In a crunch match to stay in the race for the runners-up spot it was Duffield who came out on top ...
FPD Savills Nottingham lost to Benz Baverian Duffield 1 - 4
John White lost to Nick Matthew 9/5 6/9 8/10 7/9
Simon Parke lost to Dan Jenson 2/9 11/9 5/9 2/9
David Evans beat Paul Hargrave 5/9 9/4 9/6 9/4
Sam Miller lost to Jonathan Kemp 5/9 9/6 6/9 7/9
Natalie Grinham lost to Cassie Jackman 7/9 7/9 0/9
East Midlands Derby Goes Duffield/s Way
The outcome of this East Midlands derby was always going to determine
who was going to stay in the race for the second play-off place along
with Edgbaston Priory who went down heavily in Manchester - and it's the
Derby outfit who came out tops.
First up were Sam Miller and Jonathan Kemp. Kemp, ranked 60 places
higher in the world just looked to have the edge throughout, keeping the
ball particularly tight on his left-handed forehand. Miller fought
well, taking the second 9/6 and was thereabouts in the 3rd & 4th games -
but Kemp finally ran out a 3/1 winner in 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, on the adjacent court, ever-steady David Evans slowly played
himself into the game against NL veteran Paul Hargrave. As is often the
case, Hargrave took the first with a few inspired winners but gradually
Evans took command. Moving Hargrave around court, the Derbyshire player
soon looked weary and had little left in the tank for the 3rd & 4th
games which Evans took with relative ease.
The match then moved to the show court 10 for the three crucial
encounters - starting with Simon Parke taking on the much improved Dan
Jenson. This was a fantastic match with both players giving their all
for the capacity audience to enjoy. Played at a slower pace, almost
reminiscent of matches of yesteryear the game became a fascinating
tussle with the lob used to great effect by both players. Parke did his
usual unbelievable amount of retrieving, getting to balls seemingly dead
& buried. Jenson was steady throughout and moved Parke around until he
could run no longer.
So - 2 - 1,to Duffield with news filtering through of the prospective
whitewash in Manchester.
Duffield needed just one more win to move into the coveted second spot
and with newly crowned World No. 1, Cassie Jackman taking to the court -
you wouldn't have betted against it. But Nottingham's Natalie Grinham
had other ideas. Starting slowly in the first, going 1 - 6 down, she
fought back to 7-all before Jackman hit a couple of hard cross-court
winners to take the opener.
Points were traded evenly throughout the second before Jackman again
edged it 9/7 and her display in the third demonstrated why she is World
1 taking it 9/0 with a series of non-returnable winners.
So Duffield had clinched the match and second spot in the league before
the number 1's took to the court at 10.40pm. The crowd that managed to
stay saw John White's usual array of outstanding winners in the first
before Matthew settled into the pace taking the second 9/6.
Matthew has come of age this year and its great to see another young
Englishman who can live with the world's top players. He proved this by
going on to take the 3rd & 4th games in what was a scrappy contest - but
a great outcome for Duffield who may now just go on to qualify for the
semis.
Nottingham now aim to retain pride on their visit to Wolverhampton in 2
weeks and the final home match against Northern on 9th March
