16/11/2005
PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND 8
Edgbaston Priory Stretch North Lead, While Strings Tighten Up In South
|
8th Round Report, Tuesday 7th March 2006
Edgbaston Priory Stretch North Lead, While Strings
Tighten Up In South
A last ditch win by Churchill Edgbaston Priory
in tonight's (Tuesday) eighth round of the Premier Squash League (PSL),
sponsored by insurance specialists THB Clowes, extends the
Birmingham club's lead to 30 points in the North Group – and virtually
assures their place in the end-of-season play-offs. A similar
nail-biting 3/2 victory by Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury sees the
Gloucestershire regain top position in the South Group, a single point
ahead of Surrey Health & Racquets Croydon whose 3/2 win pushes
former group leaders Team Chichester into third place.
A long-awaited first win of the season looked on the
cards for former champions Nottingham as the hosts forged a 2/1
lead against Edgbaston Priory – squad third and fourth strings
James Wright and Arthur Gaskin beating Priory's Adam
Stevenson and Peter Creed,
respectively, after the visitors' Rebecca Botwright fought off a
string challenge from Sarah Kippax, ranked 11 places lower in the
world, before beating the Nottingham player 9-10 9-1 9-5 10-8 in 56
minutes.
Devonian Hadrian Stiff levelled the tie for
the West Midlands visitors, before rising English star
Peter Barker beat
Nottingham stalwart Simon Parke 9-6 9-7 11-9 to clinch victory
for Edgbaston, their sixth of the season.
Manchester/Pontefract,
Priory's main rivals for the North Group title, suffered their second
defeat of the season – going down 4/1 to PSL champions
Wolverhampton. Both
teams were fielding depleted squads, with many of the world's top
players currently undergoing final Commonwealth Games
preparations in Melbourne. Hosts Wolverhampton were already celebrating
victory – boosted by "the result of the night" when veteran Mark
Cairns beat the visitors' 24-year-old Andrew Whipp 6-9 9-2
9-6 9-6 – before Welsh Commonwealth Games team-mates Alex Gough
and David Evans took to the court for the top string clash.
Wolverhampton team manager Stephen Russell
introduced the pair to the packed crowd by thanking the players for
"postponing their trip to play a more important match tonight!". In
what was only his second win against his long-time national rival in
more than seven years, Gough beat Evans 9-3 9-4 9-7 in 41 minutes to
seal the 4/1 victory for Wolverhampton.
Both ties in the South Group kept the crowds on the
edges of their seats until the final balls were struck. Fresh from her
success in the Swiss Open in Geneva on Sunday, Lauren Briggs
caused a major upset when she defeated world No13 Laura-Jane
Lengthorn – ranked 15 places higher – 9-7 5-9 9-7 9-7 to put
Surrey H&RC into an early home lead against University Sport
Birmingham. Club debutante Simon Rosner, the first German to
compete in the league, extended the Croydon club's lead with an
impressive 9-3 9-11 9-4 9-4 win over Joel Hinds – but the
Birmingham University side came back to level the tie thanks to notable
victories by Jonathan Harford and Steve Coppinger.
The decider was a 74-minute marathon in which Italian
Davide Bianchetti, leading the Croydon squad for the first time,
romped to a 2/0 lead against Joey Barrington – but the
fast-rising English star battled back to force the match into a fifth
game. Bianchetti maintained his focus to win 9-3 9-3 1-9 6-9 9-6 to
take Surrey HR&SC into a close second position in the table.
There was even greater drama in the other South Group
clash when UniSport Guildford entertained Oberthur Strings
Tewkesbury. Victories by Pakistan No1 Carla Khan and Alex
Stait for the visitors, and by Neil Frankland for Guildford
meant that a win by second string Stephen Meads was essential if
the home team's hopes were to be kept alive. The 35-year-old former
Tour pro was facing fast-rising Daryl Selby, the 23-year-old from
Essex whom he edged out in Sunday's semi-finals of the North of
Scotland Open in Aberdeen.
The score reached 2-2 in games and 8-8 in the decider
when Meads caressed a drop shot into the front backhand corner – and,
in trying to reach the ball, Selby's elbow accidentally struck Meads on
the back of the head. The match came to a halt for ten minutes while
team-mates tried to stop the bleeding from Meads' wound. On the
resumption of the match, plucky Meads won the first point after a long
rally, before Selby took the next to bring it back to 9-9. But it was
Meads who forced the ultimate advantage by winning the next two points
to earn a courageous 9-6 8-10 9-7 4-9 11-9 victory – before heading
off to the local hospital for treatment.
In the tie decider, Tewkesbury's Australian No1
Cameron Pilley proved too strong for Guildford's Stacey Ross,
winning 12-10 5-9 9-1 6-9 9-4 to give Strings a 3/2 victory.
8th Round Results
Tuesday 7 March 2006
North Group:
Nottingham 2 Churchill Edgbaston Priory 3
Simon Parke lost to Peter Barker
6-9, 7-9, 9-11 (42m)
Duncan Walsh lost to Hadrian Stiff
4-9, 1-9, 1-9 (25m)
James Wright bt Adam Stevenson
9-4, 9-1, 9-6 (21m)
Arthur Gaskin bt Peter Creed
10-8, 9-0, 8-10, 9-6 (38m)
Sarah Kippax lost to Rebecca Botwright 10-9,
1-9, 5-9, 8-10 (56m)
Wolverhampton 4 Manchester/Pontefract 1
Alex Gough bt David Evans
9-3, 9-4, 9-7 (41m)
Scott Handley bt Nick Taylor
8-10, 9-11, 9-6, 9-7, 9-2
Mark Cairns bt Andrew Whipp
6-9, 9-2, 9-6, 9-6
Chris Ryder bt Shaun le Roux
9-2, 5-9, 9-2, 9-6
Fiona Moverley lost to Jenna Gates
4-9, 1-9, 2-9
South Group:
UniSport Guildford 2 Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury
3
Stacey Ross lost to Cameron Pilley
10-12, 9-5, 1-9, 9-6, 4-9
Stephen Meads bt Daryl Selby
9-6, 8-10, 9-7, 4-9, 11-9
Jesse Engelbrecht lost to Alex Stait
6-9, 4-9, 4-9
Neil Frankland bt Philip Nightingale
9-6, 4-9, 9-3, 9-4
Rachel Willmott lost to Carla Khan
3-9, 1-9, 3-9
Surrey H&RC Croydon 3 University Sport Birmingham
2
Davide Bianchetti bt Joey Barrington
9-3, 9-3, 1-9, 6-9, 9-6 (74m)
Phillip Barker lost to Jonathan Harford
3-9, 2-9, 7-9 (29m)
Simon Rosner bt Joel Hinds
9-3, 9-11, 9-4, 9-4 (49m)
Chris Simpson lost to Steve Coppinger 6-9,
9-7, 6-9, 9-5, 5-9 (47m)
Lauren Briggs bt Laura-Jane Lengthorn 9-7,
5-9, 9-7, 9-7 (69m)
7th round Report, Tuesday 21 F ebruary
2006
Edgbaston Priory & Chichester Extend PSL Leads
Churchill Edgbaston Priory
and Team Chichester extended their leads in
the North and South Groups, respectively, after tonight's (Tuesday) 7th
round ties in the Premier Squash League (PSL) – the Birmingham
club defeating West Midlands rivals Wolverhampton 4/1 and the
Sussex coast club edging a 3/2 away victory at UniSport Guildford.
The most comprehensive win was achieved by Surrey
Health & Racquets Croydon, who celebrated their first outing of the
New Year by beating last season's South Group champions Oberthur
Strings Tewkesbury 5/0. Meanwhile, 1999 champions
Nottingham failed to
register their first win of the season, going down 1/4 at home to East
Midlands rivals Benz-Bavarian Duffield.
Edgbaston players built up a healthy lead for the
hosts against Wolverhampton, with Hadrian Stiff and Peter
Barker winning in four games, and England No1 Vicky Botwright
playing her first match since sustaining a foot injury in New York at
the beginning of the month – and comfortably beating Wolverhampton's
Emma Chorley 9-1 9-0 9-2 in 29 minutes. The visitors gained a
consolation point after a 74-minute marathon between
Adrian Grant and
Wolverhampton's Alex Gough. Grant drew level after Gough forged
a 2/0 lead, but it was the 35-year-old Welshman Gough who survived the
28-minute fifth game to record a notable 9-3 10-8 6-9 3-9 9-6 upset.
Stewart Boswell,
however, was Edgbaston's star performer. The 27-year-old Australian,
who spent most of last year fighting back from a long layoff with a
mystery back ailment, was playing at top string for the first time this
season. He faced compatriot Anthony Ricketts, the in-form
Wolverhampton No1 and world No4 who reached last week's Canary Wharf
Classic final in London. Boswell was in stunning form, and defeated
Ricketts for the first time in almost four years 9-6, 9-3, 5-9, 9-1 in
45 minutes to clinch the home side's 4/1 victory.
Derbyshire club Duffield kept alive their hopes for a
place in the end of season semi-final play-offs by moving up to second
place in the North Group points table after beating Nottingham. The tie
provided the first opportunity for the 1998 champions to show off their
two British National champions – and both players duly delivered
championship performances: Women's champion Tania Bailey did not
allow her opponent a single point as the Lincolnshire lass crushed
Nottingham's Sarah Kippax 9-0 9-0 9-0 in just 20 minutes.
After the hosts picked up their sole point when Irish
international Arthur Gaskin beat Duffield's Paul Hargrave
9-6, 9-6, 6-9, 9-6, it was left to the visitors' recently-crowned
British men's champion Nick Matthew to finish the tie with a
flourish – repeating his win over Simon Parke in the Nationals in
Manchester by beating his Yorkshire county colleague 10-8 9-7 9-6.
In fourth place in the South Group on the eve of the
tie against Strings, Surrey H&RC Croydon leapt up to second place after
their 5/0 drubbing of the Gloucestershire club. Part-timer Stephanie
Brind scored a significant win for the visitors, beating Pakistan
No1 Carla Khan 9-7 1-9 9-4 9-5. Fresh from his triumph in the
British Junior U19 Championships at the weekend, Hampshire's
Chris Simpson beat Surrey's Philip Nightingale 9-6 9-4 13-11
to extend the Croydon club's lead.
But Croydon star Peter Nicol, the former world
No1 and world champion, provided an appropriate climax for the visitors,
beating the Tewkesbury club's South African No1 Rodney Durbach
11-9 9-6 5-9 9-2 to ensure maximum points for the league newcomers.
In the other South Group clash, it was neck-and-neck
throughout the evening with three matches going to fifth-game deciders
before the final match was left to decide the winners of the tie. Hosts
UniSport Guildford took an early lead when Londoner Alison Waters
beat opponent Suzie Pierrepont after the Team Chichester star
suffered a thigh strain midway through the third game which caused her
to concede the match at 9-2 9-2 2-2 in Waters' favour.
The University of Surrey squad's 'man-of-the-match'
award winner Jesse Engelbrecht put in an impressive performance
to beat Chichester's in-form Tim Vail 9-7, 9-7, 6-9, 2-9, 9-7.
In the top-string decider, Guildford's Stacey Ross delighted the
packed crowd when he took the opening game against the visitors' Surrey
champion Ben Garner. But Garner pulled back the deficit, then
Ross suffered seven unforced errors in the third game which soon gave
his opponent a 2/1 lead. The pair battled in the fourth, but it was
Garner who ultimately prevailed 6-9 10-8 9-2 9-7 to give Chichester the
3/2 win which stretched their lead in the points table to 12 points
ahead of Croydon and Tewkesbury, both of whom are level on 70 points.
7th
round Results, Tuesday 21 February 2006
North Group:
Nottingham 1-4 Benz
Bavarian Duffield
Simon
Parke lost to Nick
Matthew 8-10, 7-9, 6-9 (43m)
Duncan
Walsh lost to Gavin
Jones 6-9, 4-9, 7-9 (29m)
James
Wright lost to Laurence Delasaux
9-5, 10-8, 6-9, 7-9, 5-9 (57m)
Arthur
Gaskin beat Paul Hargrave
9-6, 9-6, 6-9, 9-6 (42m)
Sarah
Kippax lost to Tania
Bailey 0-9, 0-9, 0-9 (20m)
Churchill Edgbaston Priory 4-1 Wolverhampton
Stewart
Boswell beat Anthony
Ricketts 9-6, 9-3, 5-9, 9-1 (45m)
Adrian
Grant lost to Alex
Gough 3-9, 8-10, 9-6, 9-3, 6-9 (74m)
Peter
Barker beat Scott
Handley 6-9, 9-2, 9-2, 9-4 (35m)
Hadrian
Stiff beat Chris
Ryder 4-9, 11-9, 9-6, 9-7 (49m)
Vicky
Botwright beat Emma
Chorley 9-1, 9-0, 9-2 (29m)
South Group:
UniSport
Guildford 2-3 Team Chichester
Stacey
Ross lost to Ben
Garner 9-6, 8-10, 2-9, 7-9
Stephen
Meads lost to Peter Genever
6-9, 9-6, 5-9, 9-4, 7-9
Jesse
Engelbrecht beat Tim
Vail 9-7, 9-7, 6-9, 2-9, 9-7
Neil
Frankland lost to Tom
Richards 5-9, 9-5, 6-9, 12-10, 6-9
Alison
Waters beat Suzie Pierrepont
9-2, 9-2, 2-2 ret.
Oberthur
Strings Tewkesbury 0-5 Surrey H&RC Croydon
Rodney
Durbach lost to Peter Nicol
9-11, 6-9, 9-5, 2-9
Daryl
Selby lost to Davide Bianchetti
6-9, 8-10, 9-7, 6-9
Rob
Sutherland lost to Phillip
Barker 3-9, 7-9, 9-7, 5-9
Philip
Nightingale lost to Chris
Simpson 6-9, 4-9, 11-13
Carla
Khan lost to Stephanie Brind
7-9, 9-1, 4-9, 5-9
6th Round Report
Edgbaston Keep
Manchester/Pontefract At Bay – And Chichester Bounce Back
Churchill Edgbaston Priory
and Manchester/Pontefract resumed
their campaigns for success in the Premier Squash League in the
New Year with identical 4-1 wins in tonight's (Tuesday) sixth round
ties, with the Birmingham club maintaining their three-point lead over
the trans-Pennine cooperative at the top of the North Group points
table. The lead has changed, however, in the South Group after Team
Chichester pulled off a 3-2 home win over rivals Oberthur Strings
Tewkesbury to replace the Gloucestershire club at the top of the
table.
Edgbaston Priory hosts
Benz-Bavarian Duffield took a quick lead when full-time firewoman
and part-time squash player Laura Hill scored a stunning 9-2 9-10
9-2 9-4 win for the Derbyshire club over Manchester-based world No27
Rebecca Botwright. It turned out to be a good night for
non-full-timers when Edgbaston's Hadrian Stiff, a 33-year-old
from Devon who last played on the PSA Tour three years ago, held
off the challenge of Duffield's fast-improving world No40 Gavin Jones,
beating the 25-year-old Welshman 11-9 4-9 6-9 9-1 10-8 in 53 minutes.
Priory stalwarts Peter Barker
and Stewart Boswell also recorded notable wins for the
visitors – over Frenchman Renan Lavigne and Englishman
Jonathan Kemp, respectively – leaving team-mate David Palmer,
the world No4 from Australia, to contest the final rubber against
Duffield No1 Nick Matthew.
The pair met only 24 hours
earlier in a Super League clash – but Palmer reversed that result to
ensure the vital extra points needed by Edgbaston to maintain their
North Group lead, and beat the English world No9 10-8 6-9 9-5 11-9 in 58
minutes.
Manchester/Pontefract
also lost the opening match in their tie at Pontefract against
bottom-placed Nottingham when the visitors' Sarah Kippax
beat Kirsty McPhee 6-9 9-4 9-7 9-3. But it was downhill for the hosts
thereafter as Andrew Whipp, Nick Taylor and David Evans
all gained straightforward wins over their Nottingham opponents to
leave home hero James Willstrop to face long-time Nottingham
stalwart Simon Parke in the end-of-evening top string battle.
The Yorkshire pair always
provide an entertaining spectacle for the loyal crowd – and tonight was
no exception. Willstrop, focused on success in next week's British
National Championships in Manchester, battled for four games to keep
Parke at bay, eventually taking 38 minutes to win 9-7 10-8 2-9 9-7 to
strengthen his team's position in second place in the North Group – 14
points ahead of Duffield and 54 ahead of bottom-placed Nottingham, who
are still looking for their first PSL win of the season.
Coming into tonight's tie, Team
Chichester were in third place in the South Group table. But fine early
performances by Sussex players Linda Elriani and Tim Vail,
and Surrey's Tom Richards, put the hosts into a 3/0 lead over
league leaders Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury – British champion Elriani
crushing the visitors' Selina Sinclair in 14 minutes for the loss of
just a single point.
The Gloucestershire club,
national semi-finalists in their debut season last year, reduced the
deficit when Daryl Selby fought back from two games down to beat
Chichester star Peter Genever 6-9 7-9 9-3 13-11 9-5, then South
African Rodney Durbach held off the challenge of Chichester's
Ben Garner to win 9-6 9-11 9-7 10-8.
The 3-2 result takes Chichester
to the top of the table by the narrowest margin over Strings – both
teams sharing 66 points but the Sussex clubs holding a better 'games
lost' figure than their rivals.
The other South Group battle saw
the league's two University sides battle for honours in the West
Midlands, with University Sport Birmingham hosting UniSport
Guildford. Matches were shared going into the top string clash –
with the hosts claiming the early lead through wins by Laura-Jane
Lengthorn and Steve Coppinger and the University of Surrey
squad fighting back with confident straight games victories by
Scotland's Neil Frankland and Zimbabwe's Jesse Engelbrecht.
The decider was an exhilarating
display of squash – with Guildford's ex-pro Stephen Meads taking
on the fast-improving young Joey Barrington. Meads was in
excellent form, fresh from national coaching duties in Hong Kong – but
Barrington, the 26-year-old son of the legendary Jonah Barrington,
was untouchable – and soon despatched his opponent 9-3 9-2 9-4 to give
the Birmingham squad a notable 3-2 win.
6th round, Tuesday 31 January
2006
North Group:
Manchester/Pontefract 4-1 Nottingham
James Willstrop
beat Simon Parke 9-7, 10-8, 2-9, 9-7 (38m)
David
Evans beat Duncan Walsh 9-4, 9-2,
9-3 (22m)
Nick
Taylor beat James Wright 9-7,
7-9, 10-8, 9-2 (38m)
Andrew Whipp
beat Arthur Gaskin 9-5, 9-4, 9-3 (19m)
Kirsty McPhee
lost to Sarah Kippax 9-6, 4-9, 7-9, 3-9 (45m)
Benz-Bavarian Duffield
1-4 Churchill Edgbaston Priory
Nick
Matthew lost to David Palmer
8-10, 9-6, 5-9, 9-11 (58m)
Jonathan Kemp
lost to Stewart Boswell 5-9, 4-9,
3-9 (22m)
Renan Lavigne
lost to Peter Barker 8-10, 9-7, 8-10, 7-9 (51m)
Gavin Jones
lost to Hadrian Stiff 9-11,
9-4, 9-6, 1-9, 8-10 (53m)
Laura Hill
beat Rebecca Botwright
9-2, 9-10, 9-2, 9-4 (49m)
South Group:
University Sport
Birmingham 3-2 UniSport Guildford
Joey
Barrington beat Stephen Meads 9-3, 9-2,
9-4
Jon Harford
lost to Jesse Engelbrecht 7-9, 8-10, 4-9
Joel
Hinds lost to Neil Frankland
4-9, 6-9, 6-9
Steve Coppinger
beat Phil Rushworth 9-5, 9-6, 9-5
Laura-Jane Lengthorn
beat Rachel Willmott 9-2, 9-5, 9-1
Team
Chichester 3-2 Oberthur Strings
Tewkesbury
Ben
Garner lost to Rodney Durbach
6-9, 11-9, 7-9, 8-10
Peter Genever
lost to Daryl Selby 9-6, 9-7, 3-9, 11-13, 5-9
Tim
Vail beat Greg
Tippings 5-9, 9-3, 9-4, 9-4 (29m)
Tom
Richards beat Rob Sutherland
6-9, 9-6, 8-10, 9-6, 9-3
Linda Elriani
beat Selina Sinclair 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 (14m)
Premiership Battles
Reconvene In Sixth Round PSL Ties
Tonight's
resumption of the 2005/06 Premier Squash League, with the sixth
round ties providing the first action of the New Year, will give
Churchill Edgbaston Priory and Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury
the chance to strengthen their grips on leadership of the North and
South Group points tables, respectively.
Edgbaston
Priory, led by Australia's world No4 David Palmer, visit
Benz-Bavarian Duffield – but the Birmingham squad, champions in 2003,
will be keeping a close eye on action in Pontefract where
Manchester/Pontefract, just three points adrift of Priory in second
place, host Nottingham.
Derbyshire club Duffield are themselves only six points behind their
visitors in the North Group points table, and both teams approach the
fixture having lost only one tie out of four played so far this season.
Duffield will be led by Yorkshire's world No9 Nick Matthew.
Yorkshireman James Willstrop, who celebrated a career-high world
No2 ranking last month and led England to success in the World Team
Championships in Pakistan, will lead the Manchester/Pontefract
attack tonight at his own home club. The 22-year-old faces Nottingham
No1 Simon Parke, who is also from Yorkshire.
The
highlight of the South Group fixtures will be the clash between Strings
and hosts Team Chichester, who are in third place in the group,
eight points behind their Gloucestershire opponents. The Sussex squad
will be led by Surrey's Ben Garner, who will face the Strings'
No1 Rodney Durbach, from South Africa. Just four world ranking
positions separate these two PSA Tour
players.
The other
tie in the group is an academic clash between the two University squads
in the league – with University Sport Birmingham hosting
UniSport Guildford. Joey Barrington will face the University
of Surrey's No1 Stephen Meads in the top string battle.
6th round, Tuesday 31 January 2006
|
North Group: |
|
|
|
Manchester/Pontefract |
v |
Nottingham |
|
James Willstrop |
v |
Simon Parke |
|
David Evans |
v |
Duncan Walsh |
|
Nick Taylor |
v |
James Wright |
|
Andrew Whipp |
v |
Arthur Gaskin |
|
Kirsty McPhee |
v |
Sarah Kippax |
|
Benz Bavarian Duffield |
v |
Churchill Edgbaston Priory |
|
Nick Matthew |
v |
David Palmer |
|
Jonathan Kemp |
v |
Stewart Boswell |
|
Renan Lavigne |
v |
Peter Barker |
|
Gavin Jones |
v |
Hadrian Stiff |
|
Laura Hill |
v |
Rebecca Botwright |
|
|
|
|
|
South Group: |
|
|
|
University Sport Birmingham |
v |
UniSport Guildford |
|
Joey Barrington |
v |
Stephen Meads |
|
Jon Harford |
v |
Jesse Engelbrecht |
|
Joel Hinds |
v |
Neil Frankland |
|
Steve Coppinger |
v |
Phil Rushworth |
|
Laura Jane Lengthorn |
v |
Rachel Willmott |
|
Team Chichester |
v |
Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury |
|
Ben Garner |
v |
Rodney Durbach |
|
Peter Genever |
v |
Daryl Selby |
|
Tim Vail |
v |
Greg Tippings |
|
Tom Richards |
v |
Rob Sutherland |
|
Linda Elriani |
v |
Selina Sinclair |
5th Round
Chichester Shock Surrey In Round Five of
the PSL
The conclusion of the first half
of the Premier Squash League season could have seen Edgbaston and Surrey
take control of their Northern and Southern groups, but in the event
both groups were left with everything to play for in the second half.
In Manchester the 2004 and 2003 champions, Manchester/Pontefract
and Churchill Edgbaston, met to decide who would lead the
Northern group. Unbeaten Edgbaston knew they had a battle on their hands
when the home team took both the opening ties 3-2 - Nick Taylor and
Jenny Duncalf getting the hosts off to a great start - and guaranteeing
a late-night finish.
Peter Barker pulled one back for Edgbaston, but James Willstrop's 3-2
win over Adrian Grant sealed the win for Man/Pont before Lee Beachill
added an extra point with another five-game victory over Edgbaston's
David Palmer.
Meanwhile in Wolverhampton the defending champions were fielding
their 2005 final-winning team at home for the first time. But
Benz-Bavarian Duffield were in no mood to join in the party, and
when Renan Lavigne and Paul Hargrave put the visitors 2-0 up
Wolverhampton clearly had a task on their hands.
Lawrence Delasaux and Tania Bailey completed the win for Duffield before
Anthony Ricketts earned a consolation point for Wolverhampton, who will
need a miracle in the second half if they are to retain the title.
In the Southern group Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury went to the top
of the table as they won 3-2 away at newcomers University Sport
Birmingham, thanks to an unexpected - and unpredicted - away win by
Chichester at Surrey Health and Racquets.
At the University courts hosts Birmingham took the first and last
matches of the evening, but Strings, winners of the Southern group last
season, sealed the match with wins by Daryl Selby, Alex Stait and
Alister Walker.
At Surrey Health & Racquets, Team Chichester came up with
probably the shock result of the season. Linda Elriani, in her first
competitive match for two months, beat world number three Nicol David in
straight games to set up a possible upset. Aaron Franckomb put
Chichester ahead with another upset win against Tim Garner, and when Tim
Vail outlasted Phillip Barker Surrey's hopes of topping the group were
over.
So, both groups are left with "all to play for" in the second half, with
the next round of matches on 31st January.
|
|
LEAGUE TABLE
(after round 8 on 7th March 2006) |
| |
Ties |
Matches |
Games |
Pts |
| |
P |
W |
L |
W |
L |
W |
L |
|
|
GROUP A: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Edgbaston
Priory |
7 |
6 |
1 |
24 |
11 |
87 |
47 |
117 |
|
Manchester-Pontefract |
6 |
4 |
2 |
20 |
10 |
67 |
46 |
87 |
|
Duffield |
5 |
4 |
1 |
18 |
12 |
64 |
45 |
84 |
|
Wolverhampton |
5 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
20 |
44 |
72 |
54 |
| Nottingham |
7 |
0 |
7 |
8 |
27 |
38 |
90 |
38 |
|
GROUP B: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Strings
Tewkesbury |
7 |
4 |
3 |
17 |
18 |
67 |
70 |
87 |
|
Surrey H&RC
Croydon |
6 |
4 |
2 |
19 |
11 |
66 |
45 |
86 |
|
Team
Chichester |
6 |
4 |
2 |
17 |
13 |
62 |
52 |
82 |
|
Uni Sport
Guildford |
7 |
2 |
5 |
14 |
21 |
61 |
75 |
71 |
| Birmingham
University |
6 |
2 |
4 |
13 |
17 |
50 |
62 |
60 |
Next fixtures:
9th round, Tuesday 4 April 2006
North Group:
FULL REPORT Round 5
Manchester/Pontefract Beat Priory, But Birmingham Club
Stay Ahead In PSL
In a dramatic fifth round Premier Squash League clash at the National
Squash Centre in Manchester between 2004 champions Manchester/Pontefract and
2003 winners Churchill Edgbaston Priory, the home side pulled off a 4-1
victory - but failed to dislodge the hitherto unbeaten Birmingham club from
top of the North Group points table. There was also a shock result in the
South Group where league newcomers Surrey Health & Racquets Croydon went
down 2-3 at home to Team Chichester, leaving Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury to
reclaim pole position in the group.
The secret to Edgbaston Priory’s surprise ‘success’ in their seemingly
heavy defeat in Manchester was in picking up maximum possible points in the
four matches they lost - all by 3/2 margins! In the first women’s match
covered by the www.psalive.tv streaming - which provided live worldwide
coverage of the PSL for the first time - the hosts’ Jenny Duncalf twice came
from behind to beat England team-mate Vicky Botwright 2-9 9-4 7-9 9-4 10-8
in 82 minutes to reverse the result of her last meeting with the Manchester
star on the same court two months ago.
Further Manchester wins by Nick Taylor and James Willstrop ensured victory
in the tie for the hosts, but squad number one Lee Beachill extended the
margin to 4-1 with a 6-9 9-7 6-9 9-1 9-2 triumph in 57 minutes over the
Edgbaston top string David Palmer, the world No7 from Australia.
Elsewhere in the North Group, title-holders Wolverhampton suffered their
third defeat of the season – going down 1-4 at home to 1998 champions
Benz-Bavarian Duffield. Australia’s British Open champion Anthony Ricketts,
the world No3, was the hosts’ sole winner – beating England’s world No11
Nick Matthew 9-3 9-3 9-1 – but Duffield stalwarts Renan Lavigne, Laurence
Delasaux, Paul Hargrave and Tania Bailey all triumphed to keep the
Derbyshire club’s league title hopes alive, just three points behind
second-placed Manchester/Pontefract.
Led by in-form world stars Peter Nicol and Nicol David, Surrey Health &
Racquets Croydon were widely fancied to topple Team Chichester and finish
the first half of season at the top of the South Group. But England No1
Linda Elriani, playing in her first match since a hamstring injury layoff,
gave the Chichester visitors the perfect start to the evening when she took
on Malaysia’s world No3 Nicol David, fresh from the best run of her career
which included winning the British Open title and Carol Weymuller Open
trophy in New York last month. Elriani, the world No6 from Eastbourne,
crushed David 9-6 9-1 9-6 in 37 minutes.
Chichester’s Australian newcomer Aaron Frankcomb and squad stalwart Tim
Vail also claimed significant wins to clinch the tie for the Sussex club –
but top string Peter Nicol recovered some Croydon pride when he beat the
visitors’ Ben Garner, the younger brother of the Croydon third string Tim
Garner, 4-9 9-6 9-7 9-3 in 26 minutes.
It was Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury’s middle order that provided the might
to overcome University Sport Birmingham 3-2 in the other tie in the South
Group. Fast-improving Gloucestershire stars Alister Walker and Alex Stait
beat the home side’s Joel Hinds and Steve Coppinger, respectively, after
Essex’s rising star Daryl Selby defeated the Birmingham University squad No4
Jaymie Haycocks 9-6 -6 3-9 9-4.
Winners of the South Group last year in their maiden season in the PSL,
Strings now approach next year’s second half of this season at the as group
points table, seven points ahead of Croydon.
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS
Tuesday 15 November
Round FIVE
North Group:
Manchester-Pontefract 4-1 Churchill Edgbaston Priory
Lee Beachill 3-2 David Palmer 6-9, 9-7, 6-9, 9-1, 9-2
(57m)
James Willstrop 3-2 Adrian Grant 9-6, 5-9, 9-6, 8-10, 9-7
(50m)
David Evans 0-3 Peter Barker 6-9, 2-9, 3-9 (35m)
Nick Taylor 3-2 Hadrian Stiff 5-9, 9-4, 4-9, 9-4, 10-8
(53m)
Jenny Duncalf 3-2 Vicky Botwright 2-9, 9-4, 7-9, 9-4, 10-8
(82m)
Wolverhampton
1-4 Benz-Bavarian Duffield
Anthony Ricketts 3-0 Nick Matthew 9-3, 9-3,
9-1
Alex Gough 1-3 Renan Lavigne 6-9, 7-9, 9-3, 2-9
Scott Handley 1-3 Lawrence Delasaux 10-8, 4-9, 6-9, 3-9
Mark Cairns 0-3 Paul Hargrave 8-10, 9-11, 3-9
Shelley Kitchen 1-3 Tania Bailey 6-9, 4-9, 9-7,
2-9
South Group:
University Sport Birmingham 2-3 Oberthur Strings
Joey Barrington 3-2 Rodney Durbach 10-8, 6-9, 9-6, 8-10, 9-5
Joel Hinds 1-3 Alister Walker 1-9, 9-11, 9-5, 7-9
Steve Coppinger 0-3 Alex Stait 6-9, 8-10, 6-9
Jaymie Haycocks 1-3 Daryl Selby 6-9, 6-9, 9-3, 4-9
Laura Lengthorn 3-0 Jenny Wright 9-4, 9-3, 9-0
Surrey H&RC
Croydon 2-3 Team Chichester
Peter Nicol 3-1 Ben Garner 4-9, 9-6, 9-7, 9-3 (26m)
Phillip Barker 2-3 Tim Vail 9-7, 10-12, 4-9, 9-5, 3-9
(51m)
Tim Garner 0-3 Aaron Franckomb 8-10, 8-10, 6-9 (42m)
Chris Simpson 3-0 Martin Greenslade 9-2, 9-7, 9-4 (20m)
Nicol David 0-3 Linda Elriani 6-9, 1-9, 6-9 (37m)
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