players came through brutal five-game affairs in the previous round, with Sharpes seeing off compatriot Richie Fallows and Joel Makin following up his earlier victory over top seed Ben Coleman with a gladiatorial win over fellow Welshman Peter Creed.

The opening game set the stall out for the entire match with long, punishing rallies being interspersed with decisions in an absorbing and tightly-contested matchup.

Sharpes took a one-game lead, before Makin levelled things up on the tie-break in the second. The next two games followed along the same vein as both players were forced to dig in. Sharpes went ahead again in the third, only to see Makin equalise once more to send the fixture into a nail-biting decider.

The pair gave it their all in the fifth, and it was to be Sharpes who pulled away to achieve the victory with an 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5 scoreline, which sees him win his sixth PSA World Tour event.

“I’m so happy to win my sixth PSA title, this time at Bishop’s Stortford,” said Sharpes.

“I had to dig deep, but I came through in the end.”

Result – Final: Flo.Money Stortford Classic 2016
[2] Charles Sharpes (ENG) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 3-2: 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5 (111m)