Simpson Prevails in Open de Paris Final

#PSAWorldTour

World No.22 Chris Simpson ended his season on a high after overcoming compatriot Declan James with a masterful performance in the final of the IG Open de Paris, PSA M25 tournament to claim his second PSA World Tour title of the season.

Simpson was in excellent form in the buildup to the final and, after narrowly avoiding a first round exit at the hands of Joe Lee, powered past both of last year’s finalists, Lucas Serme and Paul Coll, to seal his place in the showpiece final.

Meanwhile, James, the World No.39, was contesting his second successive PSA World Tour final after reaching the same stage at the GillenMarkets Irish Squash Open just a few weeks previously and achieved his final berth after an impressive 3-2 win over second seed Nicolas Mueller.

Simpson was highly accurate and consistent throughout the 50-minute final against an opponent making his first ever appearance in a PSA M25 final after a breakthrough season which has seen him win four PSA World Tour titles.

However, James could do little to prevent Simpson from overpowering him and the man from Guernsey duly took the win in straight games, with an 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 victory yielding the 10th PSA World Tour crown of Simpson’s career.

“Every match has been different this week,” said Simpson.

“After a few rallies, I saw that Declan was a bit tired and not moving as well as usual, but that’s when he can be the most dangerous. My focus was to stay disciplined and to extend the rallies, even when I had opportunities, and it paid off. Winning two 25k tournaments was actually one of my main goals this season.

“I am very happy to win here in this unique club and also because the depth of the draw was quite phenomenal. I can’t wait to come back and take a picture next to the wall with my name on it.”

James was magnanimous in defeat, saying: “I lost to a better player. Chris doesn’t give you anything and I couldn’t hurt him. But I am still very happy with my week, it’s been a mini-breakthrough for me.

“It gives me motivation to work even harder”.

Result – Final: IG Open de Paris 2016
[1] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [8] Declan James (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (50m)