06-Oct: Round ONE

Champions Duffield survive opening night scare

The new season – the 32nd – of the England Squash & Racketball Premier Squash League kicked off tonight in six clubs across England, with a mixture of comfortable and nailbiting wins.

SH21753In Group A defending champions Benz Bavarian Duffield welcomed Midlands neighbours Air-IT Nottingham, who almost went home with a dramatic victory. Millie Tomlinson put the home side ahead but Matthew Broadberry, on his debut, brought Nottingham level with a 3-2 win over Ashley Davies, a late replacement for Richie Fallows.

Chris Fuller then put Nottingham into the lead as he came from a game down to beat Declan James, fresh from winning his fourth PSA title in a row at the weekend. Then Fallows, drafted back in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Joel Hinds, let a two-nil lead against Nottingham captian Mark Fuller slip before levelling the match to the home crowd’s relief.

With Nick Matthew down in London collecting his OBE, Chris Simpson took on Eddie Charlton in the final match and saw Duffield home with a three-nil win.

Everards Leicester, starting their second PSL season at home to last year’s semi-finalists Coolhurst London, recorded a resounding 5-0 win that puts them, at this early stage, at the top of the table.

Birmingham University travelled to Pontefract and came away with a 3-2 win, Fional Moverley winning on her Pontefract debut but Birmingham’s middle order sealed the win before James Willstrop reduced the deficit in the final match.

SH21769In Group B it was Team Chichester who registered the first win of the season as they stormed to a home 5-0 win over Clubnet Winchester, dropping just two games along the way.

The Surrey duo of Virgin Active Surrey and 9Telecom St George’s Hill both won 3-2. Surrey, who saw their five-year reign as champions ended last season, went into a three-nil lead at home to Exeter Diamonds, whose top Egyptian pair of Mazen Hesham – with a tremendous 14-12 in the fifth win over Karim Abdel Gawad -and world #1 Mohamed Elshorbagy took the final two matches to narrow the points gap.

St George’s, last year’s runners-up, took a two-nil lead away to UWE/Elite Squash Bristol, for whom Brian Byrne pulled a game back, but St George’s Joe Lee came from 2-1 down against Tom Ford to clinch the win. In the final match Bristol’s Marwan Elshorbagy, just elevated to the world’s top ten, beat Tom Richards to make the final score 3-2 to St George’s.

Group A :

Everards Leicester 5-0 Coolhurst London (20-3)

Daryl Selby 3-0 Joe Green  11-4, 11-3, 11-5 (30m)
George Parker 3-2 Nick Mulvey   11-4, 6-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3 (41m)
Angus Gillams 3-1 Ondrej Uherka  11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4 (42m)
Darren Lewis 3-0 Nick Sutcliffe  13-11, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Emily Whitlock 3-0 Madeline Perry  11-9, 11-3, 11-4 (35m)

Benz Bavarian Duffield 3-2 Air-IT Nottingham (17-8)

Chris Simpson 3-0 Eddie Charlton   11-7, 11-6, 11-9
Declan James 1-3 Chris Fuller  11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 8-11
Richie Fallows 3-2 Mark Fuller  11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8
Ashley Davies 2-3 Matthew Broadberry  7-11, 11-8, 13-15, 11-9, 6-11
Millie Tomlinson 3-0 Hana Ramadan  11-9, 11-8, 11-9

Pontefract 2-3 University of Birmingham (6-14)

James Willstrop  3-0 Jaymie Haycocks  11-8, 12-10, 11-7
Simon Parke 0-3 Chris Ryder  5-11, 5-11, 3-11
Alex Hodgetts 0-3 Joel Makin   6-11, 4-11, 6-11
Lewis Doughty 0-3 Jan Van Den Herrewegen  9-11, 3-11, 5-11
Fiona Moverley 3-0 Katrina Burrows  11-4, 11-2, 11-5

Group B:

Team Chichester 5-0 ClubNet Winchester (20-2)

Adrian Waller 3-1 Robert Downer  9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (52m)
Robbie Temple 3-0 Scott Handley  11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (26m)
Nathan Lake 3-0 Sean Conroy   11-7, 11-4, 11-1 (29m))
Brandon Hanley 3-0 Robbie Keefe  11-6, 11-0, 11-5 (25m)
Lauren Briggs 3-1 Georgina Kennedy  14-12, 11-13, 11-5, 11-6 (35m))

UWE/Elite Squash Bristol 2-3 9Telecom St George’s Hill (11-16)

Marwan Elshorbagy 3-1 Tom Richards   11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7  (36m)
Tom Ford 2-3 Joe Lee  6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 5-11 (76m)
Josh Masters 2-3 Dylan Bennett   6-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-8, 6-11 (53m)
Brian Byrne 3-1 Alex Ingham   12-10, 2-11, 11-5, 11-7 (49m)
Emma Chorley 1-3 Dominique Lloyd-Walter  11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 6-11 (40m)

Virgin Active Surrey 3-2 Exeter Diamonds  (17-11)

Peter Barker 1-3 Mohamed Elshorbagy  9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11 (40m)
Karim Abdel Gawad 2-3 Mazen Hesham   11-8, 11-7, 17-19, 9-11, 12-14 (80m)
Charles Sharpes 3-2 Tim Vail   11-6, 8-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9
Piedro Schweertman 3-2 James Peach  11-4, 11-2, 6-11, 8-11, 11-3
Nada Elkalaawy 3-1 Victoria Temple-Murray  8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7

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