Weekend Round-Up: Success For Lovejoy, Williams and Aijanan

Three titles were up for grabs on the Challenger Tour this week, with home favourites shocking the No.1 seeds in the finals of two of them.

At the Life Time Mississauga Open in Canada, No.3 seed Spencer Lovejoy secured his first ever title on the PSA World Tour, as he won a thriller five-gamer.

He needed a final-game tie-breaker to overcome the tournament’s No.1 seed, Rui Soares. The American had taken a 2-1 lead in the match, but Soares fought back to level it at 2-2.

The fifth and final game was tight throughout, with Lovejoy eventually taking the spoils thanks to a 14-12 scoreline in the fifth, and in doing so, claiming his first title on the PSA World Tour.

To reach the final, he had to overcome two USA team-mates. Lovejoy defeated Timothy Brownell in the quarter finals, before getting the better of Cole Becker in the last four.

Meanwhile in Invercargill, New Zealand, home favourite Evan Williams took the ILT & Community Trust NZ Southern Open title.

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The Kiwi sprang a shock in the final, as he beat No.1 seed Henry Leung, a man who sits 28 places above him in the official World Rankings.

Williams took the victory rather comfortably, as he imposed himself on the Hong Kong man. He won the final in 45 minutes, winning 11-8, 11-8, 13-11 to take home the biggest title of his career to date.

In Russia, Miko Aijanen claimed the title at the White Nights Open. The Finn, made it three successive finals in June, with this being his second title of the month.

Aijanan was the tournament’s No.1 seed, and he went on to win the event without dropping a single game, as he overcame Farkas Balazs in the final.

The Finn, who won the Austrian Open earlier this month, got the better of Erik Jakobsson, Ido Burstein and Nir Cohen on his way to a fifth career title.

Final: Life Time Mississauga Open
[3] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) bt [1] Rui Soares (POR) 3-2: 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 14-12

Final: ILT & Community Trust NZ Southern Open
[4] Evan Williams (NZL) bt [1] Henry Leung (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 13-11 (45m)

Final: White Nights Open
[1] Miko Aijanan (FIN) bt [2] Farkas Balazs (HUN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-2