Atlanta Open 2006

14-May-06:
Delierre wins Marathon Atlanta Final
Andre Maur reports

Shawn De Lierre is the second Canadian to win the Atlanta Open after beating Eric Galvez in an marathon match lasting over 2 hours and 10 min winning 4/11, 11/9, 7/11, 11/5, 11/7.

The first two games lasted 65 minutes. Galvez, leading 2-1 in games, could not find a winning game after that as the rallies were getting longer by the minute.

Both players played to their full potential and Delierre came out stronger to win his first Atlanta Open after three marathon matches, and the fourth PSA title of his career.

Shawn Delierre with Andre Maur and Ken Stillman, President of the USSRA

Atlanta Open 2006 Atlanta, USA, 09-14 May, $10k
Round One May 11	Quarters May 12	Semis May 13	Final May 14
[1] Gavin Jones (Wal) 11/8, 11/7, 4/11, 11/7 Scott Fitz-Gerald (Wal)	Gavin Jones 11/4, 9/11, 11/6, 11/7 Chris Gordon	Gavin Jones 11/9, 7/11, 11/8, 11/5 (65m) Eric Galvez	copied from SquashSite Eric Galvez 4/11, 11/9, 7/11, 11/5, 11/7 (130m) Shawn DeLierre copied from SquashSite
Chris Gordon (Usa) 11/5, 11/6, 11/4 Ian Power (Can)
[3] Eric Galvez (Mex) 11/5, 11/6, 11/4 [Q] Mike Joint (Aus)	Eric Galvez 11/3, 11/7, 11/2 Bernardo Samper
[7] Bernardo Samper (Col) 11/6, 11/5, 11/7 David Phillips (Can)
Wade Johnstone (Aus) 11/6, 11/7, 8/11, 11/5 [5] Shawn DeLierre (Can)	Shawn DeLierre 12/10, 12/10, 7/11, 4/11, 11/7 (116m) Ritwik Bhattacharya	Shawn DeLierre 9/11, 11/6, 11/2, 9/11, 11/9 (85m) Alister Walker
[Q] Robbie Lingashi (Zam) 11/3 rtd [4] Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind)
[Q] Patrick Chifunda (Zam) 11/9, 10/12, 11/1, 12/10 [8] Tim Manning (Aus)	Tim Manning 11/5, 11/7, 11/5 Alister Walker
[Q] Luke Margan (Aus) 11/7, 11/3, 11/4 [2] Alister Walker (Eng)

2005 Event

Qualifying:

Finals, 10-May:
Mike Joint (Usa) bt Beau River (Usa)                  11/5, 9/11, 11/4, 7/11, 19/17
Patrick Chifunda (Zam) bt Karim Yehia (Egy)      11/13, 11/6, 11/7, 18/16
Robby Lingashi (Zam) bt Rob McFadzean (Usa)   11/0, 13/11, 11/6
Luke Margan (Aus) bt Manuel Fregoso (Mex)       11/4, 11/6, 11/4

Round One, 09-May:
Beau River (Usa) bye
Mike Joint (Usa) bt Bertrand Tissot (Fra)             11/8, 11/3, 10/11, 11/10
Karim Yehia (Egy) bt Joe Millman (Eng)              11/2, 11/5, 11/10
Patrick Chifunda (Zam) bt Ryan Donegan (Usa) 11/6, 11/10, 8/11, 11/7
Rob McFadzean (Usa) bt Andre Maur (Irl)            11/6, 11/6, 11/10
Robby Lingashi (Zam) bt Armando Olguin (Mex) 11/5, 11/2, 11/2
Manuel Fregoso (Mex) bt Lucky Odeh (Ngr)         11/10, 11/9, 8/11, 11/1
Luke Margan (Aus) bye

13-May-06:
Galvez & DeLierre
in Atlanta Final

Mexico's Eric Galvez and Canada's Shawn DeLierre both scored upset victories to reach the final of the Atlanta Open.

Galvez ousted top seed Gavin Jones in four games while DeLierre followed up his marathon quarter-final victory with a comparatively brief 85-minute five-game win over second seed Alister Walker.

12-May, Quarters:
Top four through in Atlanta ...

The top four seeds all came throught their quarter-finals at the Atlanta Open, although Canada's Shawn DeLierre needed 116 minutes to get past Ritwik Bhattacharya in five games.

By contrast, Alister Walker and Eric Galvez took just 40 minutes to cruise past their opponents.

Galvez now meets top seed Gavin Jones for a place in the final, while Walker faces DeLierre.

11-May:
Seeds safe in Atlanta ...

Christopher Gordon carried home hopes single-handedly through to the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Open when he beat Canada's Ian Power in the first round at the Concourse Athletic Club in Atlanta, USA.

The 19-year-old eighth seed from New York beat Power 3/0 and will now go on to face top seed Gavin Jones for a place in the last four.

Jones survived a Welsh classic against compatriot Scott Fitzgerald, beating his national squad team-mate 3/1.

Robby Lingashi and Patrick Chifunda, two Zambians who survived the qualifiers, had mixed fortunes in the first round. Lingashi dropped the first game against Ritwik Bhattacharya, then was forced to concede the match to the fourth seed from India.

Chifunda, the Washington DC-based 31-year-old, stretched Australia's No7 seed Timothy Manning to four games, including two tie-break games, but ultimately went down in a fourth-game tie-break.

10-May:
Qualifying Complete
in Atlanta ...

The final round of qualifying in the Atlanta Open featured some serious tie-break action, with Patrick Chifunda squeezing past Karim Yehia 18/16 in the fourth, and, in the match of the night, Mike Joint prevailing 19/17 in the fifth in an all-Usa battle against Beau River.

Chifunda's reward is a first round tie against eighth seed Tim Manning, Joint plays third seed Eric Galvez, while the other qualifiers, Robby Lingashi and Luke Margan, find themselves up against fourth and second seeds Ritwik Bhattacharya and Alister Walker.