Canberra Open: Waller Claims Crown Without Dropping Game

World No.32 Adrian Waller secured the Jansher Khan Canberra Open title on Saturday, coming through the Challenger 20 level competition without dropping a game.

The Englishman travelled to Woden Squash Centre in Australia’s capital city as the tournament’s top seed, and proceeded to show why he was the favourite for the title from the off.

After receiving a bye through the opening round’s action, Waller started with a confident performance to dispatch Germany’s Valentin Rapp in straight games, before going on to down Owain Taylor in the quarter finals, losing just 13 points in the contest.

The former English No.1 then overcame the USA’s Andrew Douglas, also in straight games, I the last four, to set up a meeting in the final with the tournament’s surprise package, Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue. 

It was close to start with in the final, with the opening game going to a tie-break. Waller took it 12-10, and from there, he had the momentum to battle through to win in three. After 47 minutes, Waller had the victory, winning 12-10, 11-8, 11-5, to secure hiss tenth title on Tour, and his first away from North America since 2017.

Results: Jansher Khan Canberra Open
Final
[1] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 (47m)

Semi-Finals
[1] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [4] Andrew Douglas (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (43m)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [2] David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 15-13, 11-1 (67m)

Quarter Finals
[1] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Owain Taylor (WAL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-1 (33m)
[4] Andrew Douglas (USA) bt [5] Martin Svec (CZE) 3-1: 11-4, 11-3, 9-11, 12-10 (48m)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [3] Charlie Lee (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (42m)
[2] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [6] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (34m)

Second Round
[1] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Valentin Rapp (GER) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 12-10 (38m)
Owain Taylor (WAL) bt [7] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (36m)
[5] Martin Svec (CZE) bt [WC] Uzair Shoukat (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-7 (33m)
[4] Andrew Douglas (USA) bt Joseph White (AUS) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 (52m)
[3] Charlie Lee (ENG) bt Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 (38m)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [8] Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 (48m)
[6] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (MAS) bt Rhys Dowling (AUS) 3-1: 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (49m)
[2] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Amaad Fareed (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (30m)

First Round
Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Nicholas Calvert (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 (34m)
Owain Taylor (WAL) bt Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-1: 11-13, 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 (64m)
[WC] Uzair Shoukat (PAK) bt Simon Herbert (ENG) 3-2: 11-9, 5-11, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10 (45m)
Joseph White (AUS) bt Wee Ming Hock (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-5 (32m)
Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-3 (14m)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) 3-0: 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 (35m)
Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt [WC] James Lloyd (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 (25m)
Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 16-14, 11-8 (59m)