Adnan Halts James In NZ Classic

Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan, the number one seed, dashed unexpected finalist Declan James's hopes of ending his season on a high in the final of the 2015 Fitzherbert Rowe Manawatu Lawyers NZ International Classic PSA Challenger 15 tournament in Palmerston North.

Englishman James found himself in the title-decider after a series of impressive performances against Raphael Kandra, the number three seed from Germany, and second-seeded Kiwi Campbell Grayson - but couldn't find enough in his locker to overcome the World No.33, ranked 34 places above him on the rankings, to win what would have been the biggest title of his career.

Adnan has been prolific through the tournament and duly lived up to his billing as the top seed, using his wealth of attacking weapons to cause James difficulties in all four corners of the court, weathering an early storm from the 22-year-old to take his ninth PSA World Tour title to date.

"Declan has improved a lot since I last played him so I knew it would be tough today," said Adnan.

"I followed my game plan, played to my strengths and changed up the game quite a lot in the rallies. I wanted to get him moving around lots and it worked and I'm happy to win."