Lavigne Wins Vancouver Title

Renan Lavigne, the No1 seed from France, edged out England's second seed Joey Barrington in a 110-minute marathon five-game final to win the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open title at Evergreen Squash Club in Vancouver, Canada.

Lavigne, 31, from Marseille, took the first game 11-5 in a relatively quick 12 minutes that gave no indication of how the rest of the match was to be played - as none of the subsequent games took less than 20 minutes.

The Frenchman took the second game in 26 minutes as both players reached deep to try to discover weaknesses in the other. The game see-sawed back and forth so much that neither player was ahead by more than one point until Lavigne won the tiebreaker.

Barrington attempted to shift the momentum in the third game but could not gain more than a single point lead until taking the final two points to win. The 25-year-old from Somerset grabbed the momentum in the fourth to draw level.

Barrington roared away to a convincing 7-3 lead in the decider, only to see the gritty and focused Lavigne reduce the deficit to 7-9, then win the next four points for a stunning 11-5 11-10 9-11 6-11 11-9 victory.

The triumph marks the seventh PSA Tour title of Lavigne's career, but his first for more than two years.

Final:
[1] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt [2] Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-5, 11-10 (2-0), 9-11, 6-11, 11-9 (110m)