France’s Melvil Scianimanico and England’s Kiera Marshall have qualified for the 24/25 PSA World Championships after claiming respective wins in the European Qualifying Event at the Squash Club Santiago in Spain.
No.7 seed Scianimanico came through a five-game thriller with compatriot Toufik Mekhalfi to take the win, while fellow No.7 seed Marshall overcame Scotland’s unseeded Alison Thomson in four games.
The pair will now both make their PSA World Championships debuts next month when the flagship event – featuring the richest prize purse in the history of professional squash, with more than $1,300,000 of total player compensation up for grabs – heads to Chicago between May 9-17.
After claiming a pair of three-game wins and a four-game victory over No.5 seed Viktor Byrtus in the semi-finals, World No.86 Scianimanico faced off against top seed Mekhalfi in a men’s final which certainly didn’t disappoint.
Despite seeing a one-game advantage slip into a 2-1 deficit, Scianimanico came through in the latter stages of both the fourth and fifth games to take the win by an 11-4, 1-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 scoreline after 83 minutes of play.
Meanwhile, World No.85 Marshall defeated Thomson by a more comfortable 11-5, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5 scoreline.
Earlier in the event, the Englishwoman had claimed a dramatic fifth-game tie-break victory over No.3 seed Saskia Beinhard, as well as a pair of three-game wins over Cristina Gomez and Cristina Tartarone.
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Men’s Final: [7] Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) bt [1] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) 3-2: 11-4, 1-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 (83m)
Women’s Final: [7] Kiera Marshall (ENG) bt Alison Thomson (SCO) 3-1: 11-5, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5 (55m)
