England’s Samuel Osborne-Wylde has won the $15K PSA West of Ireland Open, defeating fellow countryman Perry Malik 3-0 in Saturday’s final in Galway.
Fresh from giving Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar, the PSA No.14, a 2-3 scare in the opening round at the World Championships in Giza, Osborne-Wylde, the PSA No.57, was seeded No.1 at the Galway LTC and he lived up to that top ranking.
Joining the 24-player competition in round two after an opening round bye, he defeated England’s Will Salter 3-1, New Zealand’s Oli Dunbar 3-0 and Wales’ Emyr Evans 3-1 to reach the final where he picked off Malik on an 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 scoreline.
The 22-year-old was chuffed to take the title. “In order to win these tournaments, you have to win four tough matches and especially two at the end,” he told Galway Bay FM following his victory.
“It’s one of the reasons why I played in Galway, because in terms of long-term development. It’s very difficult to do (to win a title), but it can improve you a lot, so I was really happy to get over the line.
“It’s not just hard physically, it’s hard mentally just backing up match after match and I was very happy,” he added, explaining he would now be resting up in the hope of qualifying for the British Open.
“I’ll have a few days off and then back in training for the final tournament of the season. I’m playing the British Open qualifiers, which is one of the biggest tournaments on tour. I feel like I am finding form towards the end of the season.”
A highlight of the week in Galway was the support attracted by Sam Buckley, the Irish No.1 and PSA No.100. The 25-year-old Senior Nationals champion got his eye in last Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Marek Panacek, the No.187 from Czechia.
What followed lit the fuse as he defeated Rowan Damming, the No.67 from the Netherlands, 3-0 and Rui Soares, the No.85 from Portugal, 3-2 before narrowly losing 2-3 in the semi-finals to Malik, the No.66.
Buckley was set to have an immediate chance to get back at Malik as the pair were drawn to meet next Tuesday in the opening round of the Quilter Cheviot Cannon Kirk Irish Open in Dublin.
However, his rise to a new PSA career best ranking of No.92 on the back of his exploits in Galway coincided with him pulling out the Fitzwilliam start list due to a strain sustained in his semi-final.
Reflecting on the successful restoration of the West of Ireland Open to the PSA calendar after a two-year lay-off, David Noone, the Squash Ireland junior performance coach and Galway LTC advocate, said: “It was a great week, a good attendance for the big matches which was a big plus.
“We had a good run from Ireland’s Sam Buckley as well, who made it to the semi-finals and narrowly missed out. It was nice to get the crowd behind him… it was an amazing week. The calibre of squash was world-class.
“With the support of Garavan’s Bar as the main sponsor, it was really impressive. The club did a great job as well. The courts are of top international standard and are kept so well.
“This was the top level we have had for the West of Ireland Open. We have had 10Ks and 12Ks in the past and this one was the biggest one so far, a $15K, but the big goal is to keep growing the sport.
“We have got such a great community at the moment. There are tons of juniors playing. We have over 100 a week coming through the doors and we have got some great talent coming through.”
