James Willstrop of England won the Pakistan open squash championship here on Friday after beating Australian Anthony Ricketts in a hard fought four-game final. The 21-year-old Willstrop, who won the world junior title two years ago, won 6-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-3 in the gruelling 65-minute battle for the trophy. "I am delighted to win the title and it will further my career and my rankings," said lanky Willstrop, who hails from Norfolk in England.
"Anthony made it tough for me and since the pace of the match was fast I kept playing my shots which paid off," said Willstrop, seeded 10th in the event.
The 25-year-old Ricketts, from Sydney, had dethroned defending champion Jonathon Power of Canada while Willstrop had upset countryman and number two seed Nick Matthew in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Ricketts, a member of the Australian world team championship winning squad last year and seeded 14th here, started aggressively, taking the first game 11-6 with some exquisite drop shots.
Ranked 12th in the world, Willstrop changed his plans and dictated terms from the front of the court to exploit Ricketts's tiredness from the marathon five-game semi-final.
The Englishman won the second and third games 11-9, 13-11.
Sensing victory, Willstrop attacked from the outset in the fourth game and took it 11-3 to wrap up his first major title on the circuit.
"James played really well and I was physically flat after a tough encounter on Thursday and that was my weak link," said Ricketts.
Willstrop, who won the world junior title in Madras, India, in 2002, said he aims to win the world title in the near future.
"I am right up there and the next target is to win a big event like the world open," said Willstrop.
Pakistan's former great Jansher Khan is the only player to have won both the world junior title (1986) and world senior title (1987) in the sport once dominated by Pakistan.
Pakistan's seven players got main round entry but only Shahid Zaman reached the last eight.