World No. 1 Manek Mathur collected his second consecutive SDA title without dropping a game with first-time partner Zac Alexander, to claim their maiden Hamilton Cup at the Denver Club Invitational in Colorado.
After claiming the season-opening Maryland Club Open title with Chris Callis two weeks ago, Mathur forged a new partnership with Australian Commonwealth Games gold medalist Zac Alexader to lead the eight-team SDA Silver draw as the top seeds.
Mathur & Alexander surged through the draw with a clinical quarterfinal win over Alex Domenick & Travis Judson and edging four seeds Adam Bews & Jacques Swanepoel in a close three games to reach the final.
The bottom half of the draw saw two seeds John Roberts & Hameed Ahmed overcome Carl Baglio & Jordan Greenberg in a tight five-game semifinal 15-10, 8-15, 15-12, 14-15, 15-10. The result marked Roberts’ second career SDA final appearance and Ahmed’s first.
The final was all Mathur & Alexander, however, as the top seeds powered to a three-game victory 15-6, 15-11, 15-11.
The 2018 Denver Club Invitational was the first iteration of the event since 2014 to be held as a full ranking event. While Mathur celebrates his second title of the season in just as many weeks and first Hamilton Cup, Alexander collects his first career SDA title.
“It’s great to get that first title under the belt, still very much learning the game I think,” Alexander said. “This definitely gives me confidence to have a good season and progress. I’d like to be a stable top five or ten player for the next few years.”
Mathur & Alexander could oppose each other on court this weekend at the Big Apple Open with Mathur & Chris Callis and Alexander & Jonny Smith seeded first and fourth, respectively.
“It was our first event together though we’ve known and played against each other since we were fifteen years old,” Alexander said. “We know each other’s games and we’re good mates, which I think counts the most. The Denver Club is a sensational club with great atmosphere, passionate members and a great head pro in Binnsy. Hopefully Manek and I can defend our title next time around.”