Lincou In Revenge Victory Over Gaultier In Pakistan Open Final

Thierry Lincou beat Gregory Gaultier in today's all-French final of the Warid Pakistan Open at the Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad to avenge the first ever PSA Tour defeat by his younger compatriot in the quarter-finals of the US Open earlier this month in Boston.

Lincou, the No2 seed, had reached the final after a 36-minute win over sixth seed Karim Darwish - while his opponent, seeded five, had been taken to five games by eighth seed Ramy Ashour in the other semi before beating the Egyptian teenager in a five-game 62-minute marathon.

"Greg was tired, which is not really surprising after his match yesterday," Lincou told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "He lacked sharpness, which makes it mentally hard to stay aggressive and constant.

"If you compare it to our encounter in Boston - where he made very few unforced errors and where he didn't give me any points - today he made some uncharacteristic errors, and I took the chances he was offering me," explained Lincou, after his successful defence of the title he won for the first time last year.

"Greg and I are going to play each other more and more often. We had another all French final, which is very satisfying for everybody - but from a personal point of view, I'm rather happy to keep my title, as there are not many who've done it here, in Pakistan.

"I am also very happy to win my fourth title of the year - it's really a very positive outcome," concluded Lincou, after the 18th PSA Tour title win of his career.

Final:
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [5] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5 (53m)