Germany’s Kandra Overcomes Schnell to Take Cleveland Open Title

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German World No.45 Raphael Kandra captured the 12th PSA World Tour title of his career after defeating Canada’s Andrew Schnell in the final of the Cleveland Skating Club Open, PSA M10 tournament.

Paderborn-based Kandra was forced to battle through two five-game encounters en route to the final, with Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio and England’s Richie Fallows forcing the 25-year-old to go the distance.

World No.60 Schnell, meanwhile, had a more straightforward path through to the final and dropped just a single game, during his semi-final fixture with second seed Charles Sharpes, to reach a fourth PSA World Tour title decider.

Despite his exertions in his previous two matches, Kandra dictated the pace of the match from the outset, taking the ball early to create openings against his opponent.

A free-flowing match, which saw just five decisions from the referee made throughout, eventually went in Kandra’s favour, with the German claiming victory by an 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 margin to lift his second title of the year.

Result – Final: Cleveland Skating Club Open 2016
[1] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [4] Andrew Schnell (CAN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 (50m)