Ford Captures Marlborough Open

21-year-old Englishman Tom Ford captured his first PSA World Tour title of 2015, and his first ever title on home soil, with a superb 3-1 victory over Mark Fuller at the Marlborough College Open, PSA Challenger 5 event taking place in Wilstshire.

Eighth-seed Fuller was a surprise finalist, but came into the encounter full of confidence having taken out second-seed Adam Murrills in the quarter-finals and fourth-seed James Earles in the semi-final, but Ford proved himself a class above the field and storming into a 1-0 lead.

However Fuller dug in a proved his worth, coming close in the second game and forcing Ford to be at his best during a tie-break and then taking the third game 11-7, the first Ford had dropped all tournament but Ford was not to be stopped and the Worcester-born World No.82 blitzed through the last game 11-6 to defeat Fuller and capture the title.

Qualifier Phil Nightingale, ranked No.222 in the world provided a big upset in the first round with a hard-fought 3-0 win over World No.145 and number five seed Patrick Miescher. Nightingale stormed into a 2-0 lead before Miescher found his form and the third game went down to a tie break. Nightingale dug in deep and emerged with the victory to set up a quarter-final tie with James Earles which the Charing Cross Classic winner won 3-0 before getting eliminated by runner-up Fuller in the next round.

“I’m really pleased to have started the year with a win. It was even better to do it with my family and friends there to support me,” said Ford.

RESULTS: PSA Challenger 5 Marlborough College Open, Marlborough, England

1st round:
[1] Tom Ford (ENG) bt Steven London (ENG) 11-4, 11-8, 11-3 (31m)
Rui Soares (POR) bt [6] Arthur Moineau (FRA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (27m)
[Q] Ben Ford (ENG) bt [7] Reuben Phillips (ENG) 11-6, 13-11, 5-11, 11-8 (59m)
[3] Michael Harris (ENG) bt [Q] Julian Tomlinson (ENG) 11-9, 13-15, 11-2, 11-6 (47m)
[4] James Earles (ENG) bt [WC] Connor Sheen (ENG) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)
[Q] Phil Nightingale (ENG) bt [5] Patrick Miescher (SUI) 11-9, 11-8, 14-12 (46m)
[8] Mark Fuller (ENG) bt [Q] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8 (51m)
[2] Adam Murrills (ENG) bt Micah Franklin (BER) 12-10, 11-7, 11-1 (36m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Tom Ford (ENG) bt Rui Soares (POR) 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 (32m)
[3] Michael Harris (ENG) bt [Q] Ben Ford (ENG) 11-3, 3-0 ret.
[4] James Earles (ENG) bt [Q] Phil Nightingale (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 (35m)
[8] Mark Fuller (ENG) bt [2] Adam Murrills (ENG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (61m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [3] Michael Harris (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (36m)
[8] Mark Fuller (ENG) bt [4] James Earles (ENG) 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4 (65m)

Final:
[1] Tom Ford (ENG) bt [8] Mark Fuller (ENG) 11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6 (62m)

Report by Sean Reuthe