Makin & Crouin To Contest Canadian Open Climax In Calgary

Top seeds Victor Crouin and Joel Makin claimed their anticipated places in the final of the Oxford Properties Canadian Open after beating Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez and Mexico's Leonel Cardenas, respectively, in challenging semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Silver event at Bow Valley Square in Calgary.

After coming through a huge 101-minute battle in the quarter finals against Auguste Dussourd, questions were asked about the physicality of Miguel Rodriguez in the opening game of his semi-final. Crouin looked to be conscious of this and made sure he was extra sharp from the start, volleying constantly and forcing the 37-year-old into tough positions.

Rodriguez reverted back to a simple, structured style after losing the first game. The Colombian hit straight, tight balls and managed to drag the Frenchman away from the middle of the court and created his own opportunities to showcase his undoubted skill. Boosted by the Calgary crowd, the Colombian started to enjoy himself on court and the full Rodriguez repertoire entertained the crowd even more.

After Rodriguez drew level at one-all, Crouin started to recognise that the Colombian was starting to slow down. The Frenchman re-asserted himself in the middle of the court and used the hold and boast to show Rodriguez the straight ball then whip the boast around to force the No.4 seed to scamper into the front to retrieve the ball.

As well as using the boast, Crouin was able to constantly mix up the paces of his play, using terrific height to keep Rodriguez pinned in the back corner and then pouncing onto the loose responses to fire short balls into the front corners. Crouin took game three 11-9 and earned two match balls at 10-8 in the fourth to reach the final. Despite a revival from Rodriguez to earn himself a game ball, Crouin hung tough and closed the match out with a superb drop to take his place in the final after 85 minutes of quality squash.

"What can I say? Miguel is unbelievable," said Crouin.

"When you're on court with Miguel, you just want to have fun. He's been doing that on court for 20 years. He's making the fans happy, you all have smiles on your faces when he plays. When you're on court with him and that's happening, you know you're in trouble. I tried to break the exhibition-style squash and I managed it very well in the first game, trying not to give him many opportunities to hit fancy shots and as much as I had fun I tried to keep it steady and solid.

"I'm excited for tomorrow, I am the top seed and my goal was to make the final and win the title. once more step to achieve that, Joel and I are very close in the rankings. Joel is desperate to get back to his level since the Commonwealth Games. Since then he's had a tough season but Joel is a fighter and hell come out tomorrow and show me what he is like on court. It'll be a tough one but I'm ready for that. I'll get some good sleep and rest and hopefully, we can give you a good match tomorrow."

Crouin's opponent in the final overcame Mexico's surprise semi-finalist Leonel Cardenas in straight games.

The second seed from Wales secured the opening game in 17 minutes, hitting precise, accurate lines to the back corners and making it very difficult for Cardenas to move in front and take any volleying opportunities.

Cardenas wasn't deterred after losing the opening game 11-5 as he re-entered the all-glass court in Calgary's Bow Valley Square. The Mexican No.1 came out firing and started to change the pace more often, lifting high and then hitting hard in different patterns to disrupt the metronomic rhythm that Makin had settled into. This tactic was working a treat as Cardenas held four game balls to level the contest. Makin battled back however and impressively won six of the next seven points to steal the game 13-11.

Makin's intensity was unrelenting in the third game as he seemed to step his level up even further to turn the screw against his younger opponent. Makin's straight and decisive play wasn't allowing Cardenas any angles to showcase his attacking abilities as the Welshman motored through the game to win 11-5 and seal a place in his fifth World Tour final.

"He's been dangerous this week, his signs have been there for the past few months that he's been playing at a high level," said Makin.

"He took out [Raphael] Kandra and [Nicolas] Mueller so he's obviously at that level so he's a tough match-up for anyone. I knew I had to drag him into the back corners and I felt him get a little bit heavy and I got the rewards for that as I have in the last few days.

"It's happening a bit too often, getting behind in the latter stages of games but sometimes that threat of losing the game makes me play better but I stepped it up and took a few more balls on and it was definitely better after that."