St Louis Open: Scotland’s Stewart Wins All-British Final

The final of the St Louis Open presented by Mosby Building Arts was an all-British affair, and it was Scotsman Rory Stewart that came out on top, beating England’s Curtis Malik to win the Challenger 10 level crown.

Stewart came into the tournament, which was held at the Missouri Athletic Club in St Louis, as the top seed and received a bye through the opening day’s action. He then started his campaign with a confident straight-games victory over Egypt’s Karim Elbarbary to get his week underway.

That was followed by another straight-games win, this time over Brazil’s Diego Gobbi, who had taken down the No.7 seed to make it through to the quarter finals of the competition. Stewart made it through to the final after defeating another unseeded player, in Egypt’s Aly Hussein, dropping just 11 points in their last four clash.

The final saw Stewart take on Englishman Curtis Malik, the No.4 seed, for the title, and he started strongly, winning the opening game 11-6. The second went to a tie-break, and crucially for the Scot, he was able to clinch it 12-10. That meant he still had the lead after the Englishman won the third, and he was able to go on and win the fourth game 11-9 to secure victory, his seventh on the PSA Tour.

Results: St Louis Open presented by Mosby Building Arts
Final
[1] Rory Stewart (SCO) bt [4] Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9 (65m)

Semi-Finals
[1] Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Aly Hussein (EGY) 3-0; 11-3, 11-4, 11-4 (40m)
[4] Curtis Malik (ENG) bt [2] Charlie Lee (ENG) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 12-10 (55m)

Quarter Finals
[1] Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Diego Gobbi (BRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-3
Aly Hussein (EGY) bt [3] Christopher Gordon (USA) 3-1: 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8
[4] Curtis Malik (ENG) bt Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-0
[2] Charlie Lee (ENG) bt [5] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 3-1: 12-10, 13-15, 11-9, 11-3

Second Round
[1] Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Karim Elbarbary (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-7
Diego Gobbi (BRA) bt [7] Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-2: 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4
Aly Hussein (EGY) bt [6] Seif Shenawy (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4
[3] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-6
[4] Curtis Malik (ENG) bt Edgar Ramirez Bautista (COL) 3-1: 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8
Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [8] Guilherme Melo (BRA) 3-1: 5-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8
[5] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Chris Fuller (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-6
[2] Charlie Lee (ENG) bt Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-4

First Round 
Karim Elbarbary (EGY) bt Mark Broekman (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8
Diego Gobbi (BRA) bt Jamie Ruggiero (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-3
Aly Hussein (EGY) bt Haadis Amin (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-4
Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) bt [WC] Nathan Mead (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5
Edgar Ramirez Bautista (COL) bt [WC] Alex Ingham (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-8
Chris Fuller (ENG) bt Cory McCartney (CAN) 3-0: 11-2, 13-11, 11-4
Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) bt [WC] Henry Byrne (USA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-8