Samper Seizes Squash Design Tour Success in Madison

Colombian Bernardo Samper celebrated success in the first event of the Squash Design Tour when he upset top-seeded American Gilly Lane in the final of the Madison Open, a $6,625 PSA Tour Super Satellite event at Madison Squash Workshop in Madison, USA

The Madison Open was the first stop on the Squash Design Tour, the recently-launched tour made up of PSA sanctioned events across the USA which is designed to showcase the talent of up-and-coming players in the fast-growing global game of Squash.

Samper, the fifth seed, made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals when he upset second seed Christopher Gordon, also from the USA, in four games.

The 27-year-old from Bogota was in excellent form in the final. After losing the first game, local hero Lane picked it up in the second to nearly level the match. At 10-8 and rolling, the 24-year-old favourite from Philadelphia took his foot off and made two unforced errors to force a tie break.

They evened at 11-all, but Samper scampered back to finish the game 13-11. By then the US player's confidence had gone and Samper claimed his 11-7, 13-11, 11-3 victory after 36 minutes.

The win gives the US-based Colombian the second PSA Tour title of his career - and his second this month!

Final:
[5] Bernardo Samper (COL) bt [1] Gilly Lane (USA) 11-7, 13-11, 11-3 (36m)