Englishman Jonathan Kemp, who picked up five PSA World Tour squash titles last year, collected his first of 2010 when he beat Italian Stephane Galifi in today’s (Sunday) final of the Internationaux de France, the $20,000 event at Squash Ornano in the French city of Bordeaux.
Top seed Kemp reached the final without dropping a game – and took the first two against Galifi, the sixth seed from Aix-en-Provence who was celebrating his first Tour final appearance since taking up Italian nationality last September.
But the 31-year-old former Frenchman, ranked 52 in the world, fought back to reduce the deficit, taking the third game against world No21 Kemp for the loss of just a single point.
Kemp came back, however, clinching the fourth game to win the title 11-4, 11-6, 1-11, 11-9.
The triumph marks the 29-year-old left-hander from Halifax’s 11th Tour title since his first in Spain in 2003.
Final:
[1] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [6] Stephane Galifi (ITA) 11-4, 11-6, 1-11, 11-9
Semi-finals:
[1] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [4] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 11-8, 11-6, 11-8
[6] Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt Yann Perrin (FRA) 11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7
Quarter-finals:
[1] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [7] Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-6, 11-2, 11-7
[4] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt [Q] Shaun le Roux (ENG) 15-13, 11-7, 11-7
Yann Perrin (FRA) bt [3] Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-4, 13-11, 11-8
[6] Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt [Q] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-8, 11-7, 15-13
1st round:
[1] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) bt [Q] Joel Hinds (ENG) 11-8, 11-8, 11-7
[7] Julien Balbo (FRA) bt [Q] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 12-10, 11-8, 11-9
[4] Mark Krajcsak (HUN) bt Johan Bouquet (FRA) 11-3, 11-5, 12-10
[Q] Shaun le Roux (ENG) bt [8] Kashif Shuja (NZL) 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7
Yann Perrin (FRA) bt [5] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8
[3] Chris Ryder (ENG) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-9
[6] Stephane Galifi (ITA) bt Steve Finitsis (AUS) 11-5, 12-10, 11-6
[Q] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [2] Tom Richards (ENG) 12-10, 11-9, 2-11, 11-13, 11-5