Favourites Murphy & Lobban Win Irish Open Titles

Greg Lobban and Tesni Murphy claimed the Cannon Kirk GillenMarkets Irish Open titles after beating Melvil Scianimanico and Georgia Adderley, respectively, on finals day of the PSA World Tour Copper event at Fitzwilliam LTC in Dublin.

Both Murphy and Lobban came into the event with targets on their backs as the No.1 seeds in the respective draws, but both put in impressive displays throughout the week to reach the final day.

Murphy had only dropped a single game en-route to this final, that coming in her second round win over home favourite Hannah Craig, and she made the perfect start against No.2 seed Adderley here, winning nine points on the bounce to start the match.

After closing out the game 11-3, the Welsh No.1 continued to dominate proceedings, playing accurate squash throughout game two, which she took 11-5 in just over 11 minutes.

Adderley - who had also only dropped a single game this week, albeit having had a walkover in the quarter-finals - began to find her feet in game three, playing a more attacking brand of squash to get herself back into the contest, sending the match to a fourth with an 11-7 success.

But a fourth would prove to be as far as the match would go, as Murphy stormed out to a 5-1 lead and pulled clear of her opponent, hitting a perfectly-weighted cross-court backhand to end proceedings on match ball at 10-5, securing her a third - and biggest - PSA Squash Tour title.

"I've played 14 seasons on Tour and this season I've won two titles, and that's two out of the three in my whole career, so it's been really good," Murphy said after her win.

"It's nice to get more matches behind me. It's a great event, it feels amazing and I'm really happy with my squash this week.

"I think Georgia was a bit unsettled at the start but I came out really well, I found my targets really well and was playing to my game plan. I was really impressed with how Georgia came out in the third game, started attacking me a little bit more and put me under pressure, and I was finding myself getting a bit edgy.

"So to come out in the fourth game, regroup, and play some squash again, I couldn't be happier."

Murphy also spoke about what it meant to have her husband Ben with her and supporting her this week.

"It's the best, it's so much more relaxing," she said.

"He gets the routine, so it's been amazing to have him here. And it's nice, I'll have the evening to actually go and celebrate and not be a million miles away from home, so it makes it all more special."

Murphy may have denied a Scottish victory in the women's event, but there would be Scottish success in the men's final that followed, as Lobban claimed his second Irish Open title with a straight-games win over the unseeded Scianimanico.

The 20-year-old Frenchman had been the surprise package of this week's event, winning three five-game thrillers in a row to reach this stage, including a stunning comeback victory over defending champion Jonah Bryant in round two.

Lobban, though, came into this event in good form having won the Scottish National title last week, and was hoping to repeat his achievement from this tournament three years ago when he took home the title.

It didn't take him long to open up a one-game lead, either, losing only four points in the first game, before winning the second 11-9.

Scianimanico was in familiar territory at 2/0 down, having overturned that deficit twice already this week, and he raced out of the blocks in game three, winning the first four points to set the tone for what the crowd may have hoped would be another epic comeback.

But Lobban had other ideas, reeling off six points on the bounce to get his nose back in front, but he was unable to put any real daylight between himself and his opponent, finding himself in a tiebreak after losing two match balls from 10-8 up.

Tensions were understandably high with the trophy on the line, and referee Tomas Forter was a busy man in the closing stages, as both players fought for every point.

And it would be a refereeing decision that would ultimately end the match, too, as Forter awarded Lobban a stroke on his third match ball, with Scianimanico unable to clear a forehand drop in the front, right-hand corner.

"It's a new court since I played here three years ago, but I love it here and it's been good to me, so I'm happy to win another one here," Lobban said after collecting his trophy.

"I felt really good. We've been on the road for about seven or eight weeks now with tournaments every weekend.

"I played the World Championships in Chicago and then came straight to Scottish nationals, and I'm on a bit of a momentum run at the moment with a few titles, which has felt good because I had a bit of a disappointment in Chicago, so it's great to back it up with two titles, and hopefully I can finish strongly at the British Open."