Brown wins third successive title, Arnold stops Finitsis

Taree’s Kasey Brown won her third successive Australian Closed Squash Championship title when she beat second seed Donna Urquhart in straight games in Sydney on Sunday.

Brown, the world number 13, was playing her first tournament in Australia this year and showed why she is tipped to become the country’s next top 10 player as she beat fellow Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder Urquhart 9-5, 9-2, 9-7.

In the men’s event, Sydney’s Scott Arnold won his first Closed title when he ended Queenslander Steve Finitsis’s long winning run with a tough four-game victory.

Finitsis won the first game but then ran out of steam as Arnold triumphed 7-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-4.
Finitsis had won his last four Professional Squash Association tournaments but after three close games he “ran out of legs” in the fourth as Arnold cruised to victory.

Earlier Arnold beat Newcastle’s Mathew Karwalski 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 in one semi-final, while Finitsis upset second seeded Ryan Cuskelly 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6.

NSW Squash director Carin Clonda said the tournament, played at the association’s headquarters at Thornleigh in north-west Sydney, had been a great success.

“It’s the first time we’ve held the Australian Closed and it was great to have a lot of our New South Wales players back from overseas or back from the Australian Institute of Sport,” she said.

“It’s great that we’ve been able to have a major event for them to come back to.

“We are now in discussions with Squash Australia to host the tournament for another two years and we are looking to triple the prize money.

“It’s brilliant for our club players to be able to see the calibre of squash we have seen here this weekend.

“I also want to thank our tournament controller, Sue Doherty, who made sure we stayed on schedule for the whole tournament.”

Results (prefix denotes seeding – NSW unless stated):
Men
Semi-finals

1-Scott Arnold bt 4-Matthew Karwalski 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4
3-Steve Finitsis (Qld) bt 2-Ryan Cuskelly 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6
Final
1-Scott Arnold bt 3-Steve Finitsis 7-11, 11-4, 14-12, 11-4

Women
Final
1-Kasey Brown bt 2-Donna Urquhart 9-5, 9-2, 9-7

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