Baltazar Battles Into Saskatoon Final

28 Nov 2010

Continuing the form which led him to the gold medal in the recent Panamerican Championships, Mexican Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira upset top seed Scott Arnold in the Saskatoon Boast Open to reach the final of the $10,000 PSA World Tour squash event in Saskatoon, Canada.

It was after beating his higher-ranked compatriot Eric Galvez in the quarter-finals that seventh seed Baltazar Ferreira earned the unexpected bid to face Australian favourite Arnold, the world No61, in the last four of the event in its ninth year at the YMCA of Saskatoon.

And the in-form 28-year-old from Mexico City despatched Arnold 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 to reach the 14th Tour final of his career - but his first for over a year.

His opponent will be Laurence Delasaux, the second seed from England who ended Canadian interest in the championship by beating Ottawa's fourth seed Robin Clarke 11-1, 11-8, 11-7.

The final will be Baltazar Ferreira and Delasaux's second meeting in north America this year. The pair lined up in the Atlanta Open quarter-finals in May, with the Englishman prevailing in four games before going on to reach the final - his only other PSA final appearance this year.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Scott Arnold (AUS) bt [6] Gonzalo Miranda (ARG) 17-15, 11-4, 11-9 (40m)
[7] Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) bt [3] Eric Galvez (MEX) 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 (45m)
[4] Robin Clarke (CAN) bt [5] Andrew McDougall (CAN) 12-14, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (63m)
[2] Laurence Delasaux (ENG) bt [8] Fabien Verseille (FRA) 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (35m)
Semi-finals:
[7] Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) bt [1] Scott Arnold (AUS) 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 (41m)
[2] Laurence Delasaux (ENG) bt [4] Robin Clarke (CAN) 11-1, 11-8, 11-7 (36m)