Nottingham 1
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 4
Brian Hargrave reports from Nottingham

Over 40 supporters of Benz-Bavarian Duffield made the short journey down the Brian Clough Way to The Park at Nottingham for the East Midlands “local derby” , The Nottingham Club was packed to capacity for the visit of the defending champions.

Tania Bailey quells brave
fight-back from Sarah Kippax

Sarah Kippax lost to Tania Bailey 3-9, 0-9, 5-9

Spoilt for choice as to which rubbers should be played on the show court the ladies had to settle for playing first on to the outside court. Tania Bailey , National champion and worlds No 6, faced Sarah Kippax, Eng No 11. Bailey raced into a 6-0 lead before Kippax settled her nerves to win 3 quick points. However, Bailey halted this run and the next 3 points saw her take the first game 9-3. The England No 1 showed little mercy for her young opponent taking the second game 9-0 in just 3 minutes. Kippax came out fighting in the third recovering from 3-0 down to lead 5-3 as she matched Bailey shot for shot showing her true potential with some impressive attacking squash to put Bailey under pressure for the first time.

Bailey showed why she is England No 1 by steadying the ship and taking the game and the match without conceding another point. Kippax should take heart from a performance particularly in the third game and her efforts should give her the confidence to repeat and maintain that standard in the future.

Binns attempts to fly thwarted by
Drew boy who keeps his feet on the ground

Jethro Binns lost to Lee Drew 3-9, 7-9, 9-7, 3-9

Meanwhile on the show-court Jethro Binns from Wales faced the experienced Lee Drew , Eng No 19.

Drew always held the upper hand in the first game to win 9-3 in just 8 minutes. Binns seemed to have the edge in the second keeping his nose in front to lead 7-6 before Drew reeled of three quick points to establish a 2 nil lead. Drew then established a 6-1 lead in the third but suddenly lost complete concentration and hit a succession of shots into the tin to allow his opponent back into the match in a remarkable turn around. Drew re-grouped and cut out the cross courts to take the fourth game 9-3. The highlight of the rubber was a rally which saw Binns literally flying around the court to hit three consecutive shots at full stretch from a horizontal position – quite amazing but very enjoyable to watch.

Walsh “whipped” as Andy seals victory

Duncan Walsh lost to Andrew Whipp 0-9, 10-12, 3-9

Next on the outside court was British Masters over 40 champion, Duncan Walsh against Andy Whipp, Eng 23.

Whipp was too hot for Walsh and took the first game 9-0 in just 4 minutes. Walsh hit back and the second game was nip and tuck and Walsh played some impressive squash but failed to capitalise on game balls at 8-7 and 10-9. Whipp made him pay for this missed opportunity and in just 21 minutes had sealed victory for the defending champions.

Parke’s meter finally runs out

Simon Parke lost to Jonathan Kemp 6-9, 8-10, 9-5, 4-9

With the game on show court in progress Simon Parke knew he was only playing for pride in a rubber involving two players ranked 7 and 9 respectively in England . The higher ranked home favourite always gives 100% and his retrieval skills never cease to amaze me. However, Kemp was impressing with all aspects of his game volleying to good effect and working his opponent all around the court. Parke has the ability to suddenly turn defence into attack and from seemingly being on the ropes can gain the upper hand.

In a fiercely competitive first game Kemp just had the better of his opponent. The second game was even closer but Kemp somehow squeezed through 10-8. Parke got his just reward by taking the third 9-5 but at a cost. His recent trip to Canada possibly took its toll in the fourth and Kemp playing some of his best ever squash for Duffield took the fourth 9-5 to give Kemp, Eng no 9, the confidence that he has the ability to move further up the world rankings. The capacity crowd showed their appreciation of a very entertaining match enjoying the friendly banter between Simon and Wendy who was wise to Simon ploy of getting his breath back after the many hard and long rallies.

Hee “nicks” it to cheer up the home supporters

Ong Beng Hee bt Nick Matthew 10-8, 13-11, 9-6

The eagerly awaited return of Nick Matthew, world No 7, to the to the City where he became the first English man to with the British Open in 69 years was heightened by On Beng Hee, world No 15, making his home debut. The two players train together and the first game was high in quality of squash but suggested that both players knew their opponents game. The first game could have gone either way but Hee delighted the home supporters with a score of 10-8 in his favour. Matthew seemed to just have the edge in an even closer second game but missed out on two game points which Hee duly punished by taking the game 13-11 after noisy intervention by a home supporter who suddenly decided to call a ball down in the middle of a rally.

On some occasions the referees need help but tonight all referees had given a faultless display.

The loss of the second game left Matthew with a Malaysian mountain to climb and possibly with his team home and dry Matthew finally had to settle for second best on the night thus cheering up the home supporters. Matthew was not too downhearted in defeat as he felt that he had hit the ball well throughout and had done little wrong. A biased manager felt that the ball had not run kindly for his No 1 at a couple of crucial stages but credit must be given to Ong who played very tight squash with some delightful winners which wrong footed his opponent.

Duffield had maintained their 100% record and retained the www.pdhsports.com trophy played for twice yearly between the two PSL teams.

Earlier in the evening the juniors had shared the spoils.

Thanks to Nick Clifford who deserves a medal for his “jack of all trades” efforts on the night.

University Sport Birmingham 4 Pontefract 1
Jonny Powell reports from Birmingham

With the crystal ball prediction at 3-2 either way, this fixture was set to be a tense one. First on court 2 were Laura Lengthorn and Shelley Kitchen, World #13 and #15 respectively. The first game was close with neither player giving anything away.

The point for point battle emerged with Laura winning 9/7. Laura hit a hot streak in the second and third games where everything was going right. A series of deceptive boasts and well held cross court drops let her cruise to a 3-0 victory.

First to take to court 1 were Jaymie Haycocks and Nathan Cole. It was clear from the knock up that Haycocks was the superior player. Haycocks kept Cole under constant pressure and demonstrated his ability to take the ball in short and win rallies. 21 minutes was all it took for Haycocks to secure University Sport Birmingham a 3-0 victory.

Next onto court 1 were World University bronze medallist Joel Hinds and Andy Cross. Joel was much the favourite for this fixture but Cross was out to prove he was a force to be reckoned with. The first started off with some long rallies and both players adding points to their accounts.

Hinds was able to keep his head and emerge the victor 9/5. Hinds got off to a slow start in both the 2nd and 3rd games and Cross capitalised on this by gaining himself a 5/1 lead in both. Hinds fought back though and played good steady squash to win them 9/6, 9/7 and give Birmingham another 3-0 win.

Joey Barrington and James Willstrop were the next to take to court 2 in the match the crowd had been waiting for. Both players headed into the first with extremely attack minded squash, taking the ball in short at every opportunity.

Barrington established a 6/4 lead but a controversial let decision allowed Willstrop to regain composure and take the first 9/7. The second saw Barrington eager to fight back. From 6/4 down he managed to find the poise to win the next 5 points in a row to take the game 9/6. Willstrop came out of the blocks fast in the 3rd and quickly found himself in a commanding 7/3 lead. Barrington battled on but lost out 9/7.

The 4th was a close game with neither player taking any sort of real lead. Both players continued with their attacking tactics which resulted in some extremely exciting, crowd pleasing squash. Barrington took it 9/7. It was clear that Barrington was fatigued from his 17hr flight home from Pakistan early that day but this didn’t stop him giving his all in the last game.

Barrington quickly found himself with an 8/2 advantage, a deficit that proved too much for even James Willstrop to recover from and took the last 9/5. This was truly an excellent game of squash played in good spirits, one which the crowds will remember for a long time to come. After the match Joey said “I should spend more time eating nuts, raisins, crackers and protein shakes in Pakistan… but seriously, it’s always great to play James because he plays such fair continuous squash.”

Last on to court were Birmingham’s Jonny Harford and BUSA champion and World #56 Saurav Ghosal. Jonny started playing fast and furious squash, perhaps inspired by the attack orientated fixture that has preceded his. This tempo proved too much for Ghosal and Harford cruised into a 2-0 lead.

However, Harford was clearly tired after having started at such an electrifying pace and was unable to reproduce the form of the first two games. Ghosal picked up on this and was able to take control of the match winning the next three games 9/7 9/6 9/4.

Another victory for Birmingham will keep them at the top of the table and we’ll be eager to see how they perform in their next fixture against Nottingham.