27-Oct, Round TWO
Duffield escape again as
Birmingham and Chichester go top
After a two-week break some of the world’s top players returned to PSL action for the second of ten rounds of league matches, and four of tonight’s six matches finished 3-2.
In Group A it was University of Birmingham Lions who ended the day joint top of the table as they beat Everards Leicester 4-1 to record a second win. The home side went 4-0 up but in the top string the Lions’ Peter Creed lost out in five to Daryl Selby.for a 19-point haul.
The other two matches both went to deciding ties. Air-IT Nottingham‘s Hana Ramadan and Owain Taylor won at four and five before Pontefract levelled through top strings James Willstrop and LJ Anjema, leaving Nottingham captain Mark Fuller to beat ‘s Patrick Rooney to give the home team the spoils
Champions Benz Bavarian Duffield went two-nil up at London Coolhurst with wins from Julian and Millie Tomlinson (no relation) only for the home side to hit back with wins from Nick Mulvey and birthday-boy Cameron Pilley. The decider went down to its own decider, and it was Duffield, who last season mastered the art of squeezing out narrow victories, did it again with Declan James beating James Earles 11-9 in the fifth. “Gutting,” was the final Coolhurst tweet.
In Group B, Team Chichester followed up their opening win with an impressive away victory at Exeter Diamonds – whose innovative poster declared they would be going ‘one step beyond’ this season. The visitors stormed into a 3-0 lead before Exeter’s top Egyptian duo Mohamed Elshorbagy and Mazen Hesham restricted Chichester to a 3-2 win.
The Surrey derby also finished 3-2, but here home side 9 Telecom St George’s Hill, last season’s finalists, saw their two-nil lead disappear as Virgin Active Surrey, looking to reclaim the title they won in the previous five seasons, forced a decider. After taking the first game 15-13 St George’s #1 Borja Golan sealed the win as he beat Peter Barker 3-0 to put the home side second in the table.
UWE/Elite Squash Bristol enjoyed their trip to ClubNet Winchester, coming away with a 4-1 win. Gina Kennedy, the European Junior Champion, was the home side’s only winner, a fitting celebration for her acceptance to Harvard University, while Bristol’s Marwan Elshorbagy was awarded the “MVP” award after his top-string win over fellow-Egyptian Zahed Mohamed.
Division A
Coolhurst London 2-3 Benz Bavarian Duffield (11-16)
Cameron Pilley 3-1 Chris Simpson 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11
James Earles 2-3 Declan James 8-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-1, 9-11
Nick Mulvey 3-1 Joel Hinds 11-9, 6-11 , 11-5, 11-3
Nick Sutcliffe 1-3 Julian Tomlinson 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 5-11
Madeline Perry 2-3 Millie Tomlinson 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11
Air-IT Nottingham 3-2 Pontefract (14-7)
Eddie Charlton 0-3 James Willstrop 5-11, 8-11, 8-11
Chris Fuller 0-3 Laurens Jan Anjema 5-11, 9-11, 3-11
Mark Fuller 3-0 Patrick Rooney 11-7, 11-8, 11-7
Owain Taylor 3-1 Alex Hodgetts 15-13, 7-11, 14-12, 11-3
Hana Ramadan 3-0 Katie Smith 11-1, 11-4, 11-3
University of Birmingham Lions 4-1 Everards Leicester (19-4)
Peter Creed 2-3 Daryl Selby 11-6, 6-11, 4-11, 11-8, 5-11
Chris Ryder 3-1 George Parker 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9
Joel Makin 3-0 Angus Gillams 11-8, 11-6, 11-2
Jan vd Herrewegen 3-0 Darren Lewis 11-5, 11-3, 11-9
Sarah-Jane Perry 3-0 Mari Taylor 11-1, 11-6, 11-5
Diviion B
ClubNet Winchester 1-4 UWE/Elite Squash Bristol (5-18)
Zahed Mohamed 1-3 Marwan Elshorbagy 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-14
Robert Downer 1-3 Lucas Serme 12-10, 3-11, 2-11, 2-11
Scott Handley 0-3 Tom Ford 6-11, 2-11, 5-11
Adam Corcoran 0-3 Josh Masters 4-11, 5-11, 5-11
Gina Kennedy 3-1 Emma Chorley 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8
9Telecom St George’s 3-2 Virgin Active Surrey (15-7)
Borja Golan 3-0 Peter Barker 15-13, 11-2, 11-7
Tom Richards 1-3 Karim Abdel Gawad 10-12, 11-8, 6-11, 5-11
Alex Ingham 0-3 Piedro Schweertman 8-11, 8-11, 11-13
Charlie Lee 3-1 Bradley Masters 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 11-2
Yathreb Adel 3-0 Nada Elkalaawy 11-3, 11-3, 11-9
Exeter Diamonds 2-3 Team Chichester (9-15)
Mohamed Elshorbagy 3-1 Adrian Waller 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7 (46m)
Mazen Hesham 3-0 Paul Coll 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (34m)
Tim Vail 1-3 Robbie Temple 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 5-11 (51m)
Joey Barrington 0-3 Nathan Lake 4-11, 0-11, 5-11 (24m)
Victoria Temple-Murray 2-3 Lauren Briggs 11-8, 4-11, 11-3, 1-11, 9-11 (43m)
Round Two Preview
After a two week break the PSL returns with six more matches around the UK.
In Group A Champions Duffield, after a narrow opening win at home, travel to last year’s semi-finalists Coolhurst in a match that looks destined to go down to the wire. Nottingham, eager to break into the playoffs after just missing out in the last two seasons, host Pontefract who look very strong at the top of the order. Leicester, on the back of a 5-0 opening home win, travel to Birmingham University who will also be looking to remain unbeaten.
Crystal Ball: Duffield 3-2, Nottingham 3-2, Leicester 3-2
In Group B St George’s Hill take on Surrey rivals Virgin Active in a match that is usually billed as “table-topping”, both won their opening matches 3-2. Winchester, smarting from an opening day 5-0 defeat, will look to make amends as they host Bristol, while Exeter and Chichester meet, both with aspirations to break into the playoffs this term.
Crystal Ball: Bristol 4-1, St George’s 3-2, Exeter 3-2
