Second seed Thierry Lincou on Friday became the first Frenchman
to win the World Open title when he rallied from a set down in the final
to
beat top seed Lee Beachill of England to lift the game’s most
prestigious
trophy.
A sentimental favourite of the crowd here, world number two Lincou won
5-11,11-2, 2-11, 11-10, 11-8 in 83 minutes at the Khalifa Squash Complex
packed with fans supporting the Frenchman at every point.
Yesterday’s win also helped Lincou erase the sad memories of losing
lastyear’s World Open final against Amr Shabana of Egypt in Pakistan.
The win secured the top prize of $16,000 for the Frenchman. Beachill
won $12,000 for his efforts.
“This is an unbelievable time for me. This is the moment I had been
waiting for all my life. I went down during last year's final in
Pakistan, a
loss which had shattered me completely. I had been waiting for this
moment
ever since I lost last year’s final,” Lincou said soon after the final
point.
“It was a tough lesson for me to learn from my defeat to Shabana (in
December 2003). This win is much greater than any of my career
victories because today I beat the world No.1 to lift the trophy that
matters in
squash,” a smiling Lincou said.
“Today’s win is the simply the most memorable in my career. Although we
played five sets today, the final was never a physical game. I had the
stamina to last this match. I knew that I had to stay calm to win
today.
Even when I was a set down, I had the confidence to beat Beachill
because I have scored a quiet a few wins against him in the past,” the
Frenchman
added.
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Beaten finalist Beachill paid tributes to his conqueror.
“He played a great game. He played the important points well than I
did
and that’s why he won so handsomely. He deserves all the credit he is
going
to get from this win. This is the World Open and everybody remembers a
World Open champion,” the Briton said after the final.
“Although I was up two games to one, but still I didn’t have the
confidence to put the distance that would have ensured a win for me.
Everybody
knows how important it is to score quick early points in the new
scoring
system. I couldn’t do that today,” Beachill said.
Beachill launched his bid to win the World Open final in sensation
style by executing six dropshots to win the first set in only 10
minutes.
However, Lincou quickly gathered himself from the punishment meted out
to him in
the first set by winning the next set in only eight minutes with a
flurry
of dropshots. At one time in the second set, Lincou bagged seven
successive points to draw level in the match.
In the third set, Lincou lost his concentration and handed back the
advantage to Beachill, who made the most of his French opponent’s five
shots to the tin to go 2-1 up the best-of-five set final. In the
fourth set,
both players moved with single digit advantage but at 10-all, gritty
Lincou
produced a drop shot and followed it up with a forehand smash to draw
level with Beachill for the second time in the match.
In the decider, 27-year-old Lincou broke away from a 6-all deadlock
with a series of three drop shots to race to a 9-6 lead. It wasn’t
long before
right-handed Frenchman produced a deft dropshot near the front wall to
reach match point. Moments later Beachill hit one in to to the tin to
signal
the end of the match in 83 minutes.
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