|
REST OF WORLD WHITEWASH ENGLAND
POWER DOUBTFUL FOR SUPER SERIES
Test Match
Series Round THREE
Sheffield, 15th Jun
Lee Beachill (Eng) bt Ong
Beng Hee (Row)
9-7 9-4 5-9 9-3
Karim Darwish (Row) bt Nick
Matthew (Eng)
8-10, 9-2, 9-5, 9-6 30m
Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Row) bt Kinda Charman-Smith (Eng)
9-6, 9-7, 9-2 31m
JONATHON POWER was forced to
withdraw from tonight's Test match between England and the Rest Of The World at
the Hallamshire club in Sheffield and is doubtful for next week's PSA Super
Series Finals in London.
Power had treatment yesterday for a damaged a tendon in his wrist and was
advised by the club physiotherapist not to play against England. He rates his
chances as 50-50 for the Super Series, which takes place in a marquee at the
Broadgate Arena in London's financial district.
The Super Series has already been hit by the withdrawal of Egyptian Ahmed
Barada, who had been planning to make a return to the game after being absent
from tournaments for the past eight months. England's Mark Chaloner has been
called into the tournament and Australian Paul Price is on standby if Power
fails a fitness test over the weekend.
Ong Beng Hee took Power's place in the Rest Of The World side and lost
3-1 to Yorkshire's world No.16 Lee Beachill from nearby Pontefract.
Earlier, young Egyptian Karim Darwish had beaten Hallamshire's Nick Matthew 3-1,
and Australia's British Open champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald clinched victory for the
visitors by beating England captain Linda Charman-Smith in straight games.
REST OF WORLD CLINCH THE
SERIES
Test Match
Series Round TWO
Wolverhampton, 13th Jun
Simon Parke (Eng) bt Jonathon
Power (RoW)
2-9, 9-6, 9-5, 2-9, 9-5 42m
Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Row) bt
Sue Wright (Eng)
9-4, 9-2, 9-2 27m
Karim Darwish (Row) bt Nick
Matthew (Eng)
9-6, 9-4, 9-7 29m
The Rest of the World team
took a winning 2-0 lead in the Test Series against England in tonight's match
at Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club. The visitors won the first two
matches before world #6 Simon Parke prevented a clean sweep when he
beat Canada's world #1 Jonathon Power in five games of breathtaking squash.
Power began in sensational style,
hitting spectacular winners from every corner of the court to leave Parke reeling,
and the packed crowd in awe. He fell heavily in the second game and injured
his right knee. After ice-pack treatment Power was able to continue, but Parke
took advantage of his opponent's reduced mobility to take a 2-1 lead. By now
Power was gambling on even more spectacular winners, and to the delight of the
crowd took the fourth game, but Parke eventually ran out the winner in the
fifth.
Earlier British Open champion Sarah
Fitz-Gerald had carried on from where she left off in Birmingham and
Chichester with a devastating performance of speed, power and precision
against National Champion Sue Wright, to give her Rest of the World team an
unassailable 2-0 lead in tonight's match, and also in the
three match series.
The first match of the evening saw
half an hour of sheer class as Karim Darwish made amends for yesterday's loss
to give his team the early lead against Nick Matthew. Darwish is in the mould
of a long line of Egyptian champions, combining ferocious hitting power with
almost effortless artistry, and tonight's crowd saw first-hand why he is
tipped to become the next big star from Egypt.
The series concludes on Friday at
Hallamshire, Nick Matthew's home club, where Lee Beachill takes over at number
one for England.
REST OF WORLD GO ONE UP
Test Match
Series Round ONE
Chichester, 12th Jun
Adrian Grant
(Eng) bt Karim
Darwish (Row)
7-9, 9-7, 10-8, 6-9, 9-6 48m
Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Row) bt Linda Charman-Smith (Eng)
9-0, 5-9, 9-5, 9-1
Jonathon Power (Row) bt Mark Chaloner (Eng)
10-8, 7-9, 9-6, 8-10, 9-1 58m
Newly-crowned British Open champion
Sarah Fitz-Gerald led the Rest of the World team to a 2-1 victory in the first
of three Test Matches against England.
England opened the scoring, with
Adrian Grant beating Egypt's world junior champion Karim Darwish 7-9. 9-7,
10-8, 6-9, 9-6 in 48 minutes of high-quality squash. In a see-saw match it was
Grant who established a vital early lead in the fifth, a lead he never
relinquished.
The match was levelled when
Fitz-Gerald beat England's number one Linda Charman-Smith in four. A rapid-fire
first game victory seemed to indicate that the Australian was in no mood to
relax after finally lifting the only trophy to elude her just two days ago, but
Charman-Smith refused to be rattled as she took the second game. She couldn't
maintain that form though, as Fitz-Gerald ran out the winner 9-0, 5-9, 9-5, 9-1.
The decider saw world number one
Jonathon Power seal victory for the rest of the world team, but Mark Chaloner
put up a terrific fight in front of the tightly-packed full house, eventually
going down in five in just short of the hour. The match featured entertaining
attacking squash, as well as some entertaining refereeing decisions.
OPEN CHAMPION FITZ-GERALD
STARS IN TEST SERIES
NEW British Open squash champion
Sarah Fitz-Gerald stars for a Rest of The World
team in a Test match series against England this week. Fitz-Gerald, 31,
was a popular winner in Birmingham on Sunday.
She had won three World Open titles but lost in four British finals until she beat
fellow Australian Carol Owens in Sunday's final at the National Indoor
Arena.
She is so delighted to have collected the trophy at last that she is quite happy
to get back on court and forego a well-earned rest.
She said: "It will be a nice feeling to be announced on court as the
British Open champion. I have waited a long time for that to happen.
"The British Open is one of the world's biggest tournaments and,
emotionally, it's the one all the players are desperate to win."
Fitz-Gerald is in action in the first Test at Chichester tonight (Tuesday), when
she faces England captain Linda Charman-Smith.
The series continues at Wolverhampton on Wednesday and Hallamshire, Sheffield,
on Friday.
The Rest of The World team is led by men's world number one Jonathon Power, the
great showman of squash from Canada, who was sensationally beaten by England's
Del Harris in the second round of the Open, and also features rising
Egyptian star Karim Darwish.
|
AFTER the British Open, many of the world's squash stars will be
starring in a Test Series between England and The Rest Of The World.
The dates and venues are
The Rest of the World
squad also features rising Malaysian star Ong Beng Hee, the Asian champion
and former world junior champion, the stylish young Egyptian Karim
Darwish, the current world junior champion, and three-times women's world
champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald of Australia.
The England squad includes experienced internationals Simon Parke and Mark
Chaloner, National champion Lee Beachill, rising stars Adrian Grant and
Nick Matthew, and top women Linda Charman-Smith and Sue Wright.
Sarah wins the British Open
Lee Beachill
|