Wellingtonian Evan Williams dropped one set in four matches on the way to winning the men's open title at the Havelock North Squash Open which ended on Sunday. Top seed Williams beat North Shore's Lance Beddoes 3-1 (1-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4) in the final and later attributed his success to superior patience.
"I lost the first set 11-1 but was more patient in the next three," he recalled. The New Zealand rep was playing in his first Havelock North Open.
"I came up here two years ago for an exhibition match and injured my wrist two weeks later. I only started playing again in November," Williams explained.
He will represent his Thorndon club in the Cousins Shield national interclub teams event in Whangarei this weekend. For fellow New Zealand rep and third seed Beddoes it was the second consecutive year he had finished second in Havelock.
New Zealand rep and top seed Amanda Landers-Murphy, of Bay of Plenty, beat Palmerston North's Danielle Fourie, the second seed, 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-9) in the women's open final. A bout of the flu forced former world No.4 and original top seed Joelle King, of Waikato, to withdraw from the 100-player tournament which was also a New Zealand Super 8 and Professional Squash Association event.