Matthew,
Willstrop, Massaro Into British Nationals Semis by Steve Cubbins
photos courtesy Steve Cubbins
February 14, 2014 -
On another day where all the main draw matches went to seeding, the
semi-finalists of the British National Championships were decided at
the National Squash Centre in Manchester.
Two time champion
Jenny Duncalf was the first player to reach the semifinals as she
maintained her unbeaten record (apart from PSL matches) against Sarah
Kippax with a straight-games win. Duncalf started strongly in each
game, taking leads of 6-1, 5-1 and 5-2 and kept Kippax, who awas
appearing in her seventh straight quarter-final, at bay.
“It was good to get
those starts, so I needed to make sure I kept the momentum and I
managed to do that,” said a satisfied winner.
Daryl Selby avenged
his defeat at this stage by Tom Richards with a striaght-games win over
his former St George’s teammate (Selby now plays for Chapel Allerton in
the PSL.
There was never much
in it, but Selby managed to eke out leads in the middle of each game
and Richards, to his own frustration and Selby’s relief, couldn’t close
those gaps.
“We’ve played a few
times and that may be the first or maybe second time it’s finished 3-0,
so I’m happy to take that,” said the 2011 champion.
Defending champion
Alison Waters made it through to her seventh successive semi-final (she
was out injured in 2011) with a battling win against Emma Beddoes, who
was appearing in her fifth straight quarter-final.
Beddoes took a while
to get adjusted as Waters took the first comfortable, but Beddoes
always led the second as she levelled.
It was Waters though
who had the leads in the next two games, closing out the third from
9-7, and surging ahead to 10-3 in the fourth before Beddoes’ comeback
attempt was scuppered by two unforced errors.
“She played well,”
admitted Waters, “you think you’ve won the rally but she keeps getting
it back. It was a bit of a scrap but it’s always nice to win matches
like that and I’m looking forward to another semi-final!”
Nick Matthew made it
four Nationals Champions through to the semis as the men’s defending
champion beat Joe Lee in straight games - the world champion’s 13th
Nationals’ win in a row. Lee struggled to get to grips with the match
at the outset, but made Matthew work hard to maintain leads in the next
two games.
After the match
Matthew was presented with his Team England Best Male Athlete award
from the 2010 Commonwealth Games (video on the site).
The evening session
started with Madeline Perry reaching the semi-final for the eighth time
as she beat Emily Whitlock in straight games. Just turned 37, The Irish
champion was facing an English teenager - although Emily does turn 20
tomorrow - and it was experience that held the day as Perry led early
in all three games and kept the pressure on her young opponent.
Whitlock won’t be
satisfied with her performance - serving out twice in the second game
and a number of uncharacteristic errors in the third - but her time
will come.
“When you’re almost 20
years older than your opponent there’s definitely some pressure on
you,” admitted Perry. “I knew she’d be hungry to make a breakthrough
and come out firing, so I was definitely ready for that.
“I keep coming here
and losing in the semis,” she added, “like I said last year it must be
my turn soon! I felt good ion there tonight so hopefully I can finally
make the final.”
Adrian Grant reached
the semi-finals for the seventh time with a hard-fought three-game win
over Chris Simpson that took a full 70 minutes to complete. There was
never much between them, and the Guernsey man had his chances at 10-9
and 13-12 in the first, and also led 9-7 in the second only to see
Grant close out both games.
Grant edged ahead from
3-all in the third and although Simpson got a close as 7-6, Grant
pulled away to reach 10-6 and a Simpson error ended the match 11-8 for
Grant.
“He’s improved a lot
over the last couple of years and I class him as a huge threat,” said
Grant. “There wasn’t much between us, I just tried to relax at the
crucial points at the end of the games and it paid off.
“There was only a
couple of point in it, the scoreline doesn’t really reflect how tough
the match was, but I’ll take it,” he added.
Top seed Laura Massaro
wants the title back. “I want to win this prestigious title as many
times as I can before I retire,” said the two-time shampion after
beating Sarah-Jane Perry in straight games.
Perry, in good form
after an extended injury layoff, didn’t get started in the first as
Massaro dictated the play to take the lead 11-5, but started doing her
own dictating in the second as she opened up an 8-3 lead.
Massaro steadied, and
with Perry pressing a little too hard as she tinned several times,
Massaro came back to 9-all before taking the game 12-10, and the third
was all Massaro.
“She’s had some good
wins recently so that takes a bit of pressure off as losing to her
wouldn’t be a bad loss,” explained Massaro, “but I really want to win
this title so that puts pressure on yourself. It’s such a prestigious
event, the history and the depth of the game here, we all want to win
this one.”
James Willstrop
completed the day’s proceedings with a three-nil win over Adrian Waller
in which the two-time champion was always ahead, but always had to work
hard to stay there.
“That scoreline was
ridiculous for the intensity of the match,” admitted Willstrop,
“especially at the start of each game when I really had to dig in and
work hard to get in front.
“There’s a great bunch
of players coming through, men and women, and players like Adrian and
Joe are going through a huge improvement cycle, they’ll be getting
there very quickly.”
So tomorrow’s
semi-finals, which will be streamed live on PSAsquashTV, will feature
all the top seeds, five players who have already won the National title
at least once.
Men's
Quarter-Finals Daryl Selby 3-0 Tom
Richards 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 (48m) Nick Matthew 3-0 Joe
Lee 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 (39m) Adrian Grant 3-0 Chris
Simpson 14-12, 11-9, 11-8 (70m) James Willstrop 3-0
Adrian Waller 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (38m)
Women's
Quarter-Finals: Jenny Duncalf 3-0
Sarah Kippax 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (34m) Alison Waters 3-1 Emma
Beddoes 11-3, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6 (44m) Madeline Perry 3-0
Emily Whitlock 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (36m) Laura Massaro 3-0
Sarah-Jane Perry 11-6, 12-10, 11-2 (37m)
