Carraggi holds firm to overcome Kweekel in Scottish Open final epic

Number one seed Julien Carraggi maintained his composure to overcome Joran Kweekel in the Scottish Open Men’s Singles final in Glasgow.

Carraggi said: I feel exhausted after a long week but super happy, there’s no better way to finish the week so I’m looking forward to heading home now!”

Kweekel was out for revenge after the Belgian Carraggi had beaten him in the final of the Dutch international last year. However, the two do share an even 2-2 head-to-head record.

Perhaps this gave Kweekel early confidence as he raced into a four-nil lead. Mistakes were costing Carraggi as a misplaced shot into the net left him 11 to 6 down at the interval.

The number one seed began to regain his composure after the break, dominating the centre of the court to recover to a two-point deficit.

His powerful smashes forced Kweekel to work harder to retain his advantage, eventually falling behind Carraggi at 17 to 16.

A final smash from Carravaggi was enough to force Kweekel into a mistake, winning him the opening game 21 to 17.

To Kweekel’s credit, any disappointment he may have felt about the opening game was not apparent in his play, trading points with his opponents to take a 5-4 lead.

Despite Carraggi displaying an impressive variety of shots, the Belgian was making too many unforced errors, gifting Kweekel an 11-7 advantage at the second-game interval.

It seemed as if Kweekel had learned from the previous game’s mistakes as he managed to keep his opponent at arm’s length, maintaining a three-point lead on average.

An impressive recovery sprint saw Carraggi with two points at 19 to 17, but Kweekel was able to keep his composure and force the Belgian into a mistake at the net to take the second game 21 to 18.

Going into the deciding game, the rallies became a case of Carraggi’s immense speed overcoming the power of Kweekel’s backcourt play, giving the Belgian an 11 to 8 advantage at the final interval.

Whilst Kweekel was able to rely on mistakes from Carraggi to retain an advantage in the previous game, any errors the Belgian made were matched with powerful smashes to take him to a 19 to 25 lead.

An expertly placed drop from deep forced Kweekel to the net, where he cleared too long to give Carraggi the game and the match, winning the Scottish Open Men’s Singles title 21, 18, 21 to 17, 21, 15.