Harinder Pal Sandhu falls at final hurdle in Christchurch

Christchurch: Higher-seeded Harinder Pal Sandhu went down to England's Declan James in the final of the final of the USD 10,000 Christchurch International squash tournament here on Sunday.

James, who was the runner up in the previous event in Palmerston North in New Zealand, won 8-11 12-10 11-9 11-6 in 67 minutes.

It was a contest of contrasting styles. While the tall James was exquisite in his movements and pick ups, the Indian was quicker on the court. When Sandhu shot his way up grabbing the first game with his power-packed returns, unforced errors cost him from there.

The Indian lost a close second and led 7-3 in the third and the score read 9-9 when he lost out, clipping the tin once and then getting a 'no let' on his good drive. The fight began to ebb out from there as the stronger James picked up his fifth career PSA title.