Verseille Vanquishes Power In Zagreb
22 Apr 2006
Young Frenchman Fabien Verseille recorded his second successive upset in the Croatian Open in Zagreb when he defeated fourth seed Ian Power to reach his second surprise PSA Tour final in three months.
The 20-year-old eighth seed from Luynes knocked out Hungary's Mark Krajcsak, the second seed, in five games to reach the semi-finals.
Despite being two games down against Power, Verseille mounted an impressive comeback to beat the 29-year-old from Montreal 8-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-2 in 65 minutes.
Verseille, in only his second year on the PSA Tour, now faces his toughest assignment when he meets England's top seed Simon Parke for the title.
Parke, a former world No3 from Yorkshire, is celebrating his 14th PSA final appearance - almost 17 years after making his first, when he finished as runner-up in the Los Angeles Open in June 1989!
The 33-year-old world No32 brushed aside Jan Koukal, the third seed from the Czech Republic, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 in 38 minutes.
Semi-finals:
[1] Simon Parke (ENG) bt [3] Jan Koukal (CZE) 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 (38m)
[8] Fabien Verseille (FRA) bt [4] Ian Power (CAN) 8-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-2 (65m)