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National
Squash League Round SIX,
Tue 18th January:
previous rounds |
 LOVELY
TIME AT
THE LOST CLUB
My first visit to Lee on Solent,
didn't start well, with a "hell of a journey".
But I'm glad I got there, as
I was warmly received, and ended up
having a lovely time in the Lost Club.
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Man/Pont cruise on, Wolves sneak it
In group A runaway leaders Manchester/Pontefract all but
sealed a play-off place with a 4-1 win
 away
to a weakened Nottingham team, while Wolverhampton consolidated second
place with a hard-fought win at Edgbaston - all their wins were 3/2 ...
Strings win again, Guildford close in
In group B Tewkesbury maintained their unbeaten record with a 3-2 win at
Chichester, and Guildford took the opportunity to close the gap with a
solid 4-1 away win at Solent.
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Nottingham lost to
Manchester/Pontefract 1-4 (3-18)
John White beat Lee Beachill 9-7, 13-11, 1-9, 9-6
David Evans lost to James Willstrop 9-11, 4-9, 5-9
James Wright lost to Marcus Berrett 2-9, 5-9, 3-9
Adam Fuller lost to Nick Taylor 6-9, 0-9, 6-9
Alex Norman lost to Jenny Duncalf 8-10, 3-9, 1-9 |
Edgbaston Priory lost to
Wolverhampton 2-3 (12-15)
Adrian Grant lost to Alex Gough 5-9,9-7,9-6,7-9,8-10 (73m)
Del Harris lost to Scott Handley 9-5,9-6,5-9,7-9,10-12 (52m)
Hadrian Stiff lost to Mark Cairns 9-5,9-2,2-9,8-10,9-11 (86m)
Adam Stevenson beat Chris Ryder 9-3, 11-9, 8-10, 9-2
Laura Lengthorn beat Dominique Lloyd-Walter 9-4, 9-0, 10-9 |
Team Solent lost to UniSport
Guildford 1-4 (7-17)
Lars Harms lost to Stacey Ross 7-9, 2-9, 7-9
Greg Tippings lost to Stephen Meads 7-9, 5-9, 9-5, 7-9
Shahid Khan lost to Neil Frankland 9-3, 6-9, 4-9, 7-9
Chris Simpson lost to Jesse Engelbrecht 4-9,9-7,9-6,2-9, 4-9
Carla Khan beat Emma Mathews 9-1, 9-0, 9-1 |
Team Chichester lost to Oberthur
Strings 2-3 (8-16)
Azlan Iskandar bt Rodney Durbach 11-13, 9-7, 9-11, 9-6, 9-5
Peter Genever lost to Alister Walker 9-7, 7-9, 8-10, 7-9
Tim Vail bt Daryl Selby 9-5, 9-3, 9-2
Matt Holland lost to Chris Clare 5-9, 9-3, 5-9, 7-9
Caroline Chaloner lost to Sue Wright 1-9, 9-10, 4-9 |
Tewkesbury & Manchester/Pontefract
Motor On In National League
Howard
Harding rounds up round six ...
Group leaders Manchester/Pontefract
and Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury
maintained their winning ways at the beginning of the second half of
the National Squash League season with powerful sixth round
victories away from home. The trans-Pennine cooperative extended
their lead in Group A with a 4-1 win at Norwest Holst Nottingham,
while the Gloucestershire newcomers - unbeaten in their maiden
season in the League - defeated Sussex's Team Chichester 3-2.
Elsewhere in Group B, Surrey's
UniSport Guildford also claimed an away win, beating Team
Solent 4-1 - whilst the West Midlands derby at Edgbaston Priory went
to the wire when visitors
Wolverhampton secured a 3-2 success.
Manchester too
much for weakened Nottingham
Title-holders Manchester/Pontefract arrived in Nottingham with a
full-strength squad, though a busy international calendar meant that
the hosts provided one of the club's weakest line-ups of the
season. James Wright, Adam Fuller and Alex Norman - all making
their debuts for Nottingham - went down in straight games to
experienced pro's Marcus Berrett, Nick Taylor and Jenny Duncalf,
respectively.
Nottingham's former British Open champion David Evans, from Wales,
was also overshadowed on the day - by Yorkshire's fastest-rising
star James Willstrop, the 21-year-old who has just shot to No5 in
the world.
The top string clash was the showpiece encounter of the night - in
which the visitors' world No2 Lee Beachill took on Nottingham's John
White, the former world No1 who has plummeted to 12 in the latest
world list. Beachill was the winner the last time they met - in the
first round of the League in October - but this time the hot Scot
White celebrated a 9-7 13-11 1-9 9-6 victory to give the home crowd
a consolation point.
Wolves keep up
the pressure
Manchester/Pontefract extend their lead at the top of the table to
16 points - but Wolverhampton kept up the pressure following their
away win in Birmingham. But after victories in the opening two
matches from Laura-Jane Lengthorn and Adam Stevenson, former
champions Edgbaston Priory will rue their eventual loss of the tie
after leading in all of the three remaining clashes.
Devon's Hadrian Stiff led 2-0 against the visitors' Mark Cairns -
but the now retired former British National champion from
Oxfordshire came back to save four match-balls and win 5-9 2-9 9-2
10-8 11-9 in an 86-minute marathon. Priory stalwart Del Harris, a
former world No5 and now a fireman, also squandered a 2-0 lead
before Wolverhampton's Scott Handley won 5-9 6-9 9-5 9-7 12-10.
In the deciding top string rubber between the home side's Adrian
Grant and Welshman Alex Gough - ranked 14 and 25, respectively, in
the world - Grant came back from 1-4 down in the fifth game to reach
match-ball at 8-4. Gough battled on, however, to secure a
magnificent 9-5 7-9 6-9 9-7 10-8 win in 73 minutes to give
Wolverhampton the tie.
Tewkesbury win
again
Sue Wright, owner of Strings Tewkesbury and a former four-times
National champion, led by example on the Sussex coast when she beat
Chichester's Caroline Chaloner 9-1 10-9 9-4 to put her team in the
driving seat. The visitors' No4 Chris Clare carried on the momentum
by beating Chichester newcomer Matt Holland in four games before
team-mate Alister Walker clinched victory for Strings when he
defeated home team captain Peter Genever 7-9 9-7 10-8 9-7.
Guildford
close the gap
In the other south coast clash in Group B, Team Solent began well
when Pakistan No1 Carla Khan triumphed 9-1 9-0 9-1 over UniSport
Guildford debutante Emma Matthews. It was a brave performance by
the 16-year-old Surrey schoolgirl who is a beneficiary of Sport
England's "Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme".
Guildford went on to take the remaining matches - Jesse Engelbrecht,
Neil Frankland, Stephen Meads and Stacey Ross beating Chris Simpson,
Shahid Khan, Greg Tippings and Lars Harms, respectively, to earn the
Surrey squad its second victory of the season.
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UniSport Guildford |
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Group A Table:
Man/Pont P5 W4 83pts
W'hampton P5 W3 67pts
Nottingham P5 W3 51pts
Edgbaston P5 W1 49pts
Duffield P4 W2
46pts
Group B Table
Tewkesbury P4 W4 68pts
Chichester P4 W2 50pts
Guildford P4 W2 44pts
Solent
P4 W0 27pts
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Framboise was at
Lee on Solent ...
Round FIVE Reports,
14-Dec Group B
COMING UP
Round Seven,
Tue 01-Feb:
Group A:
Manchester v Edgbaston Wolverhampton v Duffield
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