Dream Win For Gaultier In Paris

France's Gregory Gaultier provided the dream outcome for the organisers of the first major squash championship to be held in Paris since 1995 when he beat surprise Spanish opponent Borja Golan in the final of the Internationaux de France, the $62,000 5-star PSA Tour event at Stade Charlety.

Perhaps it was one match too far for underdog Golan, the sixth seed from Santiago who claimed two of the biggest scalps of his life when he beat third seed Thierry Lincou and second seed James Willstrop to reach the Paris climax.

But it was a proud Gaultier who lifted the Guy Laroche trophy after his 11-4, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 final victory in 64 minutes - his longest match of the tournament.

"I didn't expect to play Borja, I prepared myself for Thierry or James, so I had to stay vigilant at all times, and never to relax, as he was seizing all the opportunities," the 25-year-old top seed from Aix-en-Provence explained to www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards.

"I was dead from my match with Nick (Matthew) yesterday - the efforts I had to produce to beat him emptied me of most of my resources, and I just couldn't put any pace on the ball.

"I'm so happy that the Federation had put so many efforts into this event, and I hope that we'll play again here next year, and I hope that we'll have more of the top 10. This year, we were lucky enough to have four out of 10, but it would be nice to have all the best players next time," added Gaultier, now winner of 13 PSA Tour titles.

Golan was proud of his achievements in Paris: "Sometimes, you play squash with your head, and sometimes with your heart. I think that today I played too much with my heart, and not enough with my head! And Greg played just too well today, he played at a different level, I tried my best, but he was faster than I was, he was more accurate, and that made the difference.

"This week has been just incredible - even in my dreams I didn't imagine such a tournament for me. I guess it must the reward for years of hard training - but beating Thierry and James, two idols of mine, is just a dream. And the atmosphere here, it was just incredible for a squash player. I'm so happy, so proud to be here."

Final:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [6] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-4, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5 (64m)