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Against expectations, the higher seeded Harinder Pal Sandhu went down to England’s Declan James, the fourth seed in four games in the final of the $10,000 Christchuch International 2015, a PSA world tour event in New Zealand on Sunday. The England player, who was the runner up in the previous event in Palmeston North a few days ago, won 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-6.
It was a case of the third seed Harinder being so near and yet so far away from the title in this 67 minute contest. It a contest of contrasting styles. Where the tall James was exquisite in his movements and pick ups, the Indian was double-quick on the court. When Harinder shot his way up grabbing the first game with his power-packed returns, then unforced errors began to sink him from there.
The Indian lost a close second and led 7-3 in the third and the score read 9-9 when he lost out, clipping the tin once and then getting a ‘no let’ on his good drive. The fight began to ebb out from there as the stronger James picked up his fifth career PSA title.
