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National
Squash League Round EIGHT,
Tue 15th February:
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 10/10
for Guildford
Framboise witnesses a great win
for UniSport Guildford, ending the unbeaten record of Oberthur
Strings Tewkesbury, and is impressed by the hospitality too ...
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DEVASTATING DEFEAT FOR DUFFIELD
Brian Hargrave looks on as Nottingham come back from the dead ...
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 THE
FIGHT FOR SECOND PLACE HOTS UP
Stephen Russell sees Wolverhampton salvage some points at Pontefract
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 GUILDFORD
END STRINGS' RUN
Ian Robinson reports as Guuildford keep their playoff hopes alive
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 STRINGS
TIED UP BY GUILDFORD
Round Eight, Tue 15th Feb, roundup from Howard Harding ...
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Group
A:
Manchester/Pontefract 4 Wolverhampton 1
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2 Norwest Holst Nottingham 3
Group B:
Team Solent 2 Team Chichester 3
UniSport Guildford 3 Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury 2
Strings Tied Up By Guildford
In First National League Defeat
Exertions in the final stages of last weekend's National
Championships played their part in tonight's eighth round of the
National Squash League - but
UniSport Guildford inflicted the season's first defeat of
Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury as the Gloucestershire club went
down 3/2 at the University of Surrey. Strings maintain their
leadership in Group B, but Guildford have narrowed the gap behind
second-placed Team Chichester,
who left it to the last match to scrape a 3/2 away win at
Hampshire's Team Solent.
In Group A, Manchester/Pontefract
extended their lead at the top of the table after beating
Wolverhampton 4/1, while
bottom-placed Norwest Holst
Nottingham forced their way into third place in the table
after coming back from 0/2 down to defeat Derbyshire's
Benz Bavarian Duffield 3/2.
Guildford End Strings' Record
Gloucester's Fiona Geaves celebrated her second successive Over-35
British national crown in Manchester on Sunday, but lost 2-9 9-2 2-9
2-9 to England team-mate Jenny Tranfield as Guildford immediately
slipped behind in their battle with table-toppers Strings. Jesse
Engelbrecht beat the visitors' late stand-in Adam Oakley to level
the score before - in what Guildford team manager Ian Robinson
described as 'the match of the night' - Neil Frankland fought back
from two games behind to beat Tewkesbury's Chris Clare 2-9 2-9 9-7
9-7 15-13, saving one match-ball in the decider.
"It was a fantastic game, played at a blistering pace," said
Robinson. "Chris was spraying winners all over the place in the
first two games, and while he kept up this level throughout the
match, Neil was also able to raise his game to meet him head on."
The final match saw Tewkesbury claw back one point as Malaysian star
Ong Beng Hee beat home hero Stacey Ross 6-9 9-1 9-6 13-11. Ross's
match preparation, however, was far from ideal as the 31-year-old
had spent most of the day in a hospital with his wife Debbie who had
tripped and broken her arm while jogging.
Linda Leads Chichester
Linda Elriani, the Sussex star who clinched the women's British
title for the first time 48 hours earlier, put in a champion's
performance at Lee on Solent when she despatched the home side's
Scottish U19 No1 Alexandra Clark 9-1 9-0 9-2 to maintain her
unbeaten record for Chichester this season. Team captain Tim Vail
also extended his unbeaten record when he defeated Team Solent's Rob
Sutherland in straight games. Second and third strings Ritwik
Bhattacharya and Greg Tippings, now the Lee coach, raised home hopes
after wins over Peter Genever and Tim Garner, respectively, but
Chichester clinched the tie victory when team No1 Mohd Azlan
Iskandar beat Lee Drew 9-5 9-7 9-6.
Man/Pont Roll On ...
Playing for the second time this season at their Yorkshire home
venue in Pontefract, Manchester/Pontefract marched on to their sixth
successive victory and increased their lead at the top of the Group
A table to 32 points. But it was a tired squad No1 James Willstrop
that put paid to a maximum points win, going down 4-9 8-10 7-9 to
the fresh Wolverhampton No1 Anthony Ricketts, the world No11 from
Australia. Willstrop, the 21-year-old who is ranked three places
higher, fought through two long and arduous encounters on the
all-glass court in Manchester last week before losing out to his
Manchester/Pontefract team-mate Lee Beachill in his first British
Nationals final.
Nottingham win East Midlands Derby
In their East Midlands derby, former champions Benz-Bavarian
Duffield got off to an excellent start against Group A visitors
Norwest Holst Nottingham when Tania Bailey secured a
confidence-boosting 9-2 9-7 6-9 9-3 win over Natalie Grinham, the
world No3 from Australia who was making her debut this season for
Nottingham. Former British Junior National champion Laurence
Delasaux was also making his Duffield debut - and also triumphed 9-6
9-4 9-5 over his Nottingham opponent Nick Douglas.
But Nottingham took over at this point and wrapped up the final
three matches to score a resounding 3/2 win and third place in the
table - and still the chance of a place in the play-offs. Welshman
David Evans was 'in a class of his own' as he despatched Duffield's
Sam Miller 9-6 9-5 9-6 - and Dutch No1 Tommy Berden defeated Renan
Lavigne, runner-up in the weekend's French National championships,
9-5 9-5 9-5.
The deciding final match took 65 minutes to reach its conclusion -
and it was Nottingham's rejuvenated British Nationals' star Simon
Parke who came out on top, beating fellow Yorkshireman Nick Matthew,
the world No6, 9-7 4-9 9-6 16-14 in an end-of-evening thriller.
Group A:
Manchester/Pontefract 4
Wolverhampton 1
James Willstrop lost Anthony Ricketts 4-9, 8-10, 7-9 (25m)
Marcus Berrett bt Scott Handley 9-11, 9-2, 9-2, 9-4 (32m)
Nick Taylor bt Mark Cairns 8-10, 9-2, 10-8, 7-9, 10-8 (71m)
Andrew Whipp beat Chris Ryder 12-10, 9-4, 9-3 (22m)
Jenny Duncalf beat Wendy Maitland 9-1, 9-1, 9-5 (23m)
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2 Norwest
Holst Nottingham 3
Nick Matthew lost Simon Parke 7-9, 9-4, 6-9, 14-16 (65m)
Renan Lavigne lost to Tommy Berden 5-9, 5-9, 5-9
Sam Miller lost to David Evans 6-9, 5-9, 6-9 (30m)
Laurence Delasaux beat Nick Douglas 9-6, 9-4, 9-5
Tania Bailey beat Natalie Grinham 9-2, 9-7, 6-9, 9-3 (64m)
Group B:
Team Solent 2 Team Chichester 3
Lee Drew lost to Mohd Azlan Iskandar 5-9, 7-9, 6-9
Ritwik Bhattacharya beat Peter Genever 9-3, 9-7, 9-3
Greg Tippings beat Tim Garner 9-1, 4-9, 9-6, 9-3
Rob Sutherland lost to Tim Vail 2-9, 4-9, 2-9
Alexandra Clark lost to Linda Elriani 1-9, 0-9, 2-9
UniSport Guildford 3 Oberthur
Strings Tewkesbury 2
Stacey Ross lost to Ong Beng Hee 9-6, 1-9, 6-9, 11-13
Stephen Meads beat Daryl Selby 9-7, 9-7, 9-4
Neil Frankland beat Chris Clare 2-9, 2-9, 9-7, 9-7, 15-13
Jesse Engelbrecht beat Adam Oakley 9-4, 9-3, 9-1
Fiona Geaves lost to Jenny Tranfield 2-9, 9-2, 2-9, 2-9
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Group A Table:
after Round Eight:
Man/Pont P7 W6 120pts
Wolves P7 W4
88pts
Nottingham P6 W3 66pts
Duffield P6 W2
63pts
Edgbaston P6 W1 54pts
Group B Table:
after Round Eight:
Tewkesbury P5 W4 76pts
Chichester P5 W3 65pts
Guildford P5 W3
60pts
Solent
P5 W0 33pts |
Tania Bailey beat Natalie Grinham 9-2, 9-7, 6-9, 9-3 (64m)
 "I'm
pretty delighted with that, I played really well and I
couldn't be happier.
"I was disappointed to lose in the Nationals, especially afer
a good performance in the Grantham Open just before, but
Alison [Waters] played really well, all credit to her.
"So I was keen to show my true form, especially on my debut
for Duffield, and I'm delighted to have got off to a winning
start for the team, especially against someone as highly
ranked as Natalie. I think it shows I can get back into the
top ten, at the very least.
"I'm off to New York for the Tournament of Champions on
Thursday, where I play Jenny Tranfield, and if I win that it's
Rachael Grinham, so I think I'll just take that one game at a
time ..."
Tania
Bailey |
©SquashSite
2005
Renan Lavigne lost to Tommy Berden 5-9, 5-9, 5-9
 "I
played really well in the French Nationals final against
Thierry at the weekend, he really had to put in a big effort.
But he drilled me in the leg on one point, and it was pretty
sore. Half an hour after the match I couldn't walk, but it
felt a lot better this morning. I wanted to show loyalty to
the team so played tonight, but it did hamper me a little.
"With 36 hours rest I should be ok for the Tournament of
Champions, where I'm top seed in qualifying. I don't want to
take any risks, but it's a big event, so I want to perform at
my best there."
Renan
Lavigne |
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