Australian former PSA touring professionals Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley won their first professional doubles title in their second season on the SDA Pro Tour at the second Ox Ridge Open, March 17-20, in Darien, Connecticut.
The eight-team Bronze draw saw an early exit of top seeds Graham Bassett & Clive Leach at the hands of Josh Hughes and B.G. Lemmon. PSA pros Chris Hanson & Chris Binnie pulled off another first-half upset in the bottom half of the draw over four seeds Travis Judson & Alex Domenick after going 2-0 down 12-15, 11-15, 15-10, 15-10, 15-10 in ninety-six minutes.
Elsewhere in the bottom half of the draw, two seeds Hamed Anvari & Clinton Leeuw reached the final courtesy of a four-game, seventy-nine-minute win over Hanson & Binnie 15-11, 12-15, 15-11, 15-9.
Cuskelly & Pilley’s only dropped game of the tournament was their first against surprise National Doubles finalists Lockie Munro & Lyell Fuller. The Aussies were perfect from there on out, dispatching Hughes & Lemmon in a three-game semifinal and Anvari & Leeuw in the final 15-10, 15-5, 15-7.
The title held special meaning for Cuskelly, who recently based himself at the Ox Ridge Riding & Racquet club.
“It’s been great to meet many people and hadve some really tough matches this weekend,” Cuskelly said. “I’d like to thank all of the sponsors and amateurs for making this event possible. I’m new here and super excited to win my first SDA event with Cameron at my home club.”