Queenslander Zac Wins Queensland Open
25 Jul 2011
Australia's Zac Alexander stamped his authority on the rest of the field when he took out the Hitachi Queensland Open squash title without dropping a game throughout the PSA World Tour Challenger 5 tournament.
The top-seeded Queenslander downed German giant-killer Raphael Kandra 11-7, 11-7, 11-1 at the Sandgate Squash Centre in Deagon to claim his first Queensland senior title after winning multiple junior honours.
The New York-based Alexander was using the Queensland Open to fine-tune his game head of qualifying for the Australian Open next month.
"I didn't concede a game all week, which was sort of my goal at the start of the tournament," said the Brisbane-born 22-year-old.
"It was tough today - I'd never seen or heard of him before but I knew he was a giant killer. He upset the number two seed, the number six seed and the fourth seed this week, so I didn't know what to expect.
"It was tough for the first two games but I think by the end he was feeling the effects of his long week."
Alexander was thrilled to add the senior title to his trophy cabinet.
"I won a few junior titles but to win the senior one is really good and hopefully it will give me a bit of confidence going into qualifying for Canberra," he said.
1st round:
[1] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt Kevin Moran (SCO) 11-0, 11-2, 11-4 (22m)
[Q] Nathan Turnbull (AUS) bt [Q] Bryce Redman (NZL) 11-2, 11-6, 11-6 (23m)
[Q] Alex Phillips (ENG) bt Sunil Seth (AUS) 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 (19m)
[7] Josh Cardwell (AUS) bt [Q] Chris Ferguson (SCO) 11-5, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6 (60m)
[5] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) bt [Q] Joshua Stack-Masula (AUS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-0 (20m)
Rory Pennell (ENG) bt [Q] Tsukue Shinnosuke (JPN) 11-9, 11-8, 13-11 (37m)
Ondrej Ertl (CZE) bt Courtney West (AUS) 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 (40m)
[3] Bradley Hindle (MLT) bt Lukas Burkhart (SUI) 11-5, 11-1, 11-1 (30m)
[4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Luc Rance (AUS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (20m)
Owais Khan (PAK) bt Ben Takamizawa Harris (JPN) 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 (38m)
Paul Coll (NZL) bt Jonas Daehler (SUI) 11-8, 11-3, 11-9 (29m)
[Q] Norman Junge (GER) bt [8] Jamie Mcervale (AUS) 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 (34m)
[6] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [Q] Evan Williams (NZL) 5-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8 (76m)
Joseph Watts (NZL) bt Luke Sims (AUS) 14-12, 11-8, 11-9 (35m)
Roman Svec (CZE) bt James Skiffington (NZL) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (26m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [2] Kashif Shuja (NZL) 12-14, 6-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7 (60m)
2nd round:
[1] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [Q] Nathan Turnbull (AUS) 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 (24m)
[Q] Alex Phillips (ENG) bt [7] Josh Cardwell (AUS) 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10 (75m)
Rory Pennell (ENG) bt [5] Nathan Stevenson (AUS) 11-4, 11-6, 10-12, 8-11, 14-12 (60m)
[3] Bradley Hindle (MLT) bt Ondrej Ertl (CZE) 11-1, 11-2, 11-5 (34m)
[4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Owais Khan (PAK) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (29m)
[Q] Norman Junge (GER) bt Paul Coll (NZL) 13-11, 11-9, 11-9 (45m)
[6] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Joseph Watts (NZL) 14-12, 11-1, 11-3 (25m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt Roman Svec (CZE) 11-7, 13-11, 11-6 (32m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [Q] Alex Phillips (ENG) 11-6, 11-1, 11-2
[3] Bradley Hindle (MLT) bt Rory Pennell (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3
[4] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [Q] Norman Junge (GER) 11-9, 11-3, 14-12
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [6] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 9-11, 12-10, 19-17, 11-6
Semi-finals:
[1] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [3] Bradley Hindle (MLT) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9
Final:
[1] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 11-7, 11-7, 11-1
