Ricketts Rockets To Virginia Victory

Australia's Anthony Ricketts picked up his first PSA Tour title of the year when he beat Englishman Lee Beachill in the final of the Virginia Pro Championship in Richmond, in the US state of Virginia.

Neither player had dropped a game in reaching the final. And the event favourite from Sydney started off like a greyhound out of the traps - taking every opportunity to volley the ball and control the rallies. Ricketts had the upper hand throughout the first two games and soon built up a 2/0 lead.

The pace slowed in the third as the 27-year-old Aussie became unable to maintain the intensity of the first two games, allowing Beachill to relax into his own rhythm.

At 5-4 up, the second-seeded Yorkshireman ran off four straight points virtually unchallenged with some exceptional ball control. Ricketts appeared unable to re-assert himself and two rallies and a very accurate drop shot later, Beachill held game ball at 10-5.

Almost immediately, Ricketts seemed to switch back into 'machine mode' - and with a clinical display of pure concentration, Ricketts took seven unanswered points to claim the game in emphatic style - and the match 11-8, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) in 40 minutes.

The triumph - his ninth on the PSA Tour - marked a significant opening of Ricketts's 2007 campaign, after winning only one title, the Super Series Finals, in 2006 and now already boasting two final appearances in the New Year.

Final:
[1] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [2] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) (40m)