England's world No2 Nick Matthew added a new trophy to his
already extensive collection when he beat defending champion Gregory
Gaultier, the world No1 from France, in the final of the KPMG
Grand Slam Cup - the unique "One Night Only" squash event staged on
a stunning ASB ShowGlassCourt at the iconic The Squaire in
Frankfurt, Germany.
The
KPMG Grand Slam Cup, launched last year, featured five of the world's
top players - four of whom have topped the world rankings. Matches were
played in an innovative best-of-three-games "Shootout" format - with the
third game, if required, played to 1 or 3 points.
German
number one Simon Rösner(pictured above in quarter-final
action) took home interest into the semi-finals when the world No12
beat event newcomer Amr Shabana, the four-time world champion
from Egypt, 11-10, 11-8 in the opening quarter-final play-off.
Matthew claimed his place in the final after seeing off Egyptian rival
Ramy Ashour, the world No4, 11-7, 11-9. In the other semi, 2013
champion Gaultier disappointed the partisan crowd with an 11-8, 8-11,
1-0 victory over Rösner - the Frenchman quickly justifying his
single-point shootout choice when an early crosscourt shot went into the
side-wall nick!
The
final truly went the full distance - world champion Matthew (pictured
above with Gaultier) taking the opener before the Frenchman fought
back in the second to force a decider. As winner of the first game, the
Englishman chose 'first to three points' as the format for the third -
and soon saw his decision rewarded when Gaultier won the opening rally.
Gaultier took the second for match-ball - but Matthew battled on to save
two before contesting the final double-match-ball-point and ultimately
clinching the title 11-4, 3-11, 3-2!
Matthew's title triumph came just 24 hours after a shock straight games
defeat to England team-mate Peter Barker, the world No8, in the
English Premier League final.
"It's
consolation of sorts," admitted Matthew afterwards when asked if it made
up for his previous night's loss. "But the main thing is to celebrate
this great event - a fantastic setting for the matches in this great
building, and a big and enthusiastic crowd.
"And
having the chance to play at the pace that Ramy and Greg play at in one
night is good for next week's British Open," added the 33-year-old who
will be bidding for a fourth title in Hull next week.
At the
trophy presentation, Matthew joked: "I'm pleased to go from last place
last year to first place in the space of a year - that's how much I've
improved!
"It's
brilliant to have played here - thanks for the support of KPMG and the
Welldone Agency. We haven't had enough squash in Germany recently so
it's good to have this excellent event here in Frankfurt."
KPMG
head of Marketing Janette Riley added: "People ask me, why KPMG?
The players make it look so simple - which is what we are all about,
cutting through complexity to make things simple!
"I
hope I'll be standing here again in 2015."
John
Nimick,
President of Event Engine, joint hosts of the event with the
Welldone Agency Group, was delighted with the 2014 KPMG Grand Slam
Cup: "The event has grown significantly since last year, with more than
a 30% increase in seating capacity.
"Our
mandate has always been to make squash events appeal to the non-squash
sports fan - we want them to feel that they have been to an exciting
event, and I think we are achieving this here at The Squaire in
Frankfurt.
"We
are just trying to win over hearts and minds.
"We
want to take squash into an environment which stands on its own and
satisfies customers.
"The
best thing that squash has is its glass courts, which enable us to put
on a show like this."
The
event was staged in The Squaire, an extraordinary structure adjacent to
Frankfurt's international airport which boasts unique architecture that
has made it a landmark building. With its innovative usage concept
called "New Work City", The Squaire creates a working environment
facilitating performance, motivation and creativity. Within around
146.000 sqm, there are numerous offices, two Hilton Hotels, restaurants
and various services.
Live
coverage of the action was streamed worldwide by SquashTV,
presented by ROWE Motoroil.
Grand
Slam Cup images courtesy of Jordan Mansfield
World
No1 Gaultier Faces World Champions In Frankfurt KPMG Grand Slam Cup
Defence
World
No1 Gregory Gaultier will face stiff competition from a host of
World Champions as the Frenchman bids to defend his title in next week's
KPMG Grand Slam Cup, the unique "One Night Only" squash event
staged on a stunning ASB ShowGlassCourt at the iconic The
Squaire in Frankfurt, Germany.
Launched last year, the KPMG Grand Slam Cup will once again feature the
squash elite - the winners of the most prestigious tournaments in the
world - on Wednesday 7 May.
In a
star-studded field (pictured above), 2013 champion Gaultier will
line up alongside England's Nick Matthew, the reigning and
three-time World Champion; Egyptians Amr Shabana (four times the
World Champion) and Ramy Ashour (two-time World Champion); plus
last year's Grand Slam Cup runner-up Simon Rösner, the world
No12 from Germany.
The
KPMG Grand Slam Cup will be hosted as an evening event, including a
quarter-final play-off, semi-finals and the final. All matches will be
contested in the innovative "Shootout" format - each played
best-of-three-games, with the third game, if required, being the first
to 1 or 3 points (as chosen by the winner of the first game).
Under
the visionary leadership of Felix Scheuerpflug, Chairman of the
Welldone Group, and John Nimick, promoter of the Tournament of
Champions in New York, the 2014 KPMG Grand Slam Cup audience can expect
further innovations. Due to high demand, there will be a new stand
behind the front wall, in order to satisfy the demand for KPMG Grand
Slam Cup tickets.
Once
again, the KPMG Grand Slam Cup is presented at The Squaire, an
extraordinary structure adjacent to Frankfurt's international airport,
boasting unique architecture that has made it a landmark building. With
its innovative usage concept called "New Work City", The Squaire creates
a working environment facilitating performance, motivation and
creativity. Within around 146.000 sqm, there are numerous offices, two
Hilton Hotels, restaurants and various services.
A
state of the art squash ShowGlassCourt built in the atria, which is
surrounded by a temporary arena, will create an extraordinary
atmosphere.
Squash
fans who are not able to be at The Squaire in Frankfurt have the
opportunity to watch all the matches live on SquashTV, which is
presented by ROWE Motoroil. "We have decided to give the same
support to squash this year as we did last year, where we contributed to
enable the organisers to have live TV to present the sport worldwide,"
Michael Zehe, CEO of ROWE Motoroil, concluded.
