Kinetic Men’s Challenger: Azana Claims Maiden Tour Title

Argentina’s Jeremias Azana secured his first Tour title with a come-from-behind victory against England’s Tom Walsh at the Kinetic 5k Challenger.

The Argentinian came into the tournament as the No.6 seed, and started his week with a straight games victory over New Zealand’s William Donnelly, winning in just 26 minutes to kick off his campaign in Florida.

Azana then overcame a struggling David Baillargeon, the top seed, in the quarter finals. The Canadian was playing through injury, and could only muster up six points across two games before retiring.

The World No.138 then got the better of No.3 seed Alejandro Enriquez in the semi-finals of the Challenger 5 level tournament. He took the first on a tie-break 12-10, before losing out in the second. From there, though, the Argentine dropped just six more points en route to the victory.

The final pitted Azana up against England’s Tom Walsh, and it was the tournament’s No.2 seed that got off to a flying start. He won the first game 11-4, before also scraping the second 11-9 to hold a two-game advantage. The Argentinian fought back though, winning the third 11-7, and with it taking the momentum back. He kept that going, to win both the fourth and fifth games, to claim the title, his first on Tour.

Results: Kinetic 5k Challenger (Men’s)
Final
[6] Jeremias Azana (ARG) bt [2] Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-2: 4-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (73m)

Semi-Finals
[6] Jeremias Azana (ARG) bt [3] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA) 3-1: 12-10, 7-11, 11-4, 11-2 (51m)
[2] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Anthony Lepper (NZL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (36m)

Quarter Finals
[6] Jeremias Azana (ARG) bt [1] David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-0, 0-0 rtd (15m)
[3] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA) bt Asyraf Azan (MAS) 3-2: 8-11, 17-15, 11-3, 6-11, 11-6 (75m)
Anthony Lepper (NZL) bt [4] Ricardo Toscano (GUA) 3-1: 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 (49m)
[2] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt [5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (41m)

First Round
[1] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Ewan Harris (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-3 (27m)
[6] Jeremias Azana (ARG) bt William Donnelly (NZL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (26m)
Asyraf Azan (MAS) bt [8] Jamie Ruggiero (USA) 3-1: 11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 11-7 (43m)
[3] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA) bt Elijah Thomas (NZL) 3-1: 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (49m)
[4] Ricardo Toscano (GUA) bt Alex Arader (USA) 3-1: 12-14, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (45m)
Anthony Lepper (NZL) bt [7] Saeed Abdul (PAK) 3-2: 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 5-11, 11-9 (63m)
[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt Muhammad Ibrahim Noorani (PAK) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-4 (22m)
[2] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Veer Chotrani (IND) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6 (61m)