Larkin and Landers-Murphy Claim Gibson O’Connor North Shore Open and PSA Titles

Josh Larkin of Australia and Amanda Landers-Murphy of New Zealand haver claimed the Gibson O’Connor North Shore Open and PSA titles in the first of the NZ PSA events.

The Women's final match saw two Kiwi foes battle it out in a match they had seen many times before. Amanda Landers-Murphy took on Megan Craig in a repeat of the 2016 Senior Nationals final. Landers-Murphy came out strong in the first two games using the lower tin to play her deadly shots and Craig wasn’t able to match them with Landers Murphy winning 11-8, 12-10. It looked set to be all over in the third as Landers-Murphy had 3 match balls, but Craig dug deep into her arsenal and started to attack further with counter-drops of her own and Craig clinched the third 15-13. Craig continued with her momentum into the fourth and started to use the lower tin to her advantage attacking and countering Landers-Murphy’s shots, Craig claimed the fourth 11-8 and sent the match into it’s fifth. Both players stuck at it in the fifth but it was Landers-Murphy who edged over the line claiming the fifth 11-9 and winning the title.

The Men's final saw Evan Williams of New Zealand take on Australian Josh Larkin. Williams and Larkin were looking to work each other hard in the match. Both players had strong rallies but it was Larkin who was able to force the errors from Williams and claim the first game 11-7. The next game saw Williams take an early lead but Larkin remained composed and worked the rallies reducing his errors and putting the squeeze on Williams, Larkin claiming the second 11-5. Larkin continued to take the front foot in the third and whilst Williams battled hard it was not enough and Larkin claimed the game 11-7 and the title.

Thanks to the North Shore squash club for a great event, players will look to continue their form at the June PSA events.

All matches of the PSA draw were livestreamed and the link to the matches can be found here and here.

Photos of the winners can be found here.

All news articles and stories on the event can be found here.

Finals

[1] Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) bt [2] Megan Craig (NZL) 3-2: 11-8, 12-10, 13-15, 8-11, 11-9 (67mins)
[2] Joshua Larkin (AUS) bt [1] Evan Williams (NZL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (48mins)