Finitsis Powers To Palma de Mallorca Title
11 Dec 2011
Comprehensive victories over the top two seeds in the Memorial Fernando Vidal Salva Illes Balears Open led Australia's Steven Finitsis to title success in the PSA World Tour Challenger 5 squash event at Elite Fitness Club in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
It was in the semi-finals that the 28-year-old third seed overcame South African Shaun le Roux, the No2 seed, 13-11, 11-2, 11-4 to reach the 17th Tour final of his career.
Finitsis faced favourite Joe Lee in the final. It was the 22-year-old Englishman's first PSA final since recovering from a back injury earlier in the year.
But Queenslander Finitsis was in fine form, dismissing Lee 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 in 45 minutes to collect the ninth PSA World Tour title of his career, and his second of the year.
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1st round:
[1] Joe Lee (ENG) bt [Q] Florent Pontiere (FRA) 14-12, 11-6, 11-2 (32m)
Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) bt David Vidal (ESP) 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 13-11 (62m)
[Q] Johan Bouquet (FRA) bt Leandro Romiglio Fernandez (ESP) 11-0, 11-8, 11-3 (25m)
[4] Alejandro Garbi Caro (ESP) bt Robert Downer (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (40m)
[3] Steven Finitsis (AUS) bt [Q] Chris Ferguson (SCO) 11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (35m)
Alex Ingham (ENG) bt Chris Fuller (ENG) 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 (55m)
Bart Ravelli (NED) bt [Q] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) 11-9, 11-7, 14-16, 11-2 (60m)
[2] Shaun le Roux (RSA) bt Matias Tuomi (FIN) 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (53m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Joe Lee (ENG) bt Sebastiaan Weenink (NED) 11-13, 12-10, 11-4, 11-4 (55m)
[4] Alejandro Garbi Caro (ESP) bt [Q] Johan Bouquet (FRA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 (45m)
[3] Steven Finitsis (AUS) bt Alex Ingham (ENG) 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 (33m)
[2] Shaun le Roux (RSA) bt Bart Ravelli (NED) 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10 (58m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Joe Lee (ENG) bt [4] Alejandro Garbi Caro (ESP) 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7 (70m)
[3] Steven Finitsis (AUS) bt [2] Shaun le Roux (RSA) 13-11, 11-2, 11-4 (45m)
Final:
[3] Steven Finitsis (AUS) bt [1] Joe Lee (ENG) 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (45m)
