James and Garas Claim Odense Open Titles

Declan James and Nardine Garas claimed the 2024 Odense Open titles, recording 3-1 wins over Owain Taylor and Amina El Rihany respectively. 

James is a former World No.15 who is working his way back up the rankings following almost a year out through injury, and had reached two finals since his return without getting his hands on a trophy. 

That changed on the glass court at Squash Center Danmark, though, as the 30-year-old beat the Welshman 3-1 to clinch victory. 

Taylor was coming into the match off the back of a breathtaking 3-2 win over Moustafa Elsirty, but showed little sign of fatigue early on, racing into a 4-1 lead in game one. 

James quickly found his feet from there, winning 10 of the next 11 points to take game one, but had to stage an even more impressive fightback to win game two, overturning a 6-2 deficit to take it 11-9. 

The roles were then reversed in game two, with James eyeing a straight-games victory at 6-2 up himself, but Taylor was in no mood to give up without a fight.

The Welshman fought back and brought up game ball at 10-9, forcing a spectacular dive from James on a dropshot to the backhand side, before drilling the forehand that followed out of his opponent’s reach, letting out a huge cry of emotion as the players headed off court. 

From 3-0 down in the fourth, Taylor continued to show plenty of fighting spirit, battling back to 7-7 to keep himself in contention. 

Ultimately, though, that would be as good as it got for the 28-year-old, as James made his experience count, winning the next three points before clinching his first match ball when a stretching Taylor sent a high backhand boast out. 

“It’s a special moment,” James said on court after his win. 

“Relief at the end, more than anything, but I’m very happy to win. What a performance from Owain. He backed up so well after yesterday, after that 95-minute match.  

“It’s very tough to come back after that, both mentally and physically, but he backed up incredibly well and it was crucial that I got that 2-0 lead, and gave myself a bit of a buffer. 

“I saw the finish line a little bit early in the third, and my coach is going to give me a rocket for serving down. I don’t know if I’ve ever done that in my career but I’m probably going to be facing a hard pressure session when I get back home after that. 

“Mentally, it was trying to hold my nerve more than anything in the fourth game. I knew that he was starting to feel it but he was hitting a lot of winners, so more than anything, I was just proud that I overcame that barrier mentally.” 

James’ success followed victory in the women’s final for 20-year-old Egyptian Garas, who beat her close friend and compatriot El Rihany 3-1 to secure her third PSA Tour title, and her second of 2024. 

The Cairo native had saved three match balls in her semi-final win over Lauren Baltayan, and she was made to work hard for victory once again, albeit not with quite so much drama.

After taking the first 11-8, Garas lost the second by the same scoreline, despite finding herself 8-6 up. El Rihany then had three game balls in the third but was unable to convert any, eventually losing the tiebreak 14-12. 

The fourth remained tight through the early rallies, but Garas opened up a 6-3 lead, a lead that would prove too big for her opponent to overturn. 

At 10-7 up and with three match balls, Garas drilled a backhand winner to the back left-hand corner, clinching victory in just over 40 minutes. 

“I feel amazing,” Garas said. 

“Amina is a very good friend of mine so I knew it was going to be tough, and we always play in Egypt and it always goes into five so I’m glad this one only went to four, and I’m so happy. 

“I think I had to focus more mentally. I think I lost my focus in the second game and in the third game, I got too tired, so I knew that I had to push hard in this game.” 

Result: Men’s Final 
[7] Declan James (ENG) bt [4] Owain Taylor (WAL) 3-1: 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 (75m) 

Result: Women’s Final 
[1] Nardine Garas (EGY) bt [6] Amina El Rihany (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 14-12, 11-7 (41m)