All-English Final Confirmed in Budapest As Bryant & James Claim Contrasting SF Wins

The finalists of the PSA Budapest Open 2024 were confirmed last night as unseeded English duo Jonah Bryant and Declan James came through contrasting semi-finals at City Squash.

A former World No.15 versus a former World No.7 was first onto court in the Hungarian capital as James took on Mohamed Abouelghar in the opening semi-final. James had battled through two five set matches in the previous rounds to reach the semis and faced a fresh Abouelghar.

After the opening game went the way of James, the Egyptian powered through to a 2-1 lead, but given the way that James had battled in his previous two rounds, a comeback couldn’t be discounted. James went back to basics in the fourth game, keeping the ball straight and tight and forcing errors. This carried on into the fifth game with James having a clear vision of what he needed to do to win rallies. James reached 10-7 match ball and converted at the first time of asking to score a third straight 3-2 win.

James’ opponent in the final will be up and coming compatriot Jonah Bryant, who impressively needed just three games to beat No.7 seed Patrick Rooney to book his place in the final. Bryant had beaten top seed Leandro Romiglio in round two and continued his fine form to beat the returning Rooney in just over half an hour.

The final is set to commence at 19:00 (GMT+2) and will be available to watch live here. Live scores will also be available to follow here.

Results: Semi-Finals
Jonah Bryant (ENG) bt [7] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (35m)
Declan James (ENG) bt [6] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-2: 11-9, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 (69m)

Draw: Final
Jonah Bryant (ENG) v Declan James (ENG)