Essex left-hander Peter Barker halted a 14-month run without a PSATour title in style in Canada, when he overpowered Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez in straight games to win the $50,000 Bluenose Classic in Halifax.
The world no.8’s last Tour trophy was the Malaysian Open in September last year, but the 31-year-old second seed made up for lost time by despatching the fourth-seeded Rodriguez 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 in 62 minutes and recording the 16th Tour title of his career.
Barker ensured the Colombian was unable to reproduce the form he showed in knocking out top seed Borja Golan in straight games the previous day with a display of precision and accuracy.
However, the England international, who conceded just one game during the Halifax tournament, admitted afterwards that the win was not as comfortable as the scoreline suggested.
“Towards the end of the match I was hanging on a bit,” said Barker. “I was happy to see the match through.
“Miguel’s game has come on a lot since he started working with David Palmer. He’s disciplined and he has bags of speed. He made it a tough encounter.”
It was Palmer who beat Barker on his previous final appearance in the Bluenose Classic, in 2009.
Barker reached the final with a 3-0 victory over Essex colleague Daryl Selby. In his post-match interview, Daryl acknowledged “a few problems” physically other than simply being fatigued after a brutal 3-2 quarter-final win the night before, but also credited Barker for keeping him under pressure at the back of the court, noting, “Pete was too strong”.
Selby also credited Alister Walker’s efforts the night before, and noted he was “delighted to come through that” and “today was a bit of a bonus”.