Top seed Mohammed Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia with the trophy at the Calcutta Racket Club on Saturday. Picture by Gautam Bose

Calcutta: In a display of tremendous athleticism and fitness married to tactical brilliance, Mohammed Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia trounced Canadian Shahier Razik in straight games to lift the Calcutta International Squash Championship title at the Calcutta Racket Club here on Saturday.

The Malaysian top seed justified his billing, dazzling his Canadian opponent with a combination of power play and deft touches to clinch the issue 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 in 53 minutes.

Using the drop shot as his main weapon, the fleet-footed Azlan exploited a visibly tired Razik, who had survived a gruelling five-setter in the semi-finals Friday. The Malaysian displayed better court coverage and gave no chance to Razik, who three years ago had defeated Azlan in consecutive games in Japan.

“He is much better player now,” said Razik after the match adding, “I was hampered by stiffness in my legs? He’s more athletic and has tremendous muscle power.”

Despite coasting to victory, Azlan said, “It wasn’t an easy match at all. It was a very tactical game. I knew, if I gave him half-a-chance, he’ll make it count.

“The draw also went in my favour, with everyone tiring each other out, the job was half done,” said Azlan, after becoming richer by over $3, 000.

The Malaysian thus won his second PSA title in three weeks, having clinched the honours in the Papua New Guinea event last month, and also earned 350 points which is bound to push up his ratings from the present world rank of 16.

Azlan, who won all his matches in straight games except the first round tie against senior national champion Saurav Ghosal, raced to a 4-0 lead in the first game.

He increased it to 9-1 soon, before Razik claimed five consecutive points to narrow down the difference to 9-6. At that point, Azlan stopped experimenting too much and tried to move Razik around, the Canadian finally submitting 6-11 in 15 minutes.

The second game saw Razik put up a semblance of a fight as the two players went neck and neck till 5-5.

But Azlan, with his better stretch and an array of volleys, finished the game 11-7 in 21 minutes.

The third game was desperately one-sided, with Azlan closing the deal in 12 minutes to lay his hands on the crown.