Ford Fells Fuller For Marlborough College Crown

Rising English squash star Tom Ford celebrated his first PSA World Tour title on home soil when he beat fellow countryman Mark Fuller in the final of the Marlborough College Open, the inaugural PSA Challenger 5 event at Marlborough College in Marlborough in the English county of Wiltshire.

Ford, the 21-year-old top seed from Cheltenham, secured his anticipated place in the final without dropping a game.

His opponent was the event's eighth seed, who made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals by taking out second seed Adam Murrills - a straight games win he followed by getting the better of fourth seed James Earles, another Englishman.

Ford led throughout the first game of the final, but Nottingham-based underdog Fuller came back strongly in the second to reach game-ball at 10-8. Fuller fought hard to move to ten-all before the rally of the tournament gave the favourite his own game-ball which he duly took to move 2/0 ahead.

Fuller refused to die down and won the third before Ford regrouped in the fourth - opening up a commanding lead before taking the title with his first championship ball.

The 11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6 victory in 62 minutes marks the third PSA Tour title Ford's career.

"Really pleased to have started the year with a win," the Worcester-born World No.81 told his Twitter followers later. "Even better to do it with my family and friends there to support me."