Englishman, Lyell Fuller and Canadian, Lockie Munro upset the number one seeds to win the inaugural $15,000 Louisville Pro title—the first Professional Men’s Doubles event of the season—October 9, at the Louisville Boat Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Fuller & Munro opened up their tournament with a three-game win over Louisville Boat Club head professional Lee Scott & John Hatcher to set up a semifinal against 3/4 seeds Rafik Bhaloo and Matthew Dukarm.
An exciting start to the semifinal match saw Bhaloo & Dukarm take the first game 15-13, before Fuller & Munro staged a comeback, winning the next three games 15-4, 15-7, 15-10 to secure their spot in the finals, where they met top seeds Jaymie Haycocks and Chris Walker.
On the other side of the draw, Haycocks & Walker enjoyed a straight-forward path to the final with two 3-0 wins, including topping Josh Hughes and Alexander Schwartz in the semis 15-6, 15-9, 15-14.
The tournament concluded with a 67-minute battle between the top two seeds. A tight start to the match saw Fuller & Munro take the first game 15-14 before dropping the second 10-15. From there, it was smooth sailing for Fuller & Munro, claiming the final two games 15-4 and 15-9 to capture their first SDA title.
“It was super fun for Lyell and I to win our first title together,” Munro said. “It’s really fun when you get to compete with one of your best friends. We really started this SDA journey together so it’s exciting to get the ball rolling this season. We’re excited to get going the rest of the year and make a run at some of these big events!”
“Louisville is a cool place with awesome hospitality. This tournament could easily become one of the favorite stops on tour,” Munro added. “Amazing tournament hosts that are all very passionate about squash. It’s cool to see a community of squash players where you don’t think there would be one! Lee has done a great job building a program down there!”