15-Mar : Round EIGHT
Leicester open up a gap as Surrey pair creep ahead in Division B
The eighth round of PSA league action saw Division A leaders Everards Leicester emulate their football neighbours as they opened up a gap at the top of Division A with a 4-1 win away to Pontefract. Fiona Moverley put the Yorkshire side ahead, but Leicester bounced back with wins in all four men’s strings, Daryl Selby rounding out the win with an entertaining five game win over LJ Anjema.
Benz Bavarian Duffield started the day only a point behind Leicester, but the defending champions couldn’t find their customary escape route as visitors University of Birmingham Lions came away with a 3-2 win and only two points dropped. The match came down to a decider in which Birmingham’s Steve Coppinger beat Chris Simpson 3-1, putting Birmingham just one point behind Duffield, who are now 11 points behind Leicester.
The self-billed “relegation decider” at the bottom of the table also went to a deciding tie, with Coolhurst London taking the spoils over Air-IT Nottingham courtesy of a straight games win by Greg Lobban at the top string, listing them off the bottom of the table – by a single point.
With two rounds to go the Division still looks like a three-way battle, but it may be more about who joins Leicester in the playoffs.
Division B started – and ended – the evening as a four-way tussle for playoff places, but big wins by neighbours 9 Telecom St George’s Hill and Virgin Active Surrey may have made them slight favourites for the top positions.
St George’s stormed to a 5-0 home win over struggling ClubNet Winchester while Surrey, also at home, dropped just one point as they beat fellow contenders Team Chichester 4-1. Surrey’s recently retired Peter Barker, playing at number two for the first time, went down 2-3 to Robbie Temple for Chichester’s only win, although Piedro Schweertman had to save match balls in the fourth before completing the match with a win over Nathan Lake.
The West Country derby went the way of home side UWE/Elite Squash Bristol as they kept their playoff hopes alive with a win over Exeter Diamonds. With Bristol, leading 3-1 the final match saw ElShorbagy brothers Marwan and Mohamed clash in the top string, with Bristol’s Marwan winning in five – as he did in the first half.
Division A
Pontefract 1-4 Everards Leicester (5-17)
Laurens Jan Anjema 2-3 Daryl Selby 11-5, 9-11, 13-11, 9-11, 6-11
Simon Parke 0-3 Nafiizwan Adnan 6-11, 5-11, 4-11
Lee Beachill 0-3 Angus Gillams 2-11, 6-11, 5-11
Sam Wileman 0-3 Darren Lewis 6-11, 3-11, 10-12
Fiona Moverley 3-0 Coline Aumard 11-9, 11-8, 11-3
Air-IT Nottingham 2-3 Coolhurst London (6-16)
Eddie Charlton 0-3 Greg Lobban 3-11, 4-11 , 11-13
Chris Fuller 3-2 Joe Green 11-5, 6-11, 11-13, 11-3, 11-7
Mark Fuller 0-3 Rui Soares 5-11, 5-11, 6-11
Matthew Broadberry 3-0 Nick Mulvey 11-7, 11-2, 12-10
Hana Ramadan 0-3 Donna Urquhart 7-11, 9-11 , 6-11
Benz Bavarian Duffield 2-3 University of Birmingham Lions (7-18)
Chris Simpson 1-3 Steve Coppinger 4-11, 11-0, 4-11, 4-11
Richie Fallows 3-2 Jaymie Haycocks 9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9
Joel Hinds 0-3 Chris Ryder 8-11, 6-11, 7-11
Adam Murrills 3-2 Jan Van Den Herrewegen 11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 6-11, 11-1
Millie Tomlinson 0-3 Sarah-Jane Perry 4-11, 6-11, 6-11
Division B
Virgin Active Surrey 4-1 Team Chichester (19-7)
Ali Farag 3-1 Adrian Waller 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4
Peter Barker 2-3 Robbie Temple 11-7, 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 8-11
Piedro Schweertman 3-2 Nathan Lake 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7
Lyell Fuller 3-1 Kyle Finch 10-12, 11-8, 14-12, 11-3
Alison Waters 3-0 Lauren Briggs 11-4, 11-4, 11-1
9 Telecom St George’s Hill 5-0 ClubNet Winchester (20-2)
Borja Golan 3-1 Nicolas Mueller 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3
Tom Richards 3-0 Scott Handley 11-9, 11-6, 11-2
Dylan Bennett 3-0 Adam Corcoran 11-9, 12-10, 11-7
Charlie Lee 3-1 Robbie Keefe 10-12 , 11-2, 11-4, 11-8
Dom Lloyd-Walter 3-0 Gina Kennedy 11-8, 11-5, 11-2
UWE/Elite Squash Bristol 4-1 Exeter Diamonds (17-10)
Marwan Elshorbagy 3-2 Mohamed Elshorbagy 11-5, 4-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7
Tom Ford 3-2 Tim Vail 8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5
David Haley 0-3 David Evans 4-11, 5-11, 3-11
Abdelrahman Soliman 3-1 Sam Ellis 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9
Ellie Epke 3-2 Amelia Henley 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9
29-Mar, Round Nine :
Leicester v Duffield, Birmingham v Nottingham, Coolhurst v Pontefract
Chichester v Bristol, Exeter v St George’s, Winchester v Surrey
19-Apr, Round Ten:
Nottingham v Leicester, Duffield v Pontefract, Coolhurst v Birmingham
St George’s v Chichester, Bristol v Surrey, Winchester v Exeter
