Team USA’s Timmy Brownell claimed the first PSA Copper title of his career in a new milestone, topping the $31,250 Charlottesville Open draw Sunday October 5, at the University of Virginia’s McArther Squash Center.
The 28-year-old was the No.1 seed for this event and had overcome some difficult tests en route to this final, including the talented young Pakistani player Noor Zaman in the semifinals.
Standing between him and the trophy 24 hours later was another rising star of the men’s game in Salman Khalil, the reigning CSA individual champion who was looking to become the second consecutive unseeded player to win this event, after Muhammad Asim Khan 12 months ago.
Instead, though, it was Brownell who left Charlottesville with the trophy, earning his fourth PSA Tour title in the process, and his first since October 2022.
With a healthy crowd predominantly on his side, Brownell made a confident start, with the first point of the match the only time he would trail in game one. A trademark corkscrew boast brought cheers from the spectators midway through game one and having closed it out 11-6, he looked to be easing into a two-game lead at 10-6 up in the second.
But Khalil had other ideas, reeling off six points on the bounce to take game two and level the score, letting out another of the huge roars of emotion we’d seen after his semi-final win.
Game three was always likely to be both tight and decisive, and so it proved as Brownell clinched it 11-9, turning to the crowd with his arms outstretched before the players headed off court.
Brownell had looked the fresher of the two players throughout game three and while Khalil pushed hard to keep himself in the contest, he began to fade in game four, seeing his hopes of a comeback evaporate as the American raced into an 8-2 lead.
The Egyptian was never going to throw in the towel, but Brownell was in no mood to give him a look-in, bringing up seven match balls at 10-3 before ripping a forehand winner into the nick.
“It feels great,” Brownell said after his win. “This is a World level event and I really wanted play some more of these types of event this year. Last year was my first year playing against all the top players in the biggest event and I was playing a lot of Mostafa (Asal) and Ali (Farag) first round and I wasn’t getting a lot of matches. So the goal this year was to get more matches and play some more players of my level and I really enjoyed it.”
The PSA Copper title has subsequently sent the American six places up the world rankings to world No. 32.
