Challenger Tour Roundup: James Captures Title in Galway

England’s Declan James rounded off a terrific week in Galway yesterday as he claimed the Garavan’s Bar West of Ireland Open title, beating Czech’s Viktor Byrtus in the final.

James earned a spot in the final by beating compatriot Finnlay Withington and faced an in-from Viktor Byrtus, who was looking to claim a first title since this time last year.

A rock solid James came out not giving a sniff to Byrtus, who had to produce something pretty special to earn a single point. The story of the match stayed pretty consistent, any pressure Viktor could apply was met with soft, high defence from James. Some of the attacks we had become used to seeing from the World No.60 kept on rolling, opening space and purposefully clinical finishes. 

Byrtus did put on a good show, got the crowd going a few times and put in a great shift! James was just too polished overall.

Result: Men’s Final
Declan James (ENG) bt [3] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) 11-3, 11-6, 11-6 (41m)

The finalists were confirmed in Breda at the BRESS Breda Open 2024 yesterday as four entertaining semi-finals concluded.

In the men’s event, top seed Yassin Elshafei wasted no time in booking his final place after beating Rotterdam based Joeri Hapers in 26-minutes. The Egyptian took a close opener 11-9 before hitting top stride in the next two games winning 11-4, 11-6.

He’ll now face compatriot Mohamed Nasser, who scored an upset over No.2 seed Rowan Damming in straight games. The 50-minute contest was intense throughout with both players trying to control the middle and find ways to attack. Nasser did this the better of the two however and after establishing a 2-0 lead, closed out a tight third game 11-9 to book a spot in the final.

The amazing run of women’s wildcard Laila Sedky was halted by No.3 seed Tessa ter Sluis in the top half semi-final. ter Sluis was forced to produce her best squash in the opening two games and took them both in close fashion 12-10, 11-9 before rounding off the quality performance in the third game, winning 11-5. She will play Scotland’s No.2 seed Alison Thomson in the final after the Scot came through a 38-minute affair with France’s Lea Barbeau.

Results: Men’s semi-finals
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) bt [4] Joeri Hapers (BEL) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (26m)
[3] Mohamed Nasser (EGY) bt [2] Rowan Damming (NED) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (50m)

Results: Women’s semi-finals
[3] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bt [WC] Laila Sedky (USA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-5 (27m)
[2] Alison Thomson (SCO) bt [4] Léa Barbeau (FRA) 3-1: 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4 (38m)

Draw: Men’s Final
[1] Yassin Elshafei (EGY) v [3] Mohamed Nasser (EGY)

Draw: Women’s Final
[3] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) v [2] Alison Thomson (SCO)