Nigeria’s squash star, Babatunde Ajagbe, has reached the semifinals of the Windsor City Open 2023 in Canada.
Ajagbe, 36, bowed to homeboy, George Crowne, in the last four on Friday. He had defeated Tyson Schille and Abbas Nawaz in the previous rounds of the men’s 6k event.
The Nigerian, seeded No. 3, lost 3-1 to seventh-seed Crowne in four games (11-9, 4-11, 11-13, 5-11). Ajagbe is ranked No.199 in the world and described as the Nigerian No.1 by Professional Squash Association (PSA).
Ajabe took the opening game 11-9 to silence the supporting home crowd but Crowne responded strongly in the second game, winning 11-4 to equalise. The African led 10-7 in the third game but squandered all game balls to allow Crowne back in. The Canadian took full advantage of this and played the final points extremely well to steal the game 13-11. Crowne got off to the perfect start in the fourth game and ran out to an 11-5 victory.
TOP MEDIA reports that a home winner is guaranteed at the PSA Challenger Tour competition (the men’s category).
Results: Men’s semi-final
George Crowne bt Babatunde Ajagbe 3-1: 9-11, 11-4, 13-11, 11-5 (42 minutes)
Men’s final
Crowne vs Brett Schille (CAN)
Ajagbe’s semifinal match can be watched below (Video by CBC Sports):
