Palmer & Huisman Secure Swedish Open Titles

Top seed David Palmer beat surprise opponent Alex Gough in the final Case Swedish Open to win the 3-star PSA Tour event title in Linköping, Sweden.

By contrast, third seed Margriet Huisman upset top seed Line Hansen in the women's Zack Swedish Open final to secure her maiden WISPA World Tour title.

The 75-minute semi-final clash in which Gough upset Egypt's second seed Karim Darwish in five games clearly had its toll in the final for the 36-year-old 'veteran' Welshman.

Gough, the fourth seed, took Palmer to a tie-break in the opening game - but the world champion from New South Wales had the upper hand thereafter as he strode to an 11-10 (2-0), 11-4, 11-7 victory to notch up the 20th PSA Tour title of his career.

The Swedish Open success extends Palmer's lead over Thierry Lincou, the Frenchman who boasts 18 Tour crowns, as the current player on the PSA Tour with the most titles.

Margriet Huisman reached the women's final after overcoming England's No2 seed Georgina Stoker in the semi-finals. In the final, favourite Line Hansen, from Odense in Denmark, took the first game.

But 23-year-old Huisman, from Arnhem in the Netherlands, then took control of the match to run out a 5-9, 9-2, 9-7, 9-3 winner.

Tournament promoter Fredrik Johnson was delighted with his fourth staging of the event in Linköping since 2002: "All the players have been very helpful and I'm proud to have been host for the players this last week. Everyone has done a great job also off court.

"There have also been a number of promotional activities during the tournament for the different sponsors and the players have helped out really well. Of course it was fantastic this afternoon to listen to both Palmer and Gough in the speeches after the final when they both commented that the Swedish Open 2007 had been one of the best tournaments they have played for a long time.

"Line Hansen, runner-up in the ladies went even further when she said that the players had been treated as princesses," added Johnson, who confirmed that the 2008 Case Swedish Open will also take place in Linköping.

The semi-finals and finals were covered live on a Swedish TV channel, and Swedish national TV will broadcast a one-hour feature on the finals next week.

Men's final:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [4] Alex Gough (WAL) 11-10 (2-0), 11-4, 11-7

Women's final:
[3] Margriet Huisman (NED) bt [1] Line Hansen (DEN) 5-9, 9-2, 9-7, 9-3