Heroes Austrian Open SFs: Top Seed James to Play Poleshchuk for Title

Top seed Declan James will play fourth seed Daniel Poleshchuk for the Heroes Austrian Open title, after winning their respective semi-finals 3-0 at Heroes Squash Bar in Graz. 

With the Austrian Junior Open running simultaneously, both matches were played in front of a full house on the all-glass court, with James taking on third seed Ben Smith in an all-English first semi-final. 

The pair hail from towns less than 100 miles apart – Nottingham and Grimsby – though they had never met before on the PSA Tour. 

Both tall with long reach, it was little surprise that long rallies were a theme of game one, but after losing the first two points, James did not trail again, closing it out with a backhand winner down the line to end a 32-shot rally. 

In fact, 2-0 down in game one would be the only time James would trail in the entire match, as he dominated the early changes of games two to bring up five game balls. 

Smith kept fighting, winning four points in a row to close the gap back to 10-9 but James held off the charge, taking his fifth opportunity to open up a two-game lead. 

The No.1 seed once again established a lead in game three, but Smith was not going to throw in the towel, battling back from 8-4 down to 10-8, then forcing a tiebreak by saving the two match balls. 

The second of those came as James appeared to slip while lunging towards the back of the court, but he kept his footing to win the rally that followed, letting out a short roar of emotion that is rarely seen from the usually calm character. 

This time, the 31-year-old would take his opportunity on his third match ball, slamming a forehand winning into the back-left-hand corner, beyond his opponent’s reach. 

Victory for James secures his spot in his second final of the season, where he will face fourth seed Poleshchuk, who ended the impressive run of Egypt’s Khaled Labib. 

Labib only got into the competition as a late replacement four days before it started but made the most of his opportunity by reaching the semi-finals, beating the No.6 and No.2 seeds along the way. 

Fourth seed Poleshchuk would prove to be a step too far, although the early rallies suggested a different story might be on the cards, as the Egyptian got himself a 9-6 lead. 

That would be as good as things got, though, as Poleshchuk strung together five points in a row to win game one, the last of which coming on a high backhand volley that even the speedy Labib couldn’t return. 

Both players continued to showcase their agility around the court in game two, but it was a much more one-sided affair, with the Israeli dropping only five points in a seven-minute game. 

There was little to split them deep into game three, with Labib still fancying his chances at 8-8, but just as he had in game one, Poleshchuk found his corners when it mattered most, winning the next two points. 

With three match balls, he moved Labib around the court on a short but sharp following rally, ending proceedings by smashing a forehand winner down the line from deep in the court. 

“I’m so happy to be through in three,” Poleshchuk said after the win. 

 “I’ve actually had a very hard off-season. I was training so hard and my recent form against Patrick Rooney in Budapest was good. I feel I’m in good shape and yeah, just happy to be through in three. 

“The first game, you know, it’s always edgy, especially at a stage like the semi-finals, so I was getting used to it, and the big rally that I won just gave me the confidence that I’m there, I’m there to play even if I have to grind through the rally, so yeah, that was good. 

“In the second, I played very well and the third was a bit edgy, but I’m happy.” 

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s final, he added: “Dec is a great player, I played him twice last season once, in Ireland, once in Manchester. Both times I lost in three but it was very close. 

“I have to speak to my coach about the game plan. I hope we can figure out something, and yeah, I’m looking forward to it. It’s my first final in a 15k so I have nothing to lose and I hope to play good squash.”

 

Foto: PSA