Razik Reigns In National Capital Open

Shahier Razik, the number three seed from Canada, claimed the Squash Revolution National Capital Open title for the third time in his career after defeating fourth-seeded Englishman Lewis Walters 3/1 in a tense final of the PSA Challenger 5 squash event at the Chevy Chase Athletics Club.

Razik, who claimed the 2009 and 2010 titles, dominated the first game of the encounter winning 11-2. The 36-year-old from Toronto followed it up to take the second 11-5 and establish a seemingly dominant lead.

However 26-year-old Walters hit back with a tenacious performance in the third game, winning it 11-4 and keeping his hopes of victory alive. But there was no beating Razik, as the elder statesman redoubled his efforts to stop Walters' resurgence and edge a close 11-9 win in the final game to take the title.

It was a final full of excitement and entertainment and was a fitting end to a tournament that had more than its fair share of shocks and upsets from day one - with some of the top seeds falling at the first hurdles.

Tournament favourite and number one seed Dane Sharp, the world No88 from Canada, fell to unseeded English teenager Ashley Davies in a shock 3/0 defeat on the opening day with Davies' performance belying his world ranking of 168. Ireland's Arthur Gaskin, the No2 seed, also bowed out on day one to unseeded opponent Ahmad Alzabidi, the world No 229 from Jordan.

Alzabidi followed up his impressive first round performance with victory over fellow qualifier Baba Tunde Ajagbe.