The 2018-2019 SDA Pro Tour season came to a fitting conclusion with four of the season’s most in-form players–John Russell & Scott Arnold and Greg McArthur & James Stout–contesting a repeat Buffalo Club Pro Doubles final Sunday, May 12, in upstate New York.

Both sides were tested on their way to the final. Russell & Arnold entered the draw as the three seeds, and needed four close games to win their opener against Canadians Joshua Hollings & Chris Sachvie, 15-13, 11-15, 15-12, 15-11. Russell & Arnold then managed to dispatch two seeds Will Mariani & James Bamber in three games to reach the final.

Stout & McArthur, the top seeds, were on the brink of elimination in the semifinals, where they found themselves two games down against Omar El Kashef & Imran Khan. In the quarterfinals, Kashef & Khan had come out on top of a five game upet over four seeds Hameed Ahmed and Adam Perkiomaki, but this time couldn’t hold onto the lead as Stout & McArthur turned the match on its head to win 12-15, 14-15, 15-6, 15-6, 15-3.

Stout & McArthur carried their momentum into Sunday morning’s final and were on the brink of their second straight Buffalo final victory against Russell & Arnold, taking the first two games 15-9, 15-13 and holding a championship ball at 14-all in the third. Russell & Arnold fought off the championship ball to take the third, and mounted a comeback to clinch the title in five 15-10, 15-11.

“We lost against the same team in last year’s final so it feels great to get them back this year,” Russell said. “After winning the third the momentum seriously swung in our favor. Scott started the fifth game with five straight winners which was the lead we carried all the way home.”

Russell & Arnold celebrate their second title in Buffalo having won the inaugural event in 2017.

The result holds even more significance for Russell, who wraps up the most successful spell of his career by garnering the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career come June 1. The Englishman had already earned a career high ranking of world No. 2 in May on the heels of three straight titles at the Graham Company Cup and career-first title runs at the Tavern Club Open and Kellner Cup. The season-ending title marks Russell’s fifth of the season and twelfth overall.

“This season I’ve played with seven different partners, I’d like to thank all of them for helping me to achieve my first ever #1 ranking,” Russell said. “Tom Hayes runs a fantastic event! Buffalo is a great town with a great squash following.”

Over the course of the 2018-2019 season, Russell won two titles with Arnold, one with James Bamber, Greg Park and Chris Callis–who Russell displaces at world No. 1–reached the PDC Cup final with Hameed Ahmed, and made appearances with Dane Sharp and Yvain Badan early in the season.

One month after their triumph at the R&T Challenger, James Stout & Greg McArthur closed out the 2017-2018 SDA season with a flourish, by claiming their first SDA Gold title at the second Buffalo Pro Doubles at the Buffalo Club in New York.

Stout & McArthur’s only lost game of the tournament came in the first round against Canadians Tyler Hamilton & Robert Nigro, who were dispatched in four games. The R&T Challenger champs then upset four seeds Adam Bews & Zac Alexander in a decisive three-game quarterfinal. Elsewhere in the draw’s bottom half, Bobby Burns & Omar El Kashef knocked out two seeds Fred Reid & Clive Leach in four games to reach their first career SDA Gold semifinal together. Stout & McArthur ended Burns & El Kashef’s surprise run in the semis to reach their second consecutive final.

In the top half of the draw, both seeds advanced to the semifinals where defending champions and top seeds John Russell & Scott Arnold held off Will Mariani & Thomas Brinkman in four games.

The final proved to be a one-sided affair as Stout McArthur dethroned Russell & Arnold 15-8, 15-7, 15-6.

“We were playing well heading into the tournament, having won the R&T Challenger, but knew there would be stiffer competition with Russell and Arnold looking to defend their title, and four or five other strong pairs playing,” Stout said. “Greg and I played well on the court and felt confident that we could slow down the pace of the game with high lobs and soft shots to the front of the court, whilst also taking the ball early and injecting pace when necessary.”

Stout & McArthur first made a statement this season by reaching the semifinals of the David C. Johnson Memorial, which they followed up with another strong performance in New York City by winning the R&T Challenger–their first title together in five years.

The Buffalo Pro Doubles was just the fourth SDA appearance of the season for the Stout & McArthur partnership with both players juggling other responsibilities outside of the tour. Stout is also a full-time Rackets professional, while McArthur is a professional at Sleepy Hollow.

“It’s exciting to win our first SDA Gold event,” McArthur said. “It definitely felt like we were continuing our momentum from the previous two events and did well to execute our game plan again this weekend. It’s been tough for James and I to regularly play on the tour over recent seasons, and to be honest I wasn’t sure of playing many SDA events in the future, but these last three tournaments have really given us a confidence boost and proven that we can compete with and beat the top teams. Hopefully we can continue to improve next season.”

“It feels great closing out the season with a win in Buffalo, especially with it being an SDA Gold event,” Stout said. “The 2017-2018 season was really positive for Greg and I, as we played well in all the tournaments and managed to win the last couple of events as a bonus. We hope to keep moving forward next season.”

2018 marked just the second edition of the Buffalo Pro Doubles, which was initially held as an SDA Silver event last season.

“This was my first time playing in Buffalo and I was impressed by how well run it was,” McArthur said. “Credit to the organizers for raising even more prize money to make it a gold event this season. All of the pros appreciated the hospitality and it was great to see such a knowledgeable and passionate doubles membership. I’m looking forward to coming back next year to defend our title.”

With the Buffalo Pro Doubles, the 2017-2018 SDA season comes to a close. Next moth, the third annual SDA combine will introduce new prospects to the game on June 2 at the Apawamis Club in Rye, New York.

Watch live stream replays below. View images in the SDA Smugmug gallery.

John Russell & Scott Arnold ended the 2016-2017 SDA season on a high note with a perfect run to the inaugural SDA Silver Buffalo Club Pro Doubles title in upstate New York.

The Buffalo Club’s doubles court is only four years old, and in addition to hosting the 2016 National Doubles, brought professional doubles back to Buffalo for the first time in the SDA era with this $25,000, eight-team main draw event.

Russell, world No. 6, & Arnold, world No. 9, led the draw as the top seeds and ran away with the title with three, three-game victories. The draw did have a big upset in the form of Canadian’s Will Mariani & Thomas Brinkman, who upset two seeds Bernardo Samper & Raj Nanda in a five-game, first-round comeback after going down 2-0. The Canadians needed another five games in the semifinals to upset three seeds Imran Khan & Greg Park. In the final, Russell & Arnold halted their run 15-12, 15-3, 15-12.

The title marks Russell’s first title of the season in his fourth final appearance, and Arnold’s second in addition to February’s Baltimore Cup.

“It felt great finishing the season with a victory,” Russell said. “Scott played great all weekend and we gelled very well considering we’ve never played together before. Buffalo is a great squash town and we were treated like kings. Tom Hayes, head pro at the buffalo club, did a fantastic job organizing the event with all our possible needs catered for.”

Russell faced his fellow Englishman and 2015 World Doubles partner Clive Leach in the semifinals and will hope to defend his title at the 2017 World Doubles in St. Louis, September, 21-24.

“I’m looking forward to getting some summer training under my belt to get in the best possible shape to try and retain the world championship in September,” Russell said.

For more information on the 2017 World Doubles, visit www.worlddoubles.com.

Watch Buffalo Pro Doubles live stream replays on the SDA Youtube. View Buffalo Pro Doubles images in the SDA SmugMug gallery.