Kandra Celebrates The Good Life In Ottawa

The 10th staging of the GoodLife Open in Canada produced the first German champion when Raphael Kandra defeated England's Declan James in the final of the PSA Challenger 10 squash event at GoodLife Queensview in Ottawa.

Left-hander Kandra, the No2 seed, coasted through to the final - his fifth of the year - without dropping a game. The world No58 from Essen ended domestic interest in the event with a semi-final defeat of Dane Sharp, the fourth seed from Toronto.

James, the third seed from Nottingham, made his breakthrough in the other semi-final where he deposed reigning champion Martin Knight, the top seed from New Zealand.

Describing the final, GoodLife Squash Professional Heather Wallace said: "Declan was forced to play a lot more forehand shots playing the leftie which did not seem as comfortable for him, making errors on the forehand side which we had not seen in the previous rounds.

"When Declan did open up the court on his backhand, he did finish, but this was not often enough. To Raphael's credit the pressure he put on Declan was relentless, forcing many errors on Declan's forehand. Kudos to both players for their incredible shot-making and coverage of the court. When it was all over, with Raphael as the Champ, they left the court to a standing ovation!"

Kandra's 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 triumph in 36 minutes marks the German's seventh PSA Tour title.

"7th PSA titel!!! Very happy with the way I played the whole week through," Kandra told his Twitter followers later. "Next --> Worlds in Qatar (-;" added the 24-year-old who celebrated a career-high world No58 ranking this month.

James was gracious in defeat: "Raphael played ridiculously well the whole tournament winning the title without dropping a game," said the 21-year-old after his second successive PSA Tour final appearance in North America this month.