Colin Payne PSA Pro Tournament 2018 - Results & match reports

Back Row from Left: Alison Waters, Ben Coleman, Brenda Rae, Richie Fallows, Claire Payne

Front Row: Alice Payne, Charlotte Payne, Elise Lazarus

Leading Kent squash club Tunbridge Wells Squash Rackets Club hosted its 4th Colin Payne PSA Open Tournament on Thursday 11th and Friday 12th January 2018. Players from as far afield as Brazil came to play in the men’s and women’s events for an equal prize fund of £2000 each.

This year’s competition is kindly sponsored by JVIP, Sankey’s, The Spa Hotel, Harveys of Lewes, Ballard’s, MyCourts, Risebridge Health & Sports Club (Groombridge) and The Wells Physiotherapy & Sports Clinic.

The tournament is named in memory of Colin Payne (1962-2016) who brought the first Professional Open Tournament to the Club in 2014. Colin was a leading light in the squash scene for most of his adult life, having won the British over 50s National Squash Championship, and having previously been a professional player on the PSA World Tour. Colin won the Kent Championship 5 times, Kent over 35s Championship 10 times, and represented Kent County on more than 100 occasions, and was a first team player at Tunbridge Wells Squash Club for many years,

Thursday 11th Jan

On the Thursday, the men’s draw saw two local club players join the tournament;

U17 England Top 20 player Luke Credland acquitted himself well against the No. 2 seed Ben Coleman who is currently 50 in the World.

TWSRC 1st team player Jonny Powell nearly caused a first round upset, pushing No. 4 seed Ondrej Uherkha from the Czech Republic to 5 games, narrowly losing in the final game.

In the evening the quarter-final matches took place. The women’s event went to seeding, as did the men’s with the exception of Rui Soares from Portugal (world ranking #148) who has proved popular with local fans the last couple of years, booking his place in the semi-final when leading 1-0 against his opponent who was forced to retire with an injury.

Friday 12th Jan

Matches kicked off a 4:45pm with the women’s semi-finals.

Alison Waters (world ranking #10) booked her place in the final by beating Alicia Mead 3-0, who has just returned to the professional circuit after suffering from a fractured back.

Last year’s finalist Elise Lazarus, only 17 years old and already British U23 Champion, won a hard-fought match against No. 89 in the world Kace Bartley 3-2.

Meanwhile, in the men’s semi-finals, last year’s winner Richie Fallows (world ranking #50) took forty minutes to overcome Rui Soares of Portugal, while on the adjacent court Ben Coleman (world ranking #52) was having a titanic battle with Jamie Haycocks who plays for Crowborough Squash Club, finally winning 3-2, 11/8 in the 5th game.

Finals

In the women’s final, against Alison Waters, Elise Lazarus had to withdraw at the end of the second game due to injury, so Alison was the victor.

The men’s final was a hard-fought and thrilling contest from beginning to end, but No. 1 seed Richie Fallows eventually overcame Ben Coleman 3-2, 12/10 in the 5th game to hold on to his title.

Colin Payne PSA Pro Tournament 2018 - Results & match reports

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