PSL Newcomers Exeter Diamonds Sparkle With Lone Unbeaten Run

With only three rounds of the new season completed, newcomers Exeter Diamonds are already the only unbeaten club in the Premier Squash League after securing a 3/2 away win at UniSport Guildford in Tuesday's third round of the world's most prestigious squash league in its 26th season.

But the standout match of the night was in the decider between title-holders PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC and Probuild Bristol - when Peter Barker save a match ball to defeat England team-mate Adrian Grant to clinch a 3/2 win for the Surrey club hosts.  Elsewhere in Group B, last season's runners-up PNH Properties Chichester made up for their poor start to the season by whipping TWP St George's Hill 5/0.

Yorkshire newcomers Chapel Allerton claimed their first win of the season in fine style, beating Esporta Oxford 5/0 away from home in Group A - while former champions MB Nottingham overcame East Midlands rivals Benz-Bavarian Duffield 3/2 to take pole position in the Group A table for the first time.

Vicky Botwright, the surprise runner-up in last month's World Open Championship in her hometown of Manchester, put Surrey H&RC into the driving seat against Probuild Bristol with an 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 win over Warwickshire teenager Sarah-Jane Perry.  But the visitors' Peter Marshall struck back to level the tie after beating the Croydon club's Steve Richardson - and later Bristol's Welsh star David Evans again restored parity when he battled to a four-game victory over the hosts' Tim Garner.

The decider was a mouth-watering affair between fellow London left-handers Barker, the world No10, and Grant, ranked just three places below.  It was the pair's third domestic meeting this year - with underdog Grant boasting a 2/0 advantage.  It was nip and tuck throughout - with both players saving match-balls in the fifth game before Barker finally triumphed 11-9, 11-13, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11 to give Surrey H&RC a 3/2 win to consolidate their mid-table position.

The Exeter Diamonds hero in Guildford was Egyptian teenager Mohamed El Shorbagy.  Welshmen Peter Creed and Rob Sutherland had already put the league's Devon debutants into a 2/1 lead when the 17-year-old Millfield schoolboy took to the court against the experienced UniSport Guildford former top string Stacey Ross.  Shorbagy has been making rapid strides on the senior Tour over the past  few months - and showed the same form in beating Ross 12-10, 11-9, 11-7 to clinch an unbeatable lead - and three wins out of three this season - for Exeter Diamonds. 

Malaysian Delia Arnold ignited a winning streak for PNH Properties Chichester in her debut for the Sussex club against TWP St George's Hill.  Arnold beat the visitors' Rachel Willmott 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 - and victories followed for team mates Peter Genever, Robbie Temple and Tim Vail, the Chichester captain returning to action after the birth of his first-born son Cameron. 

But the bravest performance of the night was delivered by the hosts' Welsh veteran Alex Gough.  The former world No5, now retired from the PSA Tour, faced Tom Richards, a 22-year-old rising English star who celebrated a career-high world No47 ranking this month.  Richards recovered from two games down to level the match - but the wily Welshman kept up the pressure to win 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9 to ensure a maximum points win for Chichester.

 
In the East Midlands derby at Nottingham, the host club's Emma Beddoes set the scene for the evening by beating higher-ranked opponent Laura Hill 11-9, 11-1, 8-11, 11-4 - a victory which team-mates John Rooney and Renan Lavigne followed to ensure a popular home win.  Rooney exacted revenge on the player who beat him in the final of the West of Scotland Open at the weekend, beating Cheshire star Andrew Whipp 11-8, 11-3, 11-4, while Frenchman Lavigne was leading 2/1 against Duffield's Joey Barrington when the winner of last week's African Open in Nigeria conceded the match.

Like Exeter Diamonds, Leeds club Chapel Allerton also delighted in an impressive maiden season victory - dishing out a 5/0 drubbing at Esporta Oxford.  Again, it was perhaps the opening women's match which set the scene for the flavour of the evening:  Oxford's Irish international Madeline Perry recovered from two games down to take the third against English international Jenny Duncalf and move into the ascendancy.  But at 8-8 in the fourth, Perry sustained an 'adductor twinge' which led to Duncalf clinching the match. 

Chapel Allerton team-mates Adam Murrills, Scott Arnold and Stephen Coppinger built on the score before the visitors' number one Alister Walker survived a 26-minute first game against Oxford's Chris Ryder and went on to win 15-17, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3 to clinch a memorable 5/0 win for Chapel Allerton.

RESULTS:            3rd round, Tuesday 4 November 2008

    Group A:

Esporta Oxford 0  Chapel Allerton 5

  Chris Ryder lost to Alister Walker    17-15, 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 3-11

  Scott Handley lost to Stephen Coppinger    5-11, 7-11, 3-11

  Kristen Johnson lost to Scott Arnold    5-11, 7-11, 6-11

  Thomas Phipps lost to Adam Murrills    7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 5-11

  Madeline Perry lost to Jenny Duncalf    9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11

MB Nottingham 3  Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2

  Ong Beng Hee lost to Nick Matthew    7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11

  Renan Lavigne bt Joey Barrington    7-11, 11-4, 11-4 ret.

  John Rooney bt Andrew Whipp    11-8, 11-3, 11-4

  Eddie Charlton lost to Alex Stait    11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 4-11

  Emma Beddoes bt Laura Hill    11-9, 11-1, 8-11, 11-4

    Group B:

PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC 3  Probuild Bristol 2

  Peter Barker bt Adrian Grant    11-9, 11-13, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11

  Tim Garner lost to David Evans    11-6, 5-11, 10-12, 6-11

  Ben Ford bt Hadrian Stiff    11-8, 11-9, 11-8

  Steve Richardson lost to Peter Marshall    4-11, 9-11, 7-11

  Vicky Botwright bt Sarah-Jane Perry    11-4, 11-3, 11-5

UniSport Guildford 2  Exeter Diamonds 3

  Gilly Lane bt Jonathan Kemp    6-11, 7-11, 11-7 ret.

  Stacey Ross lost to Mohamed El Shorbagy    10-12, 9-11, 7-11

  Stephen Meads lost to Rob Sutherland    14-12, 6-11, 6-11, 4-11

  Jamie Mathews lost to Peter Creed    3-11, 8-11, 4-11

  Alison Waters bt Victoria Temple-Murray    11-0, 11-2, 11-3

PNH Properties Chichester 5  TWP St George's Hill 0

  Alex Gough bt Tom Richards    12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9

  Tim Vail bt Nicolas Mueller    11-6, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10

  Robbie Temple bt Neil Hitchens    11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6

  Peter Genever bt Philip Nightingale    11-7, 11-4, 11-4

  Delia Arnold bt Rachel Willmott    11-8, 12-10, 11-8

PSL TABLES (after 3rd round)
                                 Ties       Matches     Games     Pts

                               P   W   L    W    L     W     L

   Group A:

MB Nottingham                  3   2   1    6    9    26    31    36

Esporta Oxford                 3   1   2    7    8    29    30    34

Chapel Allerton                2   1   1    7    3    23    15    28

Benz-Bavarian Duffield         2   1   1    5    5    18    19    23

Pontefract                     2   1   1    5    5    18    19    23

   Group B:

Exeter Diamonds                3   3   0    9    6    31    23    46

Probuild Bristol               3   2   1    9    6    31    22    41

Surrey H&RC                    3   2   1    8    7    29    26    39

PNH Properties Chichester      3   1   2    8    7    29    27    34

UniSport Guildford             3   1   2    7    8    25    29    30

TWP St George's Hill           3   0   3    4    11   19    37    19

2nd Round

Esporta Oxford Crush Nottingham To Top PSL Group

Esporta Oxford scored the first maximum points win of the season in the second round of the Premier Squash League - beating MB Nottingham 5/0 to head the Group A table in the world's most prestigious squash league.

Elsewhere in the group, former champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield began their 2008/09 season campaign by resisting a strong challenge from Pontefract, fighting back from behind to clinch a 3/2 win over their Yorkshire visitors.  In Group B, league newcomers Exeter Diamonds inflicted the first defeat of the season on title-holders PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC, beating the Croydon club 3/2 - while Probuild Bristol also scored their second win of the season in a 3/2 away win at TWP St George's Hill.  But the biggest smiles were to be found at another venue in Surrey where UniSport Guildford scored their first win in more than two years over PNH Properties Chichester, beating the Sussex club 4/1 at home.

Pontefract, featuring the two highest-ranked players in their stable - James Willstrop and Lee Beachill - arrived at Duffield's Derbyshire base looking for victory.  And Dutch star Vanessa Atkinson put the visitors into the driving seat with a four-game win over local star Laura Hill.  Duffield-based Joel Hinds, playing for his local club for the first time after three years at Birmingham University, levelled the tie - but Leeds-based Indian champion Saurav Ghosal restored Pontefract's lead with a straight games dismissal of Andrew Whipp.

It was a capacity home crowd at Duffield that roared on Joey Barrington as the club debutant beat higher-ranked fellow Englishman Lee Beachill 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, before squad number one Nick Matthew - in his sixth season for Duffield - despatched his England team-mate James Willstrop 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 to clinch victory for the three-time champions.

The last-minute withdrawal of club stalwart Simon Parke left MB Nottingham having to promote Arthur Gaskin to third string and introduce local player Lewis Walter at four in their away fixture at Esporta Oxford.  And it was Irish champion Madeline Perry that kicked off the Oxford onslaught as she beat Emma Beddoes 11-3, 12-10, 11-2 - a win which was followed by straight games defeats of Walters and Gaskin.  In his debut for the hosts, top-ranked Spaniard Borja Golan let slip a two-game lead over Nottingham's Renan Lavigne - but refocused in the decider to beat the Frenchman 12-10, 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 11-8.

In the final match - described by Oxford team manager Jason Martin as "the best game I've ever seen at the club" - Australian Cameron Pilley beat Malaysian star Ong Beng Hee 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12 to round up a 'whitewash' evening.

"I'm the happiest I've been in PSL for a long time," exclaimed the jubilant  UniSport Guildford team manager Ian Robinson after his club's 4/1 home win over last season's runners-up PNH Properties Chichester.  While Guildford's Alison Waters secured an early 3/0 win over English compatriot Dominique Lloyd-Walter, team-mate Jamie Mathews was making a good start in his debut for the club against the visitors' Nafzahizam Adnan.  But the Malaysian - also making his PSL debut for Chichester - fought back to beat Mathew, the World Deaf champion from Surrey, 11-13, 11-5, 11-1, 11-6.

Long-time UniSport campaigners Stephen Meads and Stacey Ross carved out valiant victories against their respective opponents - but the day's standout success came when new club number one Jesse Engelbrecht defeated experienced Chichester top string Alex Gough 11-5, 11-5, 11-2.

While Nafzahizam Adnan was making a successful debut for Chichester, his higher-ranked younger brother Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan was also in winning form for TWP St George's Hill against Probuild Bristol.  But the 22-year-old's four-game win over Bristol captain Hadrian Stiff wasn't enough to lead the home club to victory.

Welsh veteran David Evans clinched Bristol's win after beating rising star Tom Richards 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 - but it was a match perhaps overshadowed by the consolation victory by the Surrey club number one Daryl Selby.  The world No36 from Essex continued the fine form he showed in last week's World Open in Manchester when he beat fellow Englishman Adrian Grant, ranked 13 in the world, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7.

Some 48 hours after making a surprise appearance in the women's World Open final on Sunday, Manchester squash star Vicky Botwright came down to earth with a bump for champions PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC in their away tie against Exeter Diamonds.   Vicky lost 15-17, 8-11, 4-11 to Australian Natalie Grinham - the 2007 runner-up - but later watched her fiancé Stewart Boswell clinch victory for the opposing team when he battled to an 11-6, 16-14, 5-11, 5-11, 11-5 win over higher-ranked Egyptian Wael El Hindi.