Third-seeded English player lifts Indian Challenger squash title

It’s his first visit to India and what a way to cap off the trip with a triumph. England’s Adrian Grant also broke a jinx this year as all his previous three finals had ended in defeats. The No. 3 seed showed no mercy as he routed Egyptian Hisham Md Ashour 11-8 11-5 11-8 in just 40 minutes to bag the prestigious $30,000 PSA Indian
Challenger Squash crown at the Calcutta Racket Club.

Sadly Ashour was unable to reproduce the form of the semifinal when he toppled top seed Ong Beng Hee. He was a shadow of himself on Friday, and he seemed out of energy as he groped in vain to pick up shots from the front court.

Grant, the world No.13, is a compact player. He controlled play from the forecourt and often scored points with telling drops.  The crowd went home disappointed as the final was devoid of any drama. Ashour did try to make a match of it as he snatched an 8-5 lead in the first and a 6-3 advantage in the third, but on both occasions he squandered the opportunities.

For the London-born Grant it was sweet revenge. He had lost to Ashour in an PSA final in Vancouver last year. He is now 2-1 up on the head-to head count. Grant now takes a few weeks and heads home to England. He pocketed $4,900 for the triumph while Ashour took home $2,900. Ashour travels to Malaysia for an event and he hopes he will have better luck.

“I just tried to slow down the pace as he is a very attacking player. My front court game had to be good as Ashour can be very dangerous. Full credit to Ashour, it’s truly incredible how he beat Beng Hee in the semifinal and reached the final,’’ signed off the English champion.