Knight and Clyne in Final

Scotland’s Alan Clyne and New Zealand’s Martin Knight have made it through to the final of the Fitzherbert
Rowe Lawyers New Zealand International Squash Classic in Palmerston North today in contrasting styles. 

Clyne met Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal in the first semi-final in front of a large crowd at SquashGym and dominated
from the outset. The experience of Clyne showed throughout the match with his ability to stay cool under
pressure and make very few mistakes. Clyne was pleased with his performance, “I played really well today and
the game plan was to work him hard from the start.” His game plan worked well with Iqbal making a number
of errors in the third and final game when he began to tire. Clyne also defeated Iqbal at the World Teams
Championships in June this year when they played number one for their respective countries.

In the second semi-final New Zealand’s Martin Knight pulled out a gutsy 85 minute win over Leo Au from
Hong Kong. The two players were very evenly matched throughout the four games with the third set crucially
going Knight’s way 15 – 13. “I was very happy with how I played tonight and the back half of the third set
seemed to take forever, but I knew that it was vital that I got through it as it was crucial for the overall result of
the match”, Knight said.

Knight is used to having to back up the next day after long matches and is aware of what lies in store tomorrow. “I played Alan (Clyne) in Malaysia earlier this year and he beat me 3 – 1, I need to
get on the pace early in the match tomorrow and then attack when I get opportunities, no one has managed to
pressure Alan at the tournament so far so I need to get on top early.” Knight is also hopeful that home court
advantage will help lift him tomorrow as there should be another capacity crowd at SquashGym.

The final is at 3.00pm tomorrow (Sunday 7 September). Entry is free for spectators and the match will also be
streamed ‘live’ online: http://new.livestream.com/NBLlivestreaming/events/2377210/statuses/29263012. 

The finals of the Manawatu Classic will also be streamed as per below.

Streaming Schedule

1pm: Manawatu Classic (men's) final.  Pablo Rawden (ENG) vs Douggie Kempsell (SCO)
2pm: Manawatu Classic (women's) final.  Kerry Wickett (NZL) vs Danielle Fourie (NZL)
3pm: New Zealand International Classic final.  Alan Clyne (SCO) vs Martin Knight (NZL)

Semi Final Results, Saturday 7 September

(1)Alan Clyne (Scotland) beat (4) Nasir Iqbal (Pakistan) 11 – 4, 11 – 6, 11 – 7. 36 mins
(3) Martin Knight (New Zealand) beat (2) Leo Au (Hong Kong) 11 – 9, 9 – 11, 15 – 13, 13 – 11. 85 mins