Wakefield PSA: Baillargeon Claims First Win Of 2022

In his last outing of the calendar year, Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon has secured his first title of 2022, winning the Wakefield PSA.

The World No.65 came into the Challenger 10 level competition as the No.3 seed, and started off his week with a confident performance to overcome Pakistan’s Saeed Abdul, winning in straight games.

He then got the better of a second Pakistani in as many days in the quarter finals. No.5 seed Muhammad Ashab Irfan was the man to be beat, with Baillargeon winning in four games. The Canadian then won in straight games to overcome the challenge of Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva to make it through to the final.

The final saw Baillargeon take on the Czech Republic’s Daniel Mekbib. The No.4 seed had gotten the better of No.2 seed Muhammad Asim Khan to make it through to the final, coming back from behind to down the higher-ranked Pakistani in four games.

It was Mekbib that held a two-game lead in the final, and he had his chances to secure a straight games victory. However, the Canadian was able to survive to win the third 14-12, and it was always going to be his win from there. He dropped just three more points after that, winning the last two games comfortably to win the title in The Plains.

Results: Wakefield PSA
Final
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 3-2: 8-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-1, 11-2 (50m)

Semi-Finals
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 (24m)
[4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [2] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (39m)

Quarter Finals
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 11-6, 6-11, 4-11, 13-11 (50m)
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt [5] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) 3-1: 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-4 (51m)
[4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [7] Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) 3-1: 11-9, 6-11, 11-3, 11-6 (45m)
[2] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt [8] Mark Broekman (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 (47m)

First Round
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [1] Nathan Lake (ENG): Walkover
[6] Abdelrahman Nassar (EGY) bt Jamie Ruggiero (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
[5] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) bt Cory McCartney (CAN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 (24m)
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Saeed Abdul (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (32m)
[4] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt Muhammad Ibrahim Noorani (PAK) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (17m)
[7] Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) bt Mohamed Nabil (EGY) 3-2: 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-2, 13-11 (74m)
[8] Mark Broekman (ENG) bt Mehran Javed (PAK): Walkover
[2] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt Shehab Essam (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 13-11 (40m)