Central Open Whanganui: Chileshe Takes Third Successive Title

The good run of form continued for New Zealand’s Lwamba Chileshe, as he won his third straight tournament, following on from wins in Panmure and Auckland, to take home the Central Open PSA – Whanganui title at the weekend.

The 23-year-old has started this stretch of tournaments in his homeland and neighbouring Australia in fine fettle, having won the Barfoot & Thompson Panmure Open and the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Open in May.

He came into the Central Open PSA – Whanganui as the top seed, and won the event without dropping a single game, starting off with a commanding victory over compatriot Elijah Thomas in the opening round of the competition.

Chileshe, the World No.90, then featured twice on Friday, the second day of competition at the Whanganui Squash Club. He got the better of No.7 seed Mason Smales in straight games in the quarters before then defeated No.6 seed Zac Millar, also in three, in the semi-finals.

For the first time in this stretch, he did not face younger brother Temwa in the final, but instead faced another Kiwi in Evan Williams, the tournament’s No.3 seed, who had beaten the younger Chileshe sibling in the last four. Lwamba exacted revenge for Temwa, winning in straight games, all by a score line of 11-8, to claim his third title of the campaign.

Results: Central Open PSA – Whanganui
Final
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt [3] Evan Williams (NZL) 3-0; 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (64m)

Semi-Finals
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt [6] Zac Millar (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (28m)
[3] Evan Williams (NZL) bt [2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-2: 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (65m)

Quarter Finals
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt [7] Mason Smales (NZL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (19m)
[6] Zac Millar (NZL) bt [4] William Donnelly (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 13-11 (25m)
[3] Evan Williams (NZL) bt Chris van der Salm (NZL) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 11-1, 9-11, 11-9 (55m)
[2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt [5] Anthony Lepper (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 13-11, 11-7 (40m)

Round One
[1] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Elijah Thomas (NZL) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-7 (35m)
[7] Mason Smales (NZL) bt Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) 3-1: 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 (43m)
[6] Zac Millar (NZL) bt Oliver Dunbar (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (25m)
[4] William Donnelly (NZL) bt Michael Shelton Agar (NZL) 3-1: 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5 (33m)
[3] Evan Williams (NZL) bt Joe Smythe (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (29m)
Chris van der Salm (NZL) bt [8] Glenn Templeton (NZL) 3-0: 11-4, 13-11, 11-5 (29m)
[5] Anthony Lepper (NZL) bt Tino Antonio Mackay Palacios (SCO) 3-1: 11-7, 11-6, 2-11, 11-7 (31m)
[2] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt [WC] Allan Bailey (NZL) 3-0: 11-8, 13-11, 11-3 (27m)