England’s Joel Hinds became the first person to win a PSA World Tour title in the Poland capital Warsaw when he beat New Zealander Kashif Shuja in the final of the Grupa o2 Cup, a PSA Challenger 5 event at the city’s Kahuna Squash & Badminton club.
The 24-year-old top seed from Birmingham survived two four-game matches en-route to the final – his second Tour final of the year but the seventh of his career.
The experienced Kiwi Shuja, the second seed from Auckland, also overcame his semi-final opponent in four games – a win which resulted in the 32-year-old making the 19th Tour final of his career.
And Shuja, a former world No36, took the opening game as an upset looked on the cards.
But Hinds, a former World University champion ranked six places higher than his older opponent, regained the upper hand to close out the match 6-11, 11-5, 11-1, 11-8 in 58 minutes.
“I am very pleased to win this title and have enjoyed my time here very much,” said Hinds after securing the second PSA Tour title of his career – but his first for more than two years. “It was another tough game.
“I’d like to say a couple of thank yous: To Rob Owen and other coaches who have helped me and to my sponsors Black Knight & Ashaway.
“And I’d like to dedicate this win to my number one armchair sports fan, Chris Tasker-Grindley.”
2011 Grupa o2 Cup champion Joel HInds (left) pictured with runner-up Kashif Shuja
Final:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) bt [2] Kashif Shuja (NZL) 6-11, 11-5, 11-1, 11-8 (58m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) bt [3] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) 8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4 (58m)
[2] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt [4] Chris Truswell (ENG) 11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 (40m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) bt Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 (49m)
[3] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt Amr Ramsy Swelim (ITA) 11-9, 11-9, 3-0 ret. (39m)
[4] Chris Truswell (ENG) bt Matias Tuomi (FIN) 4-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (41m)
[2] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt Steven London (ENG) 11-1, 11-7, 11-4 (25m)
1st round:
[1] Joel Hinds (ENG) bt [Q] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 (26m)
Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) bt Reiko Peter (SUI) 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (83m)
Amr Ramsy Swelim (ITA) bt Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 11-7 (75m)
[3] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) bt Bart Ravelli (NED) 11-3, 11-8, 12-14, 11-3 (67m)
[4] Chris Truswell (ENG) bt Wojciech Nowisz (POL) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (31m)
Matias Tuomi (FIN) bt [Q] Karamatullah Khan (PAK) 8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 11-3 (56m)
Steven London (ENG) bt [Q] Jonas Daehler (SUI) 7-11, 11-6, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10 (95m)
[2] Kashif Shuja (NZL) bt [Q] Daniel West (ENG) 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (59m)
Qualifying finals:
Karamatullah Khan (PAK) bt Roman Svec (CZE) 10-12, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 (80m)
Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) bt Kostiantyn Rybalchenko (UKR) 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (27m)
Jonas Daehler (SUI) bt Jonathan Geekie (SCO) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (27m)
Daniel West (ENG) bt Ruslan Sorochinskiy (UKR) 11-9, 13-11, 11-7 (41m)
1st qualifying round:
Roman Svec (CZE) bye
Karamatullah Khan (PAK) bt Maciek Maciantowicz (POL) 11-3, 12-10, 11-6 (29m)
Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) bt Phillip John Bull (ENG) 11-1, 11-7, 11-4 (21m)
Kostiantyn Rybalchenko (UKR) bt Zbynek Standera (CZE) 12-10, 11-7, 11-5 (42m)
Jonas Daehler (SUI) bt Kamil Dominiak (POL) 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 (29m)
Jonathan Geekie (SCO) bt Lukasz Stachowski (POL) 11-4, 11-13, 11-3, 11-5 (40m)
Daniel West (ENG) bt Marcin Karwowski (POL) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 (43m)
Ruslan Sorochinskiy (UKR) bye
