November 7, 2024

Round FOUR – 06 Nov

There were some quick wins and some tough battles in round four of the Premier Squash League, ans some significant gaps were opened up in both league tables.

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GROUP A

Duffield pull clear as the rest close ranks

High-flying Nottingham were at home to a strong Pontefract outfit looking to climb the table, and sure enough it was the Yorkshire travellers who got the better start taking a 2-0 lead through Lee Beachill and Sarah Kippax, and continued to dominate as they went home with maximum points. “Nice 5-0 win tonight,” tweeted Saurav Ghosal. “A couple of close calls but we all pulled through :)”

The other Yorkshire club, Chapel Allerton, were at home to Birmingham University. The first two games were shared but Shaun Le Roux and Chris Simpson took the second set of matches to put the home side 3-1 up. Ong Beng Hee rounded off a 4-1 result with an entertaining match “full of dives” against Peter Creed.

Top of the table Duffield had a close 3-2 win last week, but were in no mood for a repeat as they despatched visitors Oxford 5-0 to keep their unbeaten record intact and open up a big points lead as the other four teams all closed up:

Points: Duffield 74, Chapel A 48, Nottingham 46,  Oxford 43, Pontefract 41, Birmingham 31.

MB NOTTINGHAM  0-5 AJP PONTEFRACT (6-20)

Alan Clyne 2-3 James Willstrop 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 5-11, 3-11
Declan James 1-3 Saurav Goshal 3-11, 2-11, 11-5, 4-11
Mark Fuller  1-3 Harinder Pal Sandhu 11-8, 4-11, 10-12, ?-11
Ollie Holland 0-3 Lee Beachill 8-11, 7-11, 13-15
Emily Whitlock 2-3 Sarah Kippax 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 5-11, 6-11

CHAPEL ALLERTON  4-1 UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM (18-5)

Ong Beng Hee 3-0 Peter Creed  11-6, 11-8, 11-9
Chris Simpson 3-1 Jamie Haycocks  6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5
Shaun Le Roux 3-1 Nathan Lake  11-2, 15-13, 10-12, 11-1
James Earles 1-3 Chris Tasker Grindley 11-8, 5-11, 11-13, 7-11
Jenny Duncalf 3-0  Sarah-Jane Perry   11-3, 11-4, 11-7

BENZ-BAVARIAN DUFFIELD  5-0 OXFORD H&R (20-1)

Nick Matthew 3-0 Scott Handley 11-8, 11-5, 11-7
Karim Ali Fathi 3-0 Kristen Johnson  11-2, 11-0, 11-9
Joel Hinds 3-1 Simon White 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8
Adam Murrills 3-0 Ross Gore  11-7, 11-8, 11-8
Laura Massaro 3-0 Madeline Perry 11-9, 11-8, 11-9

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GROUP B

Top three open up a gap

Surrey and Exeter, whose meeting last week finished well after midnight, both wrapped up their wins quickly, Surrey going 4-0 up at Bristol and Exeter doing the same at Winchester before the 9pm watershed.

Mohamed El Shorbagy and Peter Barker, just back from Mexico, played out the top string at Bristol with Shorbagy winning 3-2 to salvage a point for Bristol, while LJ Anjema finished off a 5-0 win for Exeter. “Dont ask me how I won, I was just nicking everything,” tweeted Shorbagy. “I need someone to carry me home right now!”

The crucial match between unbeaten Chichester and struggling St George’s was much closer. The first pair of matches were shared with Nafiizwan delighting the Chi fans with a 14/12 in the fifth win against Tom Richards. Anthony Graham put the home side 2-1 up, Robbie Temple secured the win, and Jon Kemp put the icing on the cake with a 3-2 win over Daryl Selby for 4-1.

“The best game I’ve ever seen in 40 years of watching squash,” was how Chi manager Mike Phillips described Kemp’s 11-1 fifth game win. “Congratulations to Chichester, too good on the night,” tweeted St George’s manager Danny Lee.

Chichester, Surrey and Exeter have opened up a substantial gap in the table:

Points: Chichester 72, Surrey 65, Exeter 63, St George’s 37, Bristol 24, Winchester 20

UWE BRISTOL  1-4 INTEGRITY SURREY H&R (4-19)

Mohamed El Shorbagy 3-2 Peter Barker  12-10, 12-10, 9-11, 3-11, 11-9 (55m)
Arthur Gaskin 0-4 Adrian Grant 8-11, 4-11, 7-11 (30m)
Lucas Serme 1-3 Karim Abdel Gawad 11-8, 12-14, 6-11, 7-11 (54m)
Tom Ford 0-3 Adrian Waller 8-11, 6-11, 7-11 (28m)
Kip Quiney 0-3 Alison Waters 1-11, 6-11, 3-11 (19m)

WINCHESTER R&F  0-5 EXETER DIAMONDS (1-20)

Stacey Ross  0-3 Laurens Jan Anjema 8-11, 6-11, 3-11 (31m)
Robert Downer  0-3 Olli Tuominen 5-11, 3-11, 4-11 (27m)
Scott Fitzgerald  1-3 Joey Barrington 3-11, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11 (35m)
Tristan Eysele  0-3 Tim Vail 9-11, 1-11, 6-11 (29m)
Selina Sinclair  0-3 Aisling Blake 5-11, 5-11, 3-11 (25m)

TEAM CHICHESTER  4-1 TWP ST GEORGE’S HILL (18-9)

Jon Kemp 3-2 Daryl Selby  11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-1 (46m)
Nafiizwan Adnan 3-2 Tom Richards  4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 14-12 (57m)
Robbie Temple 3-1 Charles Sharpes  10-12, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6
Anthony Graham 3-1 Phil Nightingale 10-12, 12-10, 11-3, 11-2
Lauren Briggs 1-3 Dom Lloyd-Walter  10-12, 11-9, 2-11, 4-11

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