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22/05/2006
NATIONAL SQUASH SUPER LEAGUE
 

CORAL WINDOWS BRADFORD 1-2 FATRA CARDIFF

Round 10 Final Report Fatra Cardiff v Martlesham H&F
Round 10 Final Table Fatra Cardiff v Martlesham H&F

Round 9 Results Bradford v Cardiff
Round 9 Table Bradford v Cardiff

Round 9 Results Martlesham v Winchester
Round 9 Table Martlesham v Winchester

Round 8 Results Winchester v Exeter
Round 8 Table Winchester v Exeter

Round 10
10th (Final) Round Monday 5th June 2006-06-08
 
Exeter Diamonds 1-2 Southern Hygiene Services

Stewart Boswell 3-0 Mohmd Azlan Iskandar 9/7, 7/9, 4/9, 3/9 (39 minutes)
Joe Kneipp 1-3 Alex Gough 12/10, 7/9, 5/9, 3/9 (35 minutes)
Hadrian Stiff 1-3 Tim Vail 9/7, 9/5, 9/3 (40 minutes)
 
Fatra Cardiff 2-1 Martlesham Health & Fitness

Greg Gaultier 3-0 Wael El Hindi 9/7, 9/6, 9/3 (38 minutes)
Joey Barrington 1-3 Peter Barker 9/6, 6/9, 7/9, 5/9 (48 minutes)
David Evans 3-1 Lee Drew 9/7, 7/9, 9/6, 12/10 (45 minutes)
 
Exeter Diamonds 1-2 Southern Hygiene Services

Exeter Diamonds clinched the National Super Squash League title by a huge margin after completing their final match of the season on Monday 5th June 2006.
 
There was a carnival atmosphere at the club as they took on the visitors Southern Hygiene Services Winchester.
 
At Number 3 was the local hero Hadrian Stiff playing the local Winchester boy, Tim Vail.
On the night Tim’s racket skills were a little too much for Hadrian, the crowd were delighted when he took the 1st game, but a number of nicks took the match in Tim’s favour 1-3.
 
At Number 2 was the popular Antipodean Joe Kneipp against the much in form Alex Gough. Joe started sprightly with 4 rolling nicks to take the first game. Alex worked hard and applied relentless pressure to take the next 3 games. Winning 3-1.
 
Ay Number 1 for Exeter was the undefeated Antipodean Stewart Boswell against the higher ranked Mohmd. Azlan Iskandar.
 
Stewart floated around the court like a butterfly….but stung like a bee to take the match 3-0 despite some very hard and long rallies.
 
Winchester won the match 2-1 but the capacity home crowd were jubilant at winning the league.
 
Patron of the league, Gerwyn Davies presented the league trophy to Keith White of Michael Spears the main sponsor for Exeter Diamonds in a shower of silver tape, which exploded over their heads.
 
The crowd had even more to cheer about when the ‘Player of the Year Trophy’ was awarded to Stewart Boswell for playing in all home and away matches and remaining undefeated.
 
Fatra Cardiff 2-1 Martlesham Health & Fitness

Cardiff secured their 5th win of the season when they took on the visitors Martlesham on Monday 5th June.
 
A spirited performance by Essex boy Lee Drew could not shake a solid David Evans, although the 4th game was very close at 12/10.
 
Peter Barker completed the ‘double’ over Joey Barrington winning 3-1 in a hard gruelling match. This concluded a very successful season for Peter, which has seen a meteoric rise to his standard of play.
 
Greg Gaultier was altogether too fast and fit for the Egyptian Wael El Hindi winning in 3 straight games.
 
This result meant that Cardiff ended up ‘runners up’ in the league to Exeter only losing 3 matches. It also committed Martlesham to the ‘wooden spoon’ for the league.
  
                        NSSL 2006 FINAL TABLE

                         Ties   Matches  Games
TEAM                     W   L   W   L   W   L   Pts
Exeter Diamonds          7   1  19  05   62  29  76
Fatra Cardiff            5   3  12  12   46  45  56
S.H.S. Winchester        4   4  13  11   45  48  53
Coral Windows Bradford   2   6  08  13   38  48  46 **
Martlesham               2   6  05  16   33  51  37

 
** Includes an extra 6 points for a forfeited match against Martlesham


ROUND 9
CORAL WINDOWS BRADFORD 1-2 FATRA CARDIFF

Nick Matthews 1-3 Anthony Ricketts 5/9 6/9 9/6 3/9 (42mins)
Simon Parke 0-3 David Evans 6/9 5/9 6/9 (36mins)
Alistair Walker 3-1 Gavin Jones 10/8 9/3 9/11 9/6 (52mins)

The penultimate round of the National Super Squash League saw Bradford at home to the visiting team from Wales. Cardiff took the match 2-1, notching up their 4th win of the season, moving them firmly into 3rd place in the league.

Match 1 (3rd string)
Alistair Walker (world 44) vs. Gavin Jones (world 40)

Both players looked in good form with Ali finding the better length from the offset. Gavin made a few unforced errors to give Ali a 5-2 lead before playing a far more controlled game. Ali then started to make the mistakes going for shots that weren’t always on in some long rallies. Gavin pulled back to 8-7 to reach game ball first. A huge rally had both players running corner to corner and Ali eventually took it with a cross-court kill that died away in the side. A tight drop forcing an out of court lob gave Ali first game point, which he converted with the help of a lazy back of court tin from Gavin.

Ali came on for the second with higher confidence and started volleying more and taking the ball shorter at any given opportunity. Without making a single unforced error Ali swept through the game 9-3, only conceding points from outright winners from Gavin.

With the supporters fully behind Ali to take the match in 3 games, Ali raced off to an early start hitting some lovely winners. Gavin pulled it back to 4-4 with some nice winners of his own. Gavin started prolonging the rallies again as he did in the first and Ali again, desperate to finish off the points went for more short shots, this time they were staying up and Ali reached 8-5 match ball. Gavin started to really push himself around the court, taking the balls as early as possible. A clinging drive followed by a rolling nick then a stroke swiftly brought him back into the game. A stroke to Ali leveled the scores at 9-9 before Gavin again hit a couple of irretrievable shots to take the third game 11-9.

The fourth game got off to a close start with both players pushing each other forward with more regularity. 3 strokes in the first 4 points took the score to 2-2. Ali started to pull away with thanks to a very tight backhand kill, a tin from a Gavin and a fluke squirt boast. At 5-2 it was point for point taking Ali to 8-5 game ball. Gavin looked like he might make another comeback when he hammered the ball into the nick, but gave Ali the match with a backhand drop into the tin.

Alistair Walker beat Gavin Jones 10/8 9/3 9/11 9/6 (52mins)

Match 2 (2nd string)
Simon Parke (world 32) vs. David Evans

The two veterans entered the court and both looked impressive. David was hitting great length and with superb deception was causing Simon to constantly twist and turn to get the balls back. The first game was close for the first few rallies until David broke away with three winners that clung to the side walls and two unforced errors from Simon. At 7-3 down Simon pulled off some lovely touch shots to pull back a couple of points but David closed out the game with the help of two backhand drops in a row into the tin from Simon.

The second game was point for point up until 4-4. David used his long reach, deceptive flicks and lack of errors to force more mistakes from Simon and extend his lead to 6-4. Simon kept fighting but could keep the ball out of the tin tonight and gave David the second game 9-5.
With a further 5 unforced errors in the third Simon was certainly having an off day. David, hitting two mistakes in this game out of 5 all match, led from the start and although Simon was hitting more winning shots, couldn’t turn around the game. David won the game 9-6 and leveled the tie for Cardiff.

David Evans beat Simon Parke 9/6 9/5 9/6 (36mins)

Match 3 (1st string)
Nick Matthews (world 7) vs. Anthony Ricketts (world 4)

Anthony and Nick stepped onto the court for the final match. Anthony started with a fast pace and powered the ball around the court, causing Nick to start defensively, not like the usual volleying and counter attacking we normally see. Anthony raced away to an early 5-1 lead before Nick really started attacking the ball properly, hitting two rolling nicks and some cross-courts that died into the sides. Anthony started hitting the ball harder, tighter and earlier and raced away once again, waiting for the loose balls to put away and stormed to victory in the first game.

The second game saw not a single error from Anthony and just three from Nick. Most of the points being won on volley drops and kills. Nick was starting to counter attack and use Anthony’s pace against him by intercepting his cross courts and drives. The three tins made the difference in a game that was very close. Anthony winning 9-6.

The third game was very tight until 5-6 with the rallies taking on the same fast attacking structure. Nick retrieved some extremely tight drops to win a really hard rally. A disagreement with the ref left Anthony looking a little frustrated and lobbed out in the next rally and hit loose to give away an easy winner, taking Nick to game ball. Anthony then hit the return of service into the tin to give Nick the game.

Anthony came back on court in the forth really pumped up, taking the ball harder and earlier than ever. His momentum was briefly broken when he gave away a couple of strokes. This didn’t stop his concentration as he pulled away from 2-2 to 6-2 displaying some great control and fast movement that had Nick under constant pressure. A tinned boast from Anthony gave Nick the incentive for a comeback but Anthony was really on top of his game and volleyed short with deadly precision every time to take the next three points and the tie to Cardiff.

Anthony Ricketts beat Nick Matthews 9/5 9/6 6/9 9/3 (42mins)

Cardiff beat Bradford 2-1

NSSL 2006 TABLE


Ties Matches Games
TEAM W L W L W L Pts
Exeter Diamonds 7 0 18 03 57 23 71
S.H.S. Winchester 3 4 11 10 39 43 45
Fatra Cardiff 4 2 09 09 35 34 43
Coral Windows Bradford 1 6 08 13 38 48 40
Martlesham 1 4 02 13 22 40 24


Round 9
RESULTS
Martlesham Health & Fitness Club 2-1 Southern Hygiene Services Winchester
Wael El Hindi 3-1 Alex Gough 11/9, 9/3, 5/9, 9/5 (45 minutes)
Peter Barker 3-0 Laureens Jan Anjema 9/3, 9/7, 9/3 (36 minutes)
Peter Genever 1-2 Dan Jenson 12/10, 6/9, 2/9, 5/9 (53 minutes)

Martlesham recorded their 1st win of the season in the National Super Squash League when they took on a powerful Winchester team.

3rd STRING - Peter Genever v Dan Jenson
This was a tough draw for the popular English home player up against the tall strong ex world top 10 Australian.

The gane was characterised by Peter's consistency, retrievability and dogged determination vesus Dan's determination to burst as many balls as he could through his power hitting.
The first game was tied at 6 all when Peter broke several strings on his racket, 2 consecutive 'no lets' gave Peter 'game ball', but a 'stroke' to Dan meant he was within a single point of catching Peter. Dan pulled the game level with some incredible retrieving in a huge rally to go 8 all.Both players had a chance of taking the 1st game but it was Peter who did so with a winning forehand drive into the nick, 12-10 to Peter.

The second game continued with long rallies and there was very little between the 2 players as they went to 6 all, then.3 successive winning shots from Dan took the second 6-9 to level the match at 1 all.

Peter was looking tired after having to retrieve so many hard drives in the 3rd game, Dan took control to win 2/9 levelling the game score at 1-1.

Dan went 0-3 up in the 4th, then Peter started to recover back to 2-3 when Dan cut 2 fingers on his playing hand during a racket clash and had to take a short injury break. The break did Dan a power of good as he took the 4th 5/9 and the match 1-3 for Winchester. Winchester go 0-1 up. The packed house enjoyed a match that was played in a very competitive yet sporting manner.

2nd STRING - Peter Barker v Laureens Jan Anjema
Before the match Deryk Bull, the Winchester manager, was heard to say 'my man LJ (Laurens) has never lost a game let alone a match for us this season'......how he would rue these words!

This match saw 2 left handers pitched against each other with world rankings of 23 and 28. Peter the local Essex boy is big and strong who plays a very thoughtful and consistent game. By contrast the Dutchman Laureens, plays a game with very little backswing making ghis shots very difficult to read.
Peter got off to a super start going 6-0 up, Laureens pulled back 3 points then there was a huge rally which Peter won with a forehand winner, and a winning drop shot on the next rally meant 9/3 and 1-0 to the home side.

Laureens played much tighter in the 2nd game, utilising his flicks and deception to go 2/5 up, then a 'no let' decision for Peter resulted in a bit of banter between Peter and the refereee, which the referee held firm on his decision. This small disruption seemed to give Peter an 'iron resolve' yet slightly jaded Laureens and Peter took the second game 9/7.

Peter was now a man on a mission and went into . 7/1 lead in the 4th. Laureens responded by taking several early volleys in succession to try and break Peter's resolve, but eventually produced errors, Peter took the 4th 9/3 with a winning forehand drop to take the match 3-1, levelling the score at 1 all, meaning it was down to the number 1 strings to decide who would win.

1st STRING - Wael El Hindi v Alex Gough

With 2 highly ranked and gifted players, one from Egypt and the other from Wales, with the match result depending on the outcome, this was always going to be a difficult match to mark/referee for the local coaches Mark Baggott and Shahid Khan.

The game was characterised by both players immense racket skills, slicng, top spinning caressing and powering the ball from all parts of the court, coupled with a number of court collisions and 'let', 'no let', 'stroke' decisions that upset the flow of the match.

Wael got off to an excellent start going 4/0 up with 4 winning shots. Alex pulled back to 4 all then a 'no let' decision for Alex started a discussion with the referee as to whether Wael was allowuing Alex a clear path to the ball. Another 'no let' for Alex at 7 all gave Wael 'game ball' at 8/7, several excellent long rallies of squash resulted in Wael taking the 1st game 11/9 with a forehand drive into the nick. 1-0 to Martlesham.

Alex started the 2nd game sprightly, going 2-0 up with a trickle boast. Wael pulled back to go 4-3 up when a 'stroke' decision to Wael upset Alex so much so that he gifted the game to Wael with successive tinned shots.

Alex regained his composure in the 3rd game going 2/4 up, Alex piled on the pressure increasing the tempo of the game that rocked Wael, coupled with a serve that went into the dead nick....5/8 to Alex. Then a huge rally with incredible retrieving and attacking shots from both players culminated in a winning shot from Alex taking the 3rd game 5/9. 2-1 to Martlesham.

A strange 1st rally in the 4th game resulting in the referee doing some deep head scratching and allowing a let. The game was level at 5 all then a collision on court was deemed to be a 'no let' for

Alex which resulted in some considerable discussion between Alex and the referee. This disruption seemed to take the wind from Alex's wings and Wael pressed home the advantage taking the 4th 9/5, and the match 3-1. Although this game was disruptive the crowd enjoyed the match which had periods of sheer magic interspersed with controvery. The result gave Martleshame their 1st win of the season against worthy opponents.

The next and final home match of the season is on Thursday 1st June against Cardiff.

Round 9 NSSL 2006 TABLE

Ties Matches Games
TEAM W L W L W L Pts
Exeter Diamonds 7 0 18 03 57 23 71
S.H.S. Winchester 3 4 11 10 39 43 45
Coral Windows Bradford 1 5 07 11 34 41 36
Fatra Cardiff 3 2 07 08 28 33 34
Martlesham 1 4 02 13 22 40 24


Round 8
LINDEN HOMES WINCHESTER 1-2 EXETER IMPERIALS
The Exeter Imperials onslaught continued in Winchester as they soundly beat Winchester's strongest squad, giving Exeter a huge lead in the National Super Squash League.

You know something special is about to happen when the Australian National Squad turn up to play for Exeter against the local heros, Gough’y, Azlan (the Lion) Iskandar and some guy called Peter Nicol.

Peter Nicol v David Palmer (0-3) 2/9, 5/9, 6/9 (31 mins)
Mohd Azlan Isklandar v Stewart Boswell. (0-3) 1/9, 8/10, 8/10 (33 mins)
Alex Gough v Joe Kneipp . 9-6, 7-9, 9-3, 9-5 (53 mins)

Match Report by Gary Hinton (Winchester Club)

3rd String - Alex Gough v Joe Kneipp 53mins.
The two finest exponents of ‘The Flick’ and the ‘top spin drop shot’ in the game are on court first. The game starts evenly with both players being worked from corner to corner. Its 5 all – time to get down to business! Gough rolls his wrist over a few times sending Kniepp stumbling the wrong way and takes the game 9-6.

There was something familiar about the second game – after some awesome retrieving and genius shot making - the game was tied at 5 all again. Kneipp elegantly moved forward to an 8-5 lead, Gough responds to 8-7 one 4-hour rally later Kneipp asks for a let – the Ref delivers a stroke. Game Kniepp 9-7.

After a tight start to game 3 Gough uses his years of experience and know how to pull away and win 9-3 in flamboyant style.

Game four - after 3 hard games chasing the ball in a ‘where’s Wally’ kind of way Kneipp has the look of a wounded soldier leaving the battlefield. Gough does not let up and wins the last 9-5.

2nd String - Mohd Isklandar v Stewart Boswell. 33mins
The first game was over swiftly with Boswell rising to the occasion beautifully and taking the game 9-1.

Bounce-back-ability is something that Azlan has in abundance and he proved it as he fought hard in the second game competing for every ball. The scores were tied at 8 all with both men playing out of their skins. Azlan hits 2 untimely tins….Game Boswell.

Azlan game out firing in the 3rd game and took an early lead but Boswell held onto his composure and levelled the scores at 6 all. Some monstrous rally’s later the scores were again level at 8 all.

Azlans nemesis ‘the tin’ came back to haunt him. Match Boswell 3-0 - Leaving Azlan looking like he had just tasted some ‘rancid lager’ as he reflected on the couple of unforced errors that lost him the match.

1st String - Peter Nicol v David Palmer. 31mins
This saw an in-form Palmer show his absolute class. Nicol tried everything he could to the delight of the crowd, but there was nothing he could do against the giant from down under.

Palmer dominated the match and did not allow the crowds favourite to play the champagne squash as he so often does. Match Palmer 3-0.

The Home crowd listened intently as Team manager Dereck Bull pressed Mr Nicol for a commitment to play for Winchester again next season, he agreed and signed later that night.

Round 8 NSSL 2006 TABLE


Ties Matches Games
TEAM W L W L W L Pts
Exeter Diamonds 7 0 18 03 57 23 71
Linden Homes Winchester 3 3 10 08 35 36 41
Fatra Cardiff 3 2 07 08 28 33 34
Coral Windows Bradford 0 5 04 11 25 37 25
Martlesham 0 3 00 09 11 27 11