Kamran Captures First Tour Title in Japan
8 Nov 2011
Top seed Kamran Khan triumphed in an all-Malaysian final of the Pro Squash Kansai in Japan to claim his maiden PSA World Tour title at the PSA Challenger 5 event at Pro Squash Kansai in Kobe, the fifth largest city in Japan.
The 21-year-old from Kuala Lumpur survived tough four-game quarter and semi-final battles - against Egypt's Karim Ali Fathi and Englishman Chris Fuller, respectively - en-route to the final.
Keo, a 23-year-old, also from KL, ended domestic interest in the event when he beat qualifier Shimizu Takanori, from Tokyo, in the quarter-finals.
And second-seeded underdog Keo built up a 2/1 lead over Khan in the final as a shock result looked on the cards.
But the favourite, ranked more than 60 places above Keo, stormed back to take the fourth - then survived a close tie-break in the decider to win 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11 in a marathon 115 minutes.
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1st round:
[1] Kamran Khan (MAS) bt Yuta Fukui (JPN) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) bt [Q] Kobayashi Ryosei (JPN) 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 (16m)
[Q] Cameron Stafford (CAY) bt James Skiffington (NZL) 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (25m)
[3] Chris Fuller (ENG) bt Jonathan Geekie (SCO) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (28m)
James Huang (TPE) bt [4] Kam Hing Choong (MAS) 8-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7 (52m)
Hon Fung Wong (HKG) bt [Q] David Haley (WAL) 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8 (38m)
[Q] Shimizu Takanori (JPN) bt Alireza Sanaei (IRI) 11-9, 11-2, 12-10 (24m)
[2] Elvinn Keo (MAS) bt Tsukue Shinnosuke (JPN) 11-8, 11-8, 11-1 (29m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Kamran Khan (MAS) bt Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 11-5, 0-11, 11-6, 11-5 (60m)
[3] Chris Fuller (ENG) bt [Q] Cameron Stafford (CAY) 11-5, 11-2, 11-3 (26m)
James Huang (TPE) bt Hon Fung Wong (HKG) 11-2, 11-6, 11-4 (18m)
[2] Elvinn Keo (MAS) bt [Q] Shimizu Takanori (JPN) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (27m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Kamran Khan (MAS) bt [3] Chris Fuller (ENG) 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 (82m)
[2] Elvinn Keo (MAS) bt James Huang (TPE) 13-11, 5-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9 (66m)
Final:
[1] Kamran Khan (MAS) bt [2] Elvinn Keo (MAS) 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11 (115m)
