Men’s Austrian Open: Peach Claims Title After Incredible Run

England’s James Peach concluded his unbelievable run at the men’s Austrian Open by defeating the tournament’s top seed to take the Challenger 5 level crown at Europark Salzburg on Saturday evening.

The Englishman came into the tournament as one of the eight unseeded players, but proceeded to take down the top three seeds, including top seed Yannick Wilhelmi in the final, to win the title, his second of the campaign.

Peach, who is the World No.167, began his week against Spain’s Ivan Perez, who was coming into the tournament off the back of winning the Carlisle Squash Club 50th Anniversary Open just a few days previously. Despite that, the Englishman was able to rally from being 2-1 down in their opening day contest in Salzburg, winning the last two games to win in five.

He then went on to get the better of No.7 seed Christopher Binnie in a four-game contest in the last eight of the competition, before then overcoming the challenge of No.2 seed, Germany’s Yannik Omlor. The Englishmanhad to regroup after he saw the German fight back in their semi-final contest, before winning the deciding game to win the match.

In the final, Peach came up against the tournament’s top seed, Switzerland’s Yannick Wilhelmi. For the second day in succession, the Englishman led after three games, but saw his opponent fight back to win the fourth, with the top seed winning it on a tie-break 12-10. However, Peach was able to steady himself once again, to go on and win the fifth and final game to take the title, the biggest of his career to date.

*Results: Austrian Open (Men’s)*
*Final*
James Peach (ENG) bt [1] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 3-2: 4-11, 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7 (63m)

*Semi-Finals*
[1] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt [5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 3-1: 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 13-11 (46m)
James Peach (ENG) bt [2] Yannik Omlor (GER) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3 (62m)

*Quarter Finals*
[1] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt [8] Robin Gadola (SUI) 3-2: 11-13, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 (59m)
[5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [4] Diego Gobbi (BRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 (30m)
James Peach (ENG) bt [7] Christopher Binnie (JAM) 3-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5 (36m)
[2] Yannik Omlor (GER) bt [6] Sergio Garcia Pollan (ESP) 3-2: 10-12, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5 (90m)

*Round One*
[1] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt Perry Malik (ENG) 3-2: 11-8, 8-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-4 (62m)
[8] Robin Gadola (SUI) bt Ondrej Vorlicek (CZE) 3-1: 11-1, 10-12, 11-2, 11-7 (42m)
[5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Valeriy Fedoruk (UKR) 3-2: 16-18, 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3 (59m)
[4] Diego Gobbi (BRA) bt Nilo Vidal (ESP) 3-0: 11-1, 11-9, 11-5 (27m)
James Peach (ENG) bt [3] Ivan Perez (ESP) 3-2: 11-8, 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5 (59m)
[7] Christopher Binnie (JAM) bt Jakob Dirnberger (AUT) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (23m)
[6] Sergio Garcia Pollan (ESP) bt [WC] Lukas Windischberger (AUT) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (28m)
[2] Yannik Omlor (GER) bt Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (37m)