Larkin Lifts Golden Open Title

#PSAWorldTour

Joshua Larkin, the World No.125 from Melbourne, has captured his second successive PSA World Tour title with victory at the City of Kalgoorlie & Boulder Golden Open, PSA Challenger 5 event on home-soil after a 3-0 win over Lewis Walters.

Larkin, who took the City of Perth WA Open title last month, overcame number one seed Dane Sharp in the semi-final. Sharp had to come through five games against Darcy Evans in the previous round and Larkin took full advantage of the World No.93’s tired legs to ease through with an 11-6, 11-2, 11-6 victory.

Jamaican World No.105 Walters sailed past David Ilich and Ko Youngjo in the opening two rounds before producing a thrilling comeback to come through a five-game-thriller against qualifier Jong Myoung Park in the semi-final.

Larkin seemed the fresher of the pair in the showpiece event and he leapt into action, recording an 11-8 win in the first game before following that up with an 11-9 victory in the second.

Walters, who has not won a PSA World Tour title since 2010, struggled to get into the game with Larkin’s consistency not giving the Jamaican any opportunities to attack. The 26-year-old kept up his assault to earn an 11-7 win in the final game to take the match and the title.

RESULTS: PSA Challenger 5, City of Kalgoorlie & Boulder Golden Open, Kalgoorlie, Australia

1st round:
[1] Dane Sharp (CAN) bt [Q] JaeJin Yoo (KOR) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (39m)
[5] Darcy Evans (AUS) bt Courtney West (AUS) 3-0: 12-10, 11-6, 11-4 (36m)
[6] Ben Takamizawa Harris (JPN) bt [WC] Tye Harland (AUS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 (19m)
[3] Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt Mark Broekman (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 12-10 (46m)
[4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) bt TJ French (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-7 (19m)
[Q] Jong Myoung Park (KOR) bt [7] Tim Cowell (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-1 (20m)
[Q] Ko Youngjo (KOR) bt [8] Joel Luca (AUS) 3-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 (27m)
[2] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [Q] David Ilich (AUS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 13-11 (30m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Dane Sharp (CAN) bt [5] Darcy Evans (AUS) 3-2: 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 12-14, 11-9 (80m)
[3] Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt [6] Ben Takamizawa Harris (JPN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (20m)
[Q] Jong Myoung Park (KOR) bt [4] Rhys Dowling (AUS) 3-2: 13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4 (57m)
[2] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [Q] Ko Youngjo (KOR) 3-0: 11-1, 11-9, 11-5 (32m)

Semi-finals:
[3] Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt [1] Dane Sharp (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-2, 11-6 (22m)
[2] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [Q] Jong Myoung Park (KOR) 3-2: 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 14-12 (75m)

Final:
[3] Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt [2] Lewis Walters (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (53m)