The victory ensured Greg Gaultier (le) completed a clean sweep, beating Gregoire Marche, Chris Simpson, Miguel Angel Rodriguez and Shabana without dropping a single game. France’s world No1 Gregory Gaultier (le) claimed the 28th PSA World Tour title of his career by defeating Egyptian Amr Shabana (ri), the world No5, in the final of the 2014 NetSuite Open in San Francisco.
Gaultier, who was competing in his 60th World Tour event final, emerged a resounding victor after beating 4-time world champion Shabana 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 in just 32-minutes.
The illustrious pair went into their 31st overall meeting as Gaultier’s victory gives him the 17:14 lead and the triumph marking his 2nd NetSuite Open title since 2012.
“I didn’t know we had played that many matches on tour. We’re both quite old now and he’s still pushing very hard to be at the top but of course I am very happy to have won”, said Gaultier.
Shabana, the 35-year-old former world No1 from Cairo, added: “When you play the No1 player, you know you’re going to have a big challenge.I would have liked to put on a better show, but sometimes you get destroyed. You’re never too old to learn.”
Final:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [2] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 (32m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (41m)
[2] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [3] Peter Barker (ENG) 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (55m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (31m)
[4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [5] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-4, 11-5 ret. (29m)
[3] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 (46m)
[2] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [8] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-6, 11-3, 6-11, 11-9 (54m)
1st round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (41m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10 (96m)
[5] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9 (61m)
[4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (34m)
[3] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [WC] Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (44m)
Alister Walker (BOT) bt [6] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 7-11, 11-6, 14-12, 5-11, 11-4 (98m)
[8] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 5-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-6
[2] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (31m)
