Round SIX Roundup, 27-Jan

Duffield march on as Surrey suffer first defeat

SH13285The second half of the PSL season kicked off tonight at six venues around the country with Round Six, the reverse of the opening round’s fixtures in October.

The matches in Division A pitched first v second, third v fourth and fifth v sixth! Leaders Duffield travelled to Nottingham without their world champion pairing Nick Matthew and Laura Massaro, but still proved too strong for the home side as Fiona Moverley and Adam Murrills put them two up and Declan James clinched the win to retain Duffield’s unbeaten record.

The middle-of-the-table clash saw Birmingham take all three ties at the bottom of the order with wins from debutante Katrina Burrows, Miles Jenkins and Joel Makin. Visitors Coolhurst held sway at the top of the order as Greg Lobban and Simon Rosner made the scoreline more respectable for the visitors, but Birmingham’s win was enough to take them into second place.

In the clash between the bottom two teams it was home side Pontefract who took the spoils. Tania Bailey put Leicester ahead, but Lewis Doughty, Alex Hodgetts and Aqeel Rehman put the Yorkshire side 3-1 ahead before Shaun Le Roux beat James Willstrop, returning to action after his surgery, to make the result 3-2.

Duffield stay well clear at the top, but Birmingham, Coolhurst and Nottingham are separated by just six points in their bids to reach the semi-finals.

In division B the three teams at the top of the league faced the three teams occupying the bottom half, but the results didn’t go to that plan.

DSP_3450efending champions Surrey, leaders and unbeaten, found them selves 3-0 down at Bristol as David Evans, Mike Harris and Tesni Evans clinched the win for the home side in the opening matches. Piedro Schweertman pulled one back for Surrey but Marwan Elshorbagy beat fellow Egyptian Mazen Hesham at number one to give Bristol a morale-boosting win.

St George’s started the day in second place, and took full advantage of Surrey’s setback as they thrashed Exeter five nil with the visitors failing to win a single game. St George’s are now just one point behind neighbours Surrey at the top of the table.

Third placed Chichester also narrowed the gap on Surrey as they won away at Winchester, Lauren Briggs and Nathan Lake giving them a great start before Rex Hedrick clinched the win with a five-game victory over Scott Handley. For Winchester Robbie Downer beat namesake Robbie Temple and at number one Mohamed Abouelghar staged a comeback from two games down to beat Adrian Waller, taking the final three games 11-9, 13-11, 12-10.

Bristol’s win though puts them right into playoff contention, just two points behind Chichester despite having won more matches.

Division A:

Air-IT Nottingham  1-4 Benz Bavarian Duffield (3-19)

Eddie Charlton 0-3 Chris Simpson  8-11 , 6-11, 5-11
Dougie Kempsell 0-3 Declan James 8- 11, 11-13, 8-11
Mark Fuller 3-2 Richie Fallows 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 3-11, 11-6
Ollie Holland 0-3 Adam Murrills  6-11, 9-11, 6-11
Sophie Lemom 0-3 Fiona Moverley  4-11, 9-11, 0-11

Birmingham Lions  3-2 Coolhurst London (15-8)

Jaymie Haycocks  0-3 Simon Rosner  8-11, 6-11, 7-11
Chris Ryder 1-3 Greg Lobban  7-11, 11-6, 3-11, 6-11
Joel Makin 3-0 Angus Gillams  11-2, 11-5, 11-4.
Miles Jenkins 3-2 Steve London  12-10, 10-12, 9-11,  11-5, 11-5
Katrina Burrows 3-0 Emily Peach  11-7, 11-2, 11-5

Pontefract 3-2 Everards Leicester (15-9)

James Willstrop 1-3 Shaun Le Roux  6-11, 11-8, 10-12, 6-11
Aqeel Rehman 3-0 James Bowden  11-3, 11-4, 11-7
Alex Hodgetts 3-1 Luke Parker 2-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3
Lewis Doughty 3-2 Richard Underhill  13-15, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3
Carrie Ramsey 0-3 Tania Bailey  7-11, 9-11, 4-11.

Division B:

Luxford/9 Group St George’s Hill  5-0 Exeter Diamonds (20-0)

Joe Lee 3-0 Tim Vail  11-8, 11-4, 11-9
Tom Richards 3-0 Micah Franklin  11-1, 11-3, 11-4
Henrik Mustonen 3-0 James Snell  11-8, 11-2, 11-0
Alex Ingham 3-0 Luke Bishop  11-9, 11-7, 11-5
Dom Lloyd-Walter 3-0 Rhianne O’Donnell  11-3, 11-4, 11-2

UWE/Elite Bristol 4-1 Virgin Active Surrey HRC (17-5)

Marwan Elshorbagy 3-0 Mazen Hesham  12-10, 13-11, 11-7
Tom Ford 0-3 Piedro Schweertman  6-11, 3-11, 9-11
David Evans 3-1 Lyell Fuller   4-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-5
Mike Harris 3-1 Tim Garner  11-3, 8-11, 11-9, 13-11
Tesni Evans 3-0 Amelia Henley  11-6, 11-8, 11-8

Winchester Racquets & Fitness  2-3 Team Chichester (9-16)

Mohamed Abouelghar 3-2 Adrian Waller  8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 13-11, 12-10
Scott Handley 2-3 Rex Hedrick   11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 5-11, 4-11
Robbie Downer 3-0 Robbie Temple  12-10, 11-7, 11-3
Steve Wykes 0-3  Nathan Lake 6-11, 7-11, 2-11
Jenny Hayley 1-3 Lauren Briggs  6-11, 11-6, 10-12, 9-11