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Tue
11th Nov
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Group A:
Latest Tables
Pontefract 0-5 Chapel Allerton
Neil Cordell 0-3 Alister Walker
7/11, 12/14, 6/11
Adam Taylor 0-3 Chris Simpson
3/11, 8/11, 6/11
James Earles 0-3 Scott Arnold
9/11, 4/11, 4/11
Sam Wileman 0-3 Jonathan Harford
8/11, 9/11, 6/11
Vanessa Atkinson 0-3 Jenny Duncalf
6/11, 7/11, 1/11
Duffield
4-1 Oxford
Duffield back to winning ways - Andy
Whipp reports
Nick Matthew 3-2 Cameron Pilley
7/11, 11/9, 12/10, 5/11, 11/6
Joey Barrington
3-2 Borja Golan
8/11, 11/5, 5/11, 11/8, 11/5
Andy Whipp
1-3 Chris Ryder
6/11, 11/9, 4/11, 6/11
Joel Hinds
3-0 Scott Handley
11/4, 11/5, 11/9
Tania Bailey
3-0 Madeline Perry
11/6, 11/8, 11/9
Group B:
Bristol 1-4 Exeter
Adrian Grant 1-3 Stewart Boswell
10/12, 11/8, 7/11, 5/11
David Evans 1-3 Mohamed El Shorbagy
6/11, 11/4, 9/11, 16/18
Hadrian Stiff 1-3 Rob Sutherland
6/11, 6/11, 11/5, 1/11
Peter Marshall 3-0 James Snell
11/4, 11/4, 11/9
Vicky Hynes 2-3 Emma Chorley
6/11, 11/6, 11/5, 8/11, 3/11
St George's 3-2 Guildford
Norman rolls back the years - Danny
Lee reports
Daryl Selby 3-2 Jesse Engelbrecht
5/11, 11/9, 11/4, 6/11, 12/10
Mark Krajscak
3-1 Stacey Ross
10/12, 11/6, 11/6, 15/13
Adam Fuller 0-3 Steve Meads
7/11, 9/11, 7/11
Ross Norman
3-1 Jamie Mathews
11/3, 11/13, 11/9, 11/5
Rachel Willmott
0-3 Alison Waters
4/11, 5/11, 3/11
Surrey 5-0 Chichester
Normal Order Restored - David Sobo reports
Peter Barker 3-0 Azlan Iskandar
11/6, 11/5, 11/7
Davide Bianchetti
3-2 Alex Gough
8/11, 12/10, 11/2, 9/11, 11/7
Ben Ford 3-2 Tim Vail
11/9, 6/11, 6/11, 11/4, 11/6
Adrian Waller
3-2 Robbie Temple
11/8, 6/11, 8/11, 11/5 11/9
Vicky Botwright
3-0 Annabelle Collins-Ballands
11/5, 11/6, 11/2
Newcomers Chapel Allerton & Exeter Diamonds Head PSL Tables
Roundup from Howard Harding
After convincing
away victories in Tuesday's fourth round of the Premier
Squash League, PSL newcomers Chapel
Allerton and Exeter
Diamonds head
the Group A and Group B tables, respectively, on the eve of
the midway point in the 26th season of the world's most
prestigious squash league.
Leeds-based Chapel
Allerton faced
under-strength fellow Yorkshire club Pontefract,
missing their top three players
James
Willstrop, Lee
Beachill and Saurav
Ghosal. The hosts' Vanessa
Atkinson, jet-lagged after returning from a major
women's Tour event in New York, was no match on the night
for Chapel Allerton's Jenny
Duncalf, going down 11-6, 11-7, 11-1 to the
England number one.
And the visitors' strong squad continued the Pontefract
purge, winning the remaining matches in straight games -
with top string Alister
Walker enjoying
his second win of the season by beating Pontefract's
newly-promoted number one and fast-improving Neil
Cordell 11-7,
14-12, 11-6.
"We put out a young squad tonight - and I was heartened by
their performances," said Pontefract team manager
Malcolm
Willstrop.
"In a couple of years' time, they'll be something - and
tonight they showed their promise."
The maximum points 5/0 win takes Chapel Allerton to the top
of the Group A table for the first time.
The other tie in the group finished only minutes before
midnight as former champions
Benz-Bavarian Duffield
ground out a 4/1 home win over Esporta
Oxford. The opening match of the night saw a
welcome return to action for England's former world No4 Tania
Bailey, playing her first competitive match since
July after a troubled year which included knee surgery in
April.
The Duffield star faced the in-form Irish international Madeline
Perry, now ranked 11 in the world. And the
sensational comeback saw Bailey win 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 - no
doubt raising hopes with the England selectors that the
former British champion will be available for next month's Women's
World Team Championships in
Egypt.
I just didn't know what to expect," said a delighted Bailey
afterwards. "So I am very encouraged by that win -
especially as I know Madeline's really playing well at the
moment. It's the first proper game I've had for ages - and I
really enjoyed it.
It was only last week that I thought I'd be OK to play - but
to get a result like this is more than I could have
expected. I'm playing at a level better than I thought," the
29-year-old from Lincolnshire continued. "2008 has been a
pretty horrible year for me. I've really missed playing. I'm
just looking forward to getting back into it now."
Bailey's
performance inspired team-mate Joel
Hinds to
beat Oxford's experienced Scott
Handley in
straight games - then new squad number two Joey
Barrington played
the match of his life to clinch the team's win by beating
Spain's newly-crowned Santiago
Open champion Borja
Golan 8-11,
11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5 - fighting back from 5-8 down in the
fourth to draw level before clinching the match in the
decider.
The
evening-ending top string clash also went to five when
Duffield stalwart Nick
Matthew eventually
overhauled Australian star Cameron
Pilley 7-11,
11-9, 12-10, 5-11, 11-6.
The sparkle of Exeter
Diamonds in
Group B seems to show no signs of fading as the Devon
debutants chalked up their fourth successive PSL win by
beating South West rivals Probuild
Bristol 4/1
away from home. Both Emma
Chorley and Rob
Sutherland notched
up their first ever wins over Bristol opponents Vicky
Hynes
and Hadrian
Stiff, respectively.
For the second tie in a row, it was Egyptian teen sensation Mohamed
El
Shorbagy
who clinched
victory for Exeter - this time the 17-year-old Millfield
School pupil beating Bristol's former British Open champion David
Evans 11-6,
4-11, 11-9, 18-16.
"It seems we can't go wrong," said Exeter Diamonds team
manager Tony
Snell. "I didn't expect to win tonight, to be
truthful, but it just shows the strength we've got in our
squad. I'm very proud of them. And the crowd at Bristol was
fantastic - it was totally sold out!"
PSL title-holders PCL
Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC produced
their most powerful win of the new season, beating PNH
Properties Chichester 5/0
at home in a repeat of last season's final. But it took
determined performances by Adrian
Waller, Ben
Ford and Davide
Bianchetti in
matches that went the full distance as the Croydon club trio
beat Chichester's Robbie
Temple, Tim
Vail and Alex
Gough, respectively.
Top string Peter
Barker -
one of four members of the team that won the title in May -
finished off the tie in style, dismissing the Chichester No1 Mohd
Azlan Iskandar 11-6,
11-5, 11-7.
Just two months short of his 50th birthday, former world
champion Ross
Norman made
his first PSL appearance for more than six years when he
turned out for TWP
St George's Hill in
their home tie against Surrey county rivals
UniSport
Guildford. And
the popular New
Zealander showed that he has not lost his touch when he
defeated fellow world champion Jamie
Mathews -
the reigning World
Deaf Champion -
11-3, 11-13, 11-9, 11-5.
The win started the momentum for St George's Hill whose
Hungarian star Mark
Krajcsak -
fresh from victory in last weekend's PSA
Tour event
in Vancouver - then beat Guildford stalwart Stacey
Ross 10-12,
11-6, 11-7, 15-13. Krajcsak surprisingly agreed to a change
of ball at 10-all in the fourth game - and duly sprinted to
victory after barely warming up the new ball!
But it was the top strings
who
were left to decide the outcome of the tie - and the hosts' Daryl
Selby recovered
from 1-7 and 6-10 down in the decider to beat Guildford's Jesse
Engelbrecht 5-11,
11-9, 11-4, 6-11, 12-10 to give St George's Hill a popular
3/2 win.
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NORMAN ROLLS BACK THE YEARS
Selby seals points as TWP St
George's Hill snatch their first win
of the season in the Premier Squash League.
Danny Lee reports
 Ross
Norman, Squash legend and the 1986 World Champion who
has not played top level squash for six years, put TWP St
George's Hill on course for a famous victory against local
rivals Unisport Guildford at St George's Hill, Weybridge
last night.
Norman was called up when local youngster Tom Richards
turned his ankle in training and was ruled unfit to play.
With several other players away playing international
tournaments Norman was the obvious choice to keep the team
competitive in a match they needed to win to have any chance
of making the league semi finals.
The super fit Norman, just two months short of his 50th
birthday, defeated 21 year old Jamie Matthews by
three games to one in a 48 minute match which had the old
bones creaking but not quite giving way as Norman retrieved
almost superhumanly all that Matthews could throw at him.
It's 22 years this month that Norman ended the five and
three quarter year unbeaten run of Pakistani Jahangir Khan
in the World Open Final in Toulouse and his classy
performance against Matthews showed that he is still capable
of beating players in the world's top two hundred.
TWP's lady player Rachel Willmott nearly failed to
make the match due to a major crash on the A3 which left her
stranded in her car for an hour and a half. Her
comprehensive drubbing at the hands of World number 6
Alison Waters must have made Willmott wish she had
stayed at home. She showed glimpses of quality but her
efforts went unrewarded as British Champion Waters dominated
most rallies with her hard hitting.
TWP's Adam Fuller was making his debut for the
Weybridge Club against former World number 11 Steve Meads.
Fuller narrowly lost all three games as Meads showed just
too much class for the newcomer.
Mark Krajscak, TWP's Hungarian import flew in from
Vancouver to take part in the match. His opponent Stacey
Ross sensed that he could capitalise on his opponent's
jet lag and snatched the first game. Krajscak's "power nap"
on arrival in England obviously paid off as he recovered to
win the second and third games. The fourth was a humdinger
which reached an amusing climax as Ross gasping for breath
asked for a new ball at 10 all. Krajscak, who would have
well within his rights to refuse, bizarrely agreed and then
even more strangely allowed himself to be rushed into a
restart as Ross tried to use the freezing new ball to his
advantage. Ross rolled the first return for a quick winner
but then Krajscak produced a gem of his own before hounding
down two more Ross attacks to narrowly snatch the match.
 The
decider kept the large crowd entertained until the last
rally as TWP's Daryl Selby ranked 37 in the world
faced South African number 1 and World number 61 Jesse
Englebrecht. Most people expected Selby to saunter to
victory as Englebrecht had, like Krajscak, just returned
from Canada. Englebrecht came out of the blocks fast and
took Selby by surprise as he took the first game 11-5 and
raced ahead in the second.
Selby vitally just managed to claw back that game and
dominated well in the third to take a two one lead. It was
Selby who looked as though he had spent twelve hours on a
plane as Englebrecht hunted down the volleys to level the
match and then lead 7-1 in the deciding game. Selby looked
spent as Englebrecht reached four match balls at 10-6.
Incredibly Selby stayed calm and won the next six rallies,
shattering the last resistance of the indefatigable South
African.
An amazing night of squash was enjoyed by all present. The
highlight for nostalgia buffs was undoubtedly Ross Norman's
amazing age defying performance but for sheer excitement
Daryl Selby's comeback in the final game would be hard to
top. TWP St George's Hill gained their first win of the
season despite having several players missing. They travel
to Exeter on December 2nd hopefully at full strength, where
they will hope to climb the league table with another win.
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DUFFIELD BACK TO WINNING WAYS
Andy Whipp reports
Duffield put in a great performance to come out 4-1 winners
against an exceptionally strong Oxford team. A brilliant and
welcome return for Tania and an upset for Joey sealed the
victory.
TANIA, LIKE SHE
NEVER LEFT!
Tania came back last night from what seems like years away
from the game with injuries. She's been so unlucky of late
and has taken a lot of time away from the spotlight to make
a full recovery. Not rushing back was a difficult but
excellent decision. Last night was Tania's first competitive
match in months and months and to come away with a 3-0 win
against someone of Madeline's quality was pretty impressive.
It would be fair to say if Tania hadn't had hung on to take
the third game she was pretty much gone as she was breathing
through her arse! But after that long away who wouldn't be?
Awesome start.
JOEL CRUISES TO
VICTORY
On paper Joel should have lost this to a higher ranked
Scott, but I think most were expecting a Joel win. Scott has
been struggling of late and couple that with a hernia in his
groin he couldn't put up too much of a fight. Joel played
excellently though, kept the pace high and errors down,
spanked a few windmill backhands, and even some pretty dodgy
decisions from the ref couldn't stop him putting Duffield up
2-0.
THE CURSE CONTINUES
FOR WHIPPY
This season I seem to be experiencing somewhat of a National
League curse, I keep on losing! Chris played well, but it
was whoever made the best start to each game and made the
fewer errors who won each game. The start to the third and
fourth were important after the tie was levelled at 1-1, but
Chris hit some good shots, was loving his trickle boast and
managed to notch up the 3-1 win to eep his side in it.
JOEY STUNS THE
SPANIARD
On the other court Joey was playing well, obviously keeping
it deep and simple. This was a long match, made longer by
there being several lets for every single point. Borja was
going through patches of upping the pace and dominating but
was always playing far too many boasts giving Joey the
opportunities to put him under pressure. From 8-5 down in
the fouth Joey put in a great effort to keep his cool and
claw that game back, then play some good stuff to win the
fifth reasonably comfortably. Joey had got us the all
important third win to clinch victory agaist a very strong
Oxford team.
NICK NOTCHES UP
ANOTHER WIN
Nick decided to make the night into a very late one by
spending over an hour on court. Nick went through patches of
textbook squash, keeping it simple with good length and good
straight drops, mixed with some fancier squash which simply
didn't work. Pilley is a quality player and whenever he was
given the chance played some lovely short shots and deadly
delay. The second game was crucial, Pilley was always a few
points up and toward the end of the game Nick constructed
some great rallies to edge that game 11-9. Pilley kept
fighting, Nick still playing some great squash with the odd
rally of losing his concentration slightly to always keep
Cam in it. Cameron played some brilliant shots to take the
fourth easily. Nick then had to up the pace at the start of
the fifth which he did. This worked, forcing a few tins from
Pilley and aided by a couple of crap tins from the Aussie
Nick had a 6-2 lead he was never going to let slip. So 4-1
to Duffield and as always with Nick a very enjoyable match
with some great squash.
A good night for Duffield, especially after our blip last
week. And also, as per, the cottage pie and flourescent
meringue pie were first class!
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Normal Order Restored
David Sobo reports
 In a repeat of the 2007 PSL final, Surrey played host to
last years runners up, the pnh Properties sponsored
Chichester side.
It
was as you were for the Champions minus our Egyptian
number 1 who Im told had visa issues so the ever
present Vicky Botwright, Adrian Waller, Ben Ford, Davide
Bianchetti and Peter Barker at the helm.
For
Chichester, a new face for the ladies in Annabelle
Collins-Ballands, Robbie Temple, Captain Vail, Alex
Gough and Malaysian, Mohd Azlan Iskandar.
First
up on the side court,
Vicky vs.
Annabelle:
Im
told Annabelle is the England U17 number 6 so she could
certainly play. Up against the recently retired but very
much in form (and STILL World Number 7) Vicky, one might
have expected a hiding to be on the cards. Tim Vails
advice to Annabelle at the start of the match was to go
for it. From the little I saw, Annabelle did ok in the
main but Vickys a class act and the result wasnt
really ever in doubt.
Final
Score 3-0 and Surrey 1 upJ
Meanwhile on the main court,
Adrian vs.
Robbie:
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Y ont-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana">And
so to the 5th and all to play for. Both
players kept it tight cutting out the errors to 6-6.
Excellent deception from Robbie, 6-7. Adrian now visibly
tiring and Robbie seemed to notice this and took him to
the front lots but thenTIN! 7-8
Return of serve TIN! 8-8
Another TIN! 9-8
Adrian this time makes the mistake and gives a stroke
away. 9-9
Good
drop by Adrian 10-9
And
quite fittingly, another TIN by Robbie gives the game
and match to Adrian 11-9
Not
to do a disservice to Adrian who played very well again
in the Surrey PSL colours but Robbie in my opinion
looked the better player. He was fitter, had good
composure, some very good shot play and should have won
this one for his team. He made enough errors though to
keep the home player interested and Adrians good shot
play and dogged determination gave him a deserved win in
the end. Well played mateJ
Surrey 2 upJ
Vickys quick win over Annabelle brought
Ben Ford and
Tim Vail
onto the side court:
Most
reports I read about Tim Vail always seem to make
reference at some point to the fact that hes not as
lean as some of the other players. Even when done in
jest, I think we do this guy a disservice by not
focussing on the fact that he is a very good squash
player with excellent racket skills who will invariably
at the very least, hold his own against most players in
the PSL. Rant overJ
Ben
knew he was in a game today and appeared to hit the
ground running working Tim round the court seemingly at
will. Most amusing it was to watch Ben go for one of his
many trademark shots; this one the crosscourt drop shot
nick. It looks absolutely kwality when it works but
invariably, a player of Tims calibre will simple
shuffle on over to the corner in question and if it
doesnt hit the nickPoint over.
We,
the crowd then get to watch Ben chastise himself for
playing such a risky shotand then two points laterhe
plays the exact same shot againJ
although this time, to be fair to him, the ball
rollsExcellentJ
Anyway, good squash on display by both players saw Ben
sneak the first 11-9.
In my
humble, Ben has the considerable skill necessary to
manoeuvre this match away from Timprovided he cuts down
on the errors. Tim on the other hand has all the
weaponry necessary to take advantage of any errors made
and that is exactly how it panned out in the next 2
games; both of them won deservedly by Tim for the loss
of 6 points in each.
1-2
down and staring defeat in the face, Ben dug in and with
Tim visibly tiring, Ben was able to work him out of
position on a number of occasions. It seemed (to me
anyway) that having been made to work a little too hard,
Tim wisely gave the 4th away in the latter
stages choosing instead to conserve energy for the 5th
.. which Ben won convincingly 11-6 with some excellent
shot play that drew many ooohs and aaaahs from the crowd
(well me anywayJ)
Well
played both. Surrey 3 upJ
Davide
vs. Alex
was a long and drawn out affair too but a good game
nonetheless.
With
Alex recently retired and Davide clearly the fitter of
the two, it was a surprise to some that this one went
the full distance. Davides anger management consultant
(Vicky B) was nowhere to be seen (actually she was sat
right next to me but seemed far more interested in how
Tania Bailey had got on in her come back for Duffield
than doing what shes paid for and ensuring our Italian
brother kept his high pitched wails at the ref to a
minimumJ).
All
the better though as the crowd were treated to many
tantrums at the ref; most, in my humble opinion entirely
justified but still, very high pitched and very amusing.
Alex held his own in this department too it must be said
which kept the ref pretty busy.
Alex
probably ran out of legs after the third judging by
the biiiiig gulps of air being taken after every point
from then on. Credit to him thoughHe came back and ran
just as hard after every point. Logic if you can call
it that, prevailed in the end with Davide taking the 5th
11-7.
Surrey 4 up and in the immortal words of David
LloydStart the car
J
And
so to the Number 1s
I
could talk all day about this match but I do have a day
job too!J
Suffice to say it was a kwality affair that brought
the World #s 11 and 12 on court together in
Peter and
Azlan with
the former bang on form.
I
think Azlans just back from a bit of a break but I
really dont think it would have made a difference on
the night. Peter is in good nick at the moment. I dont
think Azlan did anything wrong to go 2-0 down but Peter
was everywhere and most encouraging of all, went about
his business in a relaxed sort of way acknowledging
Azlans good play whilst you sensed (or at least I did)
that he knew he could raise it a notch if need be and
was never truly troubled. If I were his coach, Id aim
for top 8 in the world which should make all the
difference to the draws in the big PSA events. Things
are looking rosy though if he keeps this up.
An
excellent 3-0 to finish off the night. Well played Mista
BarkerJ
Surrey 5-0 winnersJ
Truth
be told, a 3-2 either way would have been a fair result
but each of our team did well, particularly Adrian, and
deserved their victories. Chichester though, can
justifiably be a little bemused at being white washed,
in matches anyway. Unfortunately, the Exeter crew only
dropped 3 points so its looking pretty tight at the
top.
A
good night had by all. Next up, a sojourn to Guildford.
No turkeys there please boys and girlJ
Carry
on..
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Tables after Round Four Ties
Matches Games Pts
P
W L W L W L
Group A:
Chapel Allerton
3 2 1 12 3 38 15 48
Benz-Bavarian Duffield
3 2 1 9 6 31 26 41
Esporta Oxford
4 1 3 8 12 36 43 41
MB Nottingham
3 2 1 6 9 26 31 36
Pontefract
3 1 2 5 10 18 34 23
Group B:
Exeter Diamonds
4 4 0 13 7 43 31 63
Surrey H&RC
4 3 1 13 7 44 32 59
Probuild Bristol
4 2 2 10 10 39 34 49
UniSport Guildford
4 1 3 9 11 35 38 40
PNH Properties Chichester
4 1 3 8 12 35 42 40
TWP St George's Hill
4 1 3 7 13 28 47 33
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