Round SEVEN:

Tue
3rd Feb  

Exeter hit back as Nottingham go top

It was a week when the UK was hit by its worst snowfall for 19 years, causing one PSL match to be called off, but the weather couldn't stop Exeter and Nottingham from regaining the top positions in the PSL tables.

With Group A leaders Chapel Allerton sitting this round out, any one of the remaining four teams could have taken over top spot if results went their way. In the event it was Nottingham, with an impressive 5-0 win at home to Oxford, who claimed pole position, while Pontefract, who started the evening in bottom position, did themselves a world of good with a convincing 4-1 win over group favourites Duffield.

In Group B leaders Surrey were stunned as Exeter came and conquered, a 4-1 win putting the Super League champions back on top. Meanwhile Bristol scored a 5-0 win at home to St George's, leaving defending champions Surrey in third place on countback.

With three rounds to go it's still all to play for though - any of the five teams can still qualify from Group A, but it looks like two from three in Group B ...


Group A:
Pontefract 4-1 Benz-Bavarian Duffield
  Lee Beachill 3-0 Andrew Whipp                      11-9, 11-7, 11-9
  Harinder Pal Sandhu 3-1 Alex Stait               13-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6
  Neil Cordell 3-0 Peter Billson                         15-13, 11-5, 11-1
  James Earles 0-3 Joel Hinds                          4-11, 9-11, 5-11
  Vanessa Atkinson 3-0 Millie Tomlinson          11-8, 11-3, 11-8

MB Nottingham 5-0 Esporta Oxford
  Renan Lavigne 3-1 Scott Handley                   12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10
  John Rooney 3-0 Jaymie Haycocks                  15-13, 11-1, 11-4
  Simon Parke 3-0 Kristen Johnson                   11-7, 11-4, 11-2
  Eddie Charlton 3-0 Anthony Graham               11-6, 11-8, 11-3
  Emma Beddoes 3-0 Deon Saffery                   11-3, 11-4, 11-4

Group B:
Probuild Bristol 5-0 TWP St George's Hill                     
  David Evans 3-1 Daryl Selby                          6-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-3
  Hadrian Stiff 3-1 Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan          11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9 (51m)
  Peter Marshall 3-2 Joe Lee                            11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (59m)
  Lewys Hurst 3-1 Neil Hitchens                         8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6
  Sarah-Jane Perry 3-1 Julie Peachey               9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 13-11
 
PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC 1-4 Exeter Diamonds  
  Davide Bianchetti 0-3 Stewart Boswell           7-11, 5-11, 4-11
  Tim Garner 0-3 Jonathan Kemp                     3-11, 7-11, 8-11
  Ben Ford 2-3 Tom Pashley                            14-12, 6-11, 4-11, 11-6, 4-11
  Adrian Waller 1-3 James Snell                       4-11, 11-4, 9-11, 7-11
  Vicky Botwright 3-0 Emma Chorley               11-7, 11-4, 11-8

Played Tuesday 24 March 2009

PNH Properties Chichester 3 UniSport Guildford 2
Alex Gough 2-3 Stacey Ross                              11-5, 11-7, 13-15, 5-11, 7-11
Tim Vail 3-2 Stephen Meads                               11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7
Olivier Pett 0-3 Phil Rushworth                            10-12, 3-11, 9-11
Neil Frankland 3-2 Mick Biggs                             11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5
Annabelle Collins-Ballands 3-2 Emma Wardle       8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6

Nottingham & Exeter Reclaim
Top Positions In PSL Tables
Roundup from Howard Harding

The freezing weather might have caused the postponement of one of the ties, but the conditions failed to prevent former champions MB Nottingham and newcomers Exeter Diamonds from gaining convincing victories in Tuesday's 7th round of the Premier Squash League (PSL) to reclaim their table-topping positions early in the second half of the season of the world's most prestigious squash league.

Nottingham, in fourth place in the Group A going into the home tie against Esporta Oxford, crushed their visitors 5/0 to leap to the top of the table - ahead of Chapel Allerton, the Leeds-based club enjoying a 'rest-day'.  Meanwhile former world number one Lee Beachill led Pontefract to a 4/1 home win over former champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield - a victory which lifts the Yorkshire club off the bottom of the Group A table.

Exeter journeyed to Croydon to face league champions PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC - and pulled off their second victory over the title-holders this season, winning 4/1.  While snowbound PNH Properties Chichester were forced to postpone their fixture with UniSport Guildford, the remaining tie Group B clash saw Probuild Bristol move up to second place in the standings for only the second time this season after despatching TWP St George's Hill 5/0 at home.

It was one-way traffic at the Park Squash Club when MB Nottingham entertained Esporta Oxford. Emma Beddoes and Eddie Charlton clinched straight games wins over their Oxford opposition before Nottingham stalwart Simon Parke - who will be seeking to gain his first Over-35 Masters title at the British National Championships next week in Manchester - defeated Kristen Johnson 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 to put the tie beyond the visitors' reach.

To the delight of the packed Nottingham crowd, Irishman John Rooney and Frenchman Renan Lavigne followed Parke's example by beating Jaymie Haycocks and Scott Handley, respectively,  to guarantee maximum points.

It was a less-than-full-strength Benz-Bavarian Duffield squad that set off for Pontefract, hoping to open their 2009 campaign in Yorkshire in winning form.  But the home side piled on the pressure from the outset - former world number one Vanessa Atkinson defeating the Derbyshire club's rising star Millie Tomlinson 11-8, 11-3, 11-8, before team-mates Neil Cordell and Harinder Pal Sandhu clinched victory for the home side.

Duffield picked up a consolation win when local star Joel Hinds beat James Earles in straight games - but Pontefract number one Lee Beachill played the perfect captain's innings to round off the night, beating the Duffield top string Andrew Whipp 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 to record a 4/1 win for his club.

PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC replaced Exeter Diamonds at the top of the Group B table towards the end of last year - and held a nine-point cushion ahead of their Devon rivals going into the seventh round clash.  And the Croydon club's star Vicky Botwright put the hosts into the driving seat with an 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 win over Exeter's Emma Chorley.

But the tables turned thereafter as visitors James Snell, Tom Pashley and Jonathan Kemp battled to notable wins over their home opponents to ensure Exeter's victory.  And Australian star Stewart Boswell - who had raced back from this week's Motor City Open in Detroit, where he made the quarter-finals - defeated Surrey's Italian ace Davide Bianchetti 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 to ensure the Diamonds return to the top of the points table.

Probuild Bristol marked up a first this season by recording their maiden 5/0 win - a victory made even more notable as it was achieved by a squad led by three 'part-time' players.  The Avon side were already 2/0 up on TWP St George's Hill, thanks to wins by Sarah-Jane Perry and Lewys Hurst, when former world No2 Peter Marshall, now 37, took on rising star Joe Lee, aged 19. 

Lee led the famed double-handed back-hander 2/1, but canny Marshall held his nerve to beat the youngster 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 in 59 minutes.  "Not bad for a 37-year-old physiotherapist," commented Bristol captain Hadrian Stiff.

Stiff, last a Tour player more than six years ago, also had significant cause for celebration following his 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9 win in 51 minutes over Malaysian international Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan.  The tie finished on a high note for the hosts when former British Open champion David Evans, who retired from the Tour in 2004, recovered from a game down to beat world No33 Daryl Selby 6-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-3.