10-Nov-04:
ROUND THREE ROUNDUP
Howard Harding rounds up round three ...
Group A:
Wolverhampton 1 Manchester/Pontefract 4
Norwest Holst Nottingham 3 Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2
Group B:
UniSport Guildford 3 Team Solent 2
Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury 3 Team Chichester 2
Strings Tie Up Second
National League Win
Howard Harding
rounds up round three ...
League newcomers Oberthur Strings
Tewkesbury have already become the only club to boast an
undefeated record in the new season of the National Squash League
after beating Team Chichester
3/2 in tonight's third round clash. Elsewhere in Group B,
UniSport Guildford also
enjoyed a 3/2 home win, over Team
Solent - but still remain in third place in the group tables,
below Chichester.
In the northern Group A, title-holders
Manchester/Pontefract
stretched their lead at the top after a 4-1 away win at
Wolverhampton - while two
former champions Norwest Holst
Nottingham and Derbyshire's
Benz-Bavarian Duffield fought out an East Midlands derby, in
which Nottingham clinched a 3/2 win. But the home victory left both
clubs with equal points in the group tables - with Duffield boasting
a better 'matches won' average which keeps Nottingham at the foot of
the table.
STRINGS GO TOP
The Strings Club welcomed
National League action for the first time to Tewkesbury in
Gloucestershire - and new proprietor Sue Wright was delighted with
her team's resounding debut home victory in front of a packed club
crowd. "It was good to win, of course - but even more exciting to
have brought this standard of squash to the club for the first
time," said the four-times British National champion. "Most of our
members have just never seen this quality before."
World No11 Jenny Tranfield put the hosts ahead with a 9-3 9-4 9-5
win over Chichester's Suzie Pierrepont, the British U23 champion
playing in the absence, through illness, of the Sussex club's Linda
Elriani. Gloucestershire's Alister Walker secured a notable 3-9 9-7
10-8 10-8 win over his higher-ranked compatriot Ben Garner, while
rising Australian star Cameron Pilley clinched the home club's win
with a comprehensive 9-5 9-7 9-2 triumph over the visitors' former
top string Peter Genever.
LEE GO DOWN AT GUILDFORD
The University of Surrey squad
at Guildford were given a strong start by team newcomer Alison
Waters, the 20-year-old world No25 from north London who gained
revenge for a defeat three weeks ago in the US Open in New York to
beat Team Solent's world No12 Vicky Botwright, from Manchester.
Waters fought back from two games down to force the match into a
decider, then squandered a 6-2 lead before saving a match-ball at
6-8 and going on to claim a confidence-boosting 6-9 7-9 9-6 10-8
10-8 triumph.
Zimbabwean Jesse Engelbrecht and former squad No1 Stephen Meads
provided the other two UniSport victories to guarantee the Surrey
club's win. But, perhaps due to the diversion caused by this week's
arrival of his first-born son, recently-promoted top string Stacey
Ross was unable to extend the lead, going down in straight games to
the Hampshire club's No1 Bradley Ball.
NOTTINGHAM'S NEW SPONSOR
Nottingham unveiled their new
sponsors Norwest Holst at their first home match of the season, and
rewarded the company with the season's first win. While
Nottingham-based Scot Pamela Nimmo went down to the visitors' world
No2 Cassie Jackman in straight games, former British Open champion
David Evans showed the home club's strength in depth by providing a
strong fourth string win against Paul Hargrave, beating the Duffield
No4 9-6 7-9 9-2 9-2.
Nottingham went close to letting slip a near 'banker' third string
win when Simon Parke, the former world No3 enjoying a fine run of
form, squandered a 2/0 lead - then four match balls in the fourth
game - to allow Duffield's Jonathan Kemp to force the match into a
fifth game decider. Both players had match-balls in the last game,
before Parke eventually clinched it 9-6 9-7 5-9 8-10 14-12 to put
the hosts 2/1 up.
The top strings then played a 'topsy turvy' tussle in which the lead
swung one way, then the other. Eventually it was Duffield's Nick
Matthew, the world No6 from Sheffield, who emerged triumphant over
Nottingham's John White, ranked one place higher, winning 9-4 3-9
12-10 1-9 9-3 in 59 minutes.
With the tie poised at 2/2, Nottingham's Gregory Gaultier fought out
an all-French clash with former Nottingham club member Renan
Lavigne. Despite suffering with back strain, Gaultier won 9-4 10-8
10-8 to give the hosts their 3/2 win.
MANCHESTER GO TOP
The most decisive win of the
night was claimed by Manchester/Pontefract - whose Jenny Duncalf set
the tone for the evening with a gritty performance against
Wolverhampton's Shelley Kitchen, the New Zealand No1. Kitchen led
8-6 in the first, 6-2 in the second and 6-0 in the third game - but
Duncalf, just a single place behind the New Zealander in the WISPA
world rankings, stuck to her task and won 10-9 10-9 9-7 in 63
minutes - the longest match of the night!
Brave battles by Scott Handley, Welshman Alex Gough and Australian
Anthony Ricketts kept Wolverhampton's supporters happy - and after
Handley clinched a majestic 9-3 9-7 9-3 win over the visitors'
regular winner Marcus Berrett, Gough established a 2/1 lead over
Pontefract's James Willstrop. But the strain of the draining third
game took its toll on Gough as world No12 Willstrop took control to
win 9-6 4-9 12-14 9-2 9-5.
Finally the trans-Pennine cooperative brought out its trump card
when world No1 Lee Beachill took on Anthony Ricketts. The
26-year-old from Pontefract 'hardly made a mistake' as he swept to a
3-9 9-1 9-6 9-6 win over the world No14 to ensure
Manchester/Pontefract's 4/1 victory - and their place at the top of
the Group A table.
Group A:
Wolverhampton 1
Manchester/Pontefract 4
Anthony Ricketts lost to Lee Beachill 9-3, 1-9, 6-9, 6-9
Alex Gough lost to James Willstrop 6-9, 9-4, 14-12, 2-9, 5-9
Scott Handley beat Marcus Berrett 9-3, 9-7, 9-3
Mark Cairns lost to Nick Taylor 9-6, 6-9, 3-9, 9-5, 3-9 (56m)
Shelley Kitchen lost to Jenny Duncalf 9-10, 9-10, 7-9 (63m)
Norwest Holst Nottingham 3
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2
John White lost to Nick Matthew 4-9, 9-3, 10-12, 9-1, 3-9 (59m)
Gregory Gaultier beat Renan Lavigne 9-4, 10-8, 10-8 (45m)
Simon Parke beat Jonathan Kemp 9-6, 9-7, 5-9, 8-10, 14-12 (68m)
David Evans beat Paul Hargrave 9-6, 7-9, 9-2, 9-2 (38m)
Pamela Nimmo lost to Cassie Jackman 3-9, 2-9, 7-9 (35m)
Group B:
UniSport Guildford 3 Team Solent 2
Stacey Ross lost to Bradley Ball 4-9, 4-9, 3-9
Stephen Meads beat Lee Drew 9-6, 9-5, 5-9, 9-3
Neil Frankland lost to Lars Harms 9-1, 9-5, 5-9, 4-9, 5-9
Jesse Engelbrecht beat Greg Tippings 12-10, 9-3, 4-9, 9-4
Alison Waters beat Vicky Botwright 6-9, 7-9, 9-6, 10-8, 10-8
Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury 3 Team
Chichester 2
Rodney Durbach lost to Mohd Azlan Iskandar 7-9, 5-9, 3-9
Cameron Pilley beat Peter Genever 9-5, 9-7, 9-2
Alister Walker beat Ben Garner 3-9, 9-7, 10-8, 10-8
Chris Clare lost to Tim Vail 4-9, 9-6, 6-9, 10-8, 5-9
Jenny Tranfield beat Suzie Pierrepont 9-2, 9-4, 9-5 Ties Matches Games Pts
P W L W L W L
Group A:
Manchester/Pontefract 3 2 1 10 5 35 29 45
Wolverhampton 3 1 2 7 8 29 29 34
Edgbaston Priory 2 1 1 4 6 20 22 25
Duffield 2 1 1 5 5 19 20 24
Nottingham 2 1 1 4 6 19 22 24
Group B:
Strings Tewkesbury 2 2 0 8 2 26 10 36
Team Chichester 2 1 1 6 4 20 15 25
UniSport Guildford 2 1 1 4 6 15 23 20
Team Solent 2 0 2 2 8 13 26 13
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