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SEVEN |
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• FINAL • SEMI-FINALS • Round TEN • NINE • EIGHT • SEVEN • SIX • FIVE • FOUR • THREE • TWO • ONE • |
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Round SEVEN, Tue 05-Feb:
Group A:
TABLES
Nottingham 0-5 Energie Fitness Redditch
Simon Parke 2-3 Renan Lavigne
6/9, 9/7, 9/5, 3/9, 2/9
Eddie Charlton 0-3 Jonathan Kemp
2/9, 3/9, 9/11
Lewis Walters 0-3 David Barnett
5/9, 7/9, 8/10
Mark Fuller 0-3 Jaymie Haycocks
5/9, 6/9, 7/9
Emma Beddoes 0-3 Jaclyn Hawkes 2/9,
3/9, 4/9
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 4-1 Esporta
Oxford
Andrew Whipp 3-2 Scott Handley
9/5, 8/10, 10/8, 7/9, 9/2
Alex Stait 3-0 Kristen Johnson
9/7, 9/4, 9/6
Nick Taylor 3-0 Thomas Phipps
9/6, 9/3, 11/9
Shaun le Roux 3-0 Dominic Hamilton 9/3, 9/7, 9/3
Laura Hill 0-3 Madeline Perry
7/9, 7/9, 6/9
University Sport Birmingham 4-1
Pontefract
Joey Barrington 3-0 Ryan Thompson
9/1, 9/7, 9/4
Stephen Coppinger 3-0 Colin Ramasra
9/4, 9/2, 9/6
Jonathan Tate lost 1-3 Neil Cordell
9/7, 1/9, 2/9, 4/9
Alistair Mutch 3-1 Sam Wileman
10/12, 9/4, 9/2, 9/3
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro 3-0 Lauren Siddall
9/6, 11/9, 9/3
Group B:
UniSport Guildford 1-4 Probuild Bristol
Stephen Meads 0-3 Adrian Grant
8/10, 5/9, 3/9
Phil Rushworth 0-3 Hadrian Stiff
5/9, 8/10, 5/9
Alex Ingham 0-3 Peter Marshall
2/9, 2/9, 11/13
Mick Biggs 1-3 Lewys Hurst
7/9, 10/8, 6/9, 4/9
Alison Waters 3-0 Sarah-Jane Perry
9/6, 9/7, 9/7
PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC 3-2
Luxfords St George's Hill
Wael El Hindi 3-0 Alister Walker
9/3, 9/3, 9/5
Davide Bianchetti 3-0 Daryl Selby
12/10, 10/8, 9/7
Ben Ford 1-3 Mark Krajcsak
6/9, 10/8, 7/9, 2/9
Adrian Waller 0-3 Joe Lee
7/9, 7/9, 5/9
Vicky Botwright 3-0 Rachel Willmott
9/4, 9/3, 11/9
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Round SEVEN,
05-Feb
Group A:
Nottingham v Redditch
Duffield v Oxford
Birmingham v Pontefract
Group A:
Guildford v Bristol
Surrey v St George's
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 CRYSTAL BALL
...
Brian puts Duffield down for a 3/2 win despite impressive
form from Kristen in the first half ... no such qualms for
Birmingham and Redditch, who are predicted 5-0 winners.
Bristol are set to prolong Guildford's drought with a 4-1
win while Surrey should do the business, 3-2.
Result: 8 out of 10 -
getting better! |
Next round 19-Feb
Nottingham v Duffield
Oxford v Pontefract
Redditch v Birmingham
Guildford v Surrey
St George's v Chichester |
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Duffield & Surrey H&RC Remain
Unbeaten - But
Redditch Give Chase~
Round 7 roundup from Howard Harding
Benz-Bavarian Duffield
and
PCL
Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC
extended their unbeaten
records in this season's Premier
Squash League (PSL) in contrasting styles - but newcomers
Energie Fitness Redditch
staged a late challenge to the Group A leadership with a 5/0 away
win over
Nottingham
in Tuesday's 7th round ties in the prestigious
England Squash league
sponsored by Towergate tlc.
Redditch, one of the few
teams unaffected by player commitments to the PSA Tour, got off to a
strong start against a significantly under-strength Nottingham squad
- with New Zealander Jaclyn
Hawkes and team-mate
Jaymie Haycocks claiming straight games wins to put the
visitors into the driving seat.
However, Nottingham stalwart
Simon Parke denied the Worcestershire club an overall
15-0 whitewash win when he fought back from a game down against
Redditch number one Renan
Lavigne to lead 2/1. But French international Lavigne, a
former Nottingham team-mate of Parke's, eventually came out on top -
winning 9-6, 7-9, 5-9, 9-3, 9-2 to give Redditch maximum points for
the night, and propel the club to third place in the Group A table.
Defending champions Duffield romped to their 22nd
successive tie without defeat with a 4/1 home win over
Esporta Oxford. But the visitors'
Madeline Perry, the
Irish international making her league comeback after sustaining a
serious head injury in a fall last October, gave a polished
performance to beat Duffield's
Laura Hill 9-7, 9-7, 9-6.
But it was one-way traffic for the hosts thereafter as
Shaun le Roux,
Nick Taylor and
Alex Stait went on to
clinch another victory for the title-holders.
Andrew Whipp delighted
the home crowd in the final match of the evening when he twice
stemmed comebacks by Scott
Handley before beating the Oxford number one 9-5, 8-10,
10-8, 7-9, 9-2.
Meanwhile
University
Sport Birmingham
maintained their grip on
second place in Group A - and reduced the gap behind Duffield by a
single point - when they beat a weakened
Pontefract squad 4/1 at
home. The Yorkshire club's
Lauren Siddall put in a brave performance against the
hosts' Laura Lengthorn-Massaro,
but the world No12 from Preston recorded a 9-6, 11-9, 9-3 win to
begin Birmingham's winning evening. Only
Neil Cordell saved
Pontefract's blushes with a 7-9, 9-1, 9-2, 9-4 win over
Jonathan Tate - the
teenager's second victory against the Birmingham team manager this
season.
PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC
maintained their
leadership of the Group B table - but the Croydon club were given
their toughest test of the season by visitors
Luxfords St George's Hill
before sneaking a 3/2 win after the top string decider. The
home team were facing defeat after
Adrian
Waller
and
Ben Ford lost out to
Joe Lee and
Mark Krajcsak,
respectively, following
Vicky Botwright's
opening match win against
Luxfords' Rachael Willmott.
However, Croydon's Italian international
Davide Bianchetti pulled
off a sensational 12-10, 10-8, 9-7 win over
Daryl Selby - the
25-year-old from Essex fresh from his surprise
Edinburgh Open title win
at the weekend. It was then left to the Surrey club's Egyptian
wizard Wael El Hindi
to work his magic against
Alister Walker - and the new world No9 duly obliged by
beating the St George's Hill number one 9-3, 9-3, 9-5.
Despite being give a perfect start by England international Alison Waters,
UniSport Guildford
were unable to provide strong enough opposition to visitors
Probuild Bristol to
improve on their fifth-placed position in Group B. Waters, the
women's title winner in Edinburgh, despatched Bristol's
Sarah-Jane Perry 9-6,
9-7, 9-7 - but it was Bristol success thereafter as
Lewys Hurst, Peter Marshall
and team captain Hadrian
Stiff all picked up comfortable wins.
In the top string clash, long-time
Guildford contributor
Stephen Meads was unable
to match the Tour sharpness of
Adrian
Grant.
The left-hander from London, who already boasts a
PSA
Tour
title this year, at the
Comfort Inn Open in
Vancouver, brushed Meads aside - winning 10-8, 9-5, 9-3.
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Duffield manager Brian Hargrave interviews the injured Nick Matthew,
world No 5, after Benz- Bavarian Duffield had beaten Esporta Oxford
4-1 to chalk up a 22nd consecutive victory in the PSL
Brian asked Nick: “Do you think you will get your place back when
fit” to which Nick replied “Not on Whippy’s blistering performance
tonight“.
However the Duffield management are hoping that Nick, a great
ambassador for squash, will be back on court in time for the play
offs which are almost guaranteed if Duffield win one more group tie.
Nick presented the Club with an England shirt signed by all the team
which recently won the world team championship.
All four players Nick Matthew, James Willstrop Le Beachill and Peter
Barker have at some time represented Duffield in the National League
now PSL.
The shirt will be framed and hung on the glass back court hall of
fame for posterity.
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A whole different ball game
on Shrove Tuesday
Brian Hargrave reports
On a Shrove Tuesday when the large ball is fought for in the famous
towns of Ashbourne in Derbyshire and the Duffield manager’s beloved
Atherstone in Warwickshire the defending champions faced a potential
banana skin with both teams somewhat depleted at the top of the
order. Would this be the day that Duffield’s fantastic unbeaten run
went as flat as a tossed pancake?
Ruthless Roux
Shaun le Roux bt Dominic Hamilton 9-3, 9-7, 9-3 (18 mins)
First on court was Shaun Le Roux ranked 30 in England and he was
back in the changing rooms just 18 minutes later after despatching a
brave but outclassed Dominic Hamilton the Oxfordshire No 2. The
first game lasted just 4 minutes as Le Roux had time and space to
confidently hit winners at will. The second was much closer with the
only danger being lapses of concentration for the England U23 No 1.
Le roux allowed his opponent to keep in touch to 7 all but then
edged home 9-7. Hamilton had done his best but could not handle the
superior racket skills of his opponent who went for the kill in a
quick fire third game. Le Roux had recorded his third consecutive
win in the PSL and has proved to be a key signing to fulfil the
mandatory 50% of the group rubbers required from an U23 player
whilst also justifying a place in the team on merit.
A missed opportunity as sometimes practise does not make perfect
Laura Hill lost to Madeline Perry 7-9, 7-9, 6-9 (24 mins)
On the show court every seat was taken with the crowd willing their
local girl, ranked 8 in England, to defeat the former world No 8
Madeline Perry herself a former Duffield National League player.
Both players looked uncomfortable and this short version of the game
certainly doesn’t allow the players to settle easily. Frenetic short
rallies were the order of the evening and mistakes were aplenty.
Perry established an early lead in the first game and Hill found
playing catch up hard work. At 7-7 Hill drifted a backhand
cross-court lob just out of court and then Perry seized her game
point with a tight forehand boast. The second game started well for
Perry as she established a 7-3 lead, but Hill began to find her
backhand length and levelled again at 7-7. Hill was a little
unfortunate to be denied a stroke which might well have turned the
match in her favour. A lack of match play was evident in Hill’s game
and she made two crucial errors and in this format that meant Perry
went 2-0 up. Hill started the 3rd game well with better lengths
restricting Perry’s all court game, but at 6-5 two backhand volleys
went in the tin and with a good serve and volley Perry held match
ball. Perry seized this first opportunity with an immaculate
forehand volley and it was Perry’s forehand kills which separated
the two.
Hill did her best as ever realising that Perry, just back from a
lengthy lay off after a nasty off court fall, was vulnerable after a
flight back from the USA. All 3 games were very close and Hill had
her chances in each but just could not play the decisive tight drop
when the opportunity arose. Hill was disappointed and a little hard
on herself afterwards. It might well have been down to a bit too
much practising and training and not enough match play. Supporters
were left with the feeling that if Hill could have won one game she
could easily have gone on the create an upset.
Taylor made victory
Nick Taylor bt Thomas Phipps 9-6, 9-3, 11-9 (26 mins)
On the outside court the veteran Nick Taylor was taking on an
extremely fit young opponent Tom Phipps who had two PS victories
under his belt. The first was very close with Taylor’s superior
skills cancelled out by his opponent’s willingness to chase lost
causes. Nip and tuck to 6 all but Taylor kept his cool playing some
delightful squash to squeeze home 9-7. Taylor was in complete
control in the second roiling back the years as he hit some great
winners with some delightful feathered touch shots. There were
warning signs in the third that Phipps was not going to go down
without a fight and there was never more than one point difference
before Phipps had two game balls which he could not convert. The
experienced British 035 champion kept his cool and sealed the third
game (and rubber) 11-9 at his first opportunity. A very professional
performance.
Stait back on the straight and narrow
Alex Stait bt Kristen Johnson 9-7, 9-4, 9-6 (25 mins)
After failing to covert 3 match balls in his PSL match at Redditch
the previous week followed buy an early exit in the BSPA event at
Edinburgh on Friday plus struggling to shake off a niggling knee
injury put this second string clash down as crucial to the outcome
of the tie knowing that the No 1 strings were just one England
ranking place apart..
Johnson was undefeated in the PSL this season and had beaten Joel
Hinds of Birmingham in round 6.
Stait seemed much happier with himself from the off and quickly
established a 6-2 lead which narrowed to 6-4. Stait reached game
point at 8-4 but Johnson got back to 8-7 before gifting Stait the
winning point. Stait was now gaining in confidence and in full flow
looking to be back to his best entertaining the supporters with his
variety of shots. The Duffield No 2 never thereafter allowed his
concentration to slip taking the next two games 9-4 9-6 in just 25
minutes to record Duffield’s 22nd consecutive victory in the PSL. .
An impressive performance.
Whippy puts the icing on the cake
Andrew Whipp bt Scott Handley 9-5, 8-10, 10-8, 7-9, 9-2 (50 mins)
The pressure was off Whippy and the full house settled back into
their seats. This was all action stuff from both players who matched
each other for speed around the court taking it in turns to turn
lost causes into winning rallies. Whippy just had that little bit of
extra pace and firepower in the first which he won 9-5. Handley was
moving well and established an 8-5 lead in the second and despite
levelling the game slipped from Whippy 10-8. The players stood toe
to tie in the third cracking the ball even harder at every
opportunity and from every angle. The Manchester man was first to
game ball but Handley levelled only to be denied 10-8. The crowd
were enjoying every rally almost wanting the game to go to a fifth
and Handley duly obliged by edging the fourth 9-7. Whippy was now
getting serious and from 2-0 down in the fifth blitzed his way home
by reeling off 9 consecutive points as he went for the kill in a
rubber lasting just under the hour. Both players received a warm
round of applause for their efforts and the Crystal Ball prediction
of a 3-2 win was just a little out.
Benz- Bavarian Duffield’s next match will be away against local
rivals Nottingham on 19 Feb. Top v bottom means nothing when it
comes to the other big sporting local derby so reserve your place
now,.
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Saver Special
The Duffield Squash and Tennis Clubs have signed up to a Derbyshire
Building Society Community Saver account similar to the Derby County
Rams Account.
The Club is privileged to be offered the opportunity to raise funds
for junior development and to improve facilities for members and
join a list of other big clubs such as Sheffield Wed, Chesterfield,
Grimsby and Mansfield.
The Community Saver account should be available later this week. The
rates of interest will be 4.00% for customers investing up to £5000
and 4.50% for balances over £5000. The clubs will then receive a
further 1% paid on an annual basis. The account will then become
available for members and non members to open the account.
Members can pick up an information pack and are asked to encourage
friends and relations to join. The two clubs will in turn continue
to support county squash at all levels and allow organisations
within the village to use our smart newly refurbished “board room”
and lounge for meetings and appropriate social functions.
One of the first persons to sign on the dotted line was Duffield
star Nick Matthew, Wr No 5 and England No 2.
“This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in squash or
tennis to receive a competitive rate of interest and ensure that the
two Clubs receive additional income to help develop the junior
sections,” said the England star.
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PSL TABLES (after Round Seven)
Ties Matches
Games Pts
P W L W L W L
Group A:
Benz-Bavarian Duffield
7 7 0 28 7 89 42 124
University Sport Birmingham
7 5 2 22 13 80 53 105
Energie Fitness Redditch
7 2 5 18 17 67 62 77
Esporta Oxford
7 3 4 14 21 56 79 71
Pontefract
7 2 5 12 23 50 77 60
Nottingham
7 2 5 11 24 49 78 59
Group B:
Surrey H&RC
6 6 0 22 8 74 39 104
PNH Properties Chichester
5 4 1 15 10 55 45 75
Probuild Bristol
6 2 4 14 16 60 60 70
Luxfords St George's Hill
5 1 4 10 15 39 53 44
UniSport Guildford
6 1 5 9 21 36 67 41
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