Surrey comeback denies Duffield to make it five in a row

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The 2013/14 PSL season came down to one match at Surrey Sports Park , a repeat of last year’s final between Benz-Bavarian Duffield and Integrity Surrey Health & Racquets. Surrey were aiming to collect a fifth straight title while Duffield were hoping that world champions Nick Matthew and Laura Massaro would help them break Surrey’s grip to bring the Derbyshire club their first title since 2007.

Duffield made a great start to the match as Andy Whipp put them one-nil up with a 3-0 win over David Bianchetti, and Laura Massaro twice came from behind to double Duffield’s advantage as she beat British National Champion Alison Waters in five.

In the second pair of matches Adrian Waller reduced the deficit with a straight-games win over Joel Hinds, and Peter Barker put in a tremendous performance to beat Nick Matthew in straight games – coming from 8-10 to take the first 12-10 and edging the second 18-16 after both players had four game balls – to set up a decider.

It was left to Surrey stalwart Adrian Grant to complete the comeback, which he duly did as he beat Steve Coppinger in straight games to bring Surrey their fifth PSL title in a row and sixth in all.

“Incredible night!!!! Wooooo, great crowd and support!#pslchampions#6times#history,” tweeted Waters as the celebrations began.

Surrey 3-2  Duffield

Peter Barker 3-0 Nick Matthew                      12-10, 18-16, 11-5 (61m)
Adrian Grant 3-0 Steve Coppinger                    13-11, 11-6, 11-9 (55m)
Adrian Waller 3-0 Joel Hinds                             11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (41m)
Davide Bianchetti 0-3 Andy Whipp                     8-11, 8-11, 8-11 (35m)
Alison Waters  2-3 Laura Massaro   11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 5-11, 8-11 (64m)

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SH5316Surrey’s Six Titles

  • 2014  Surrey 3-2 Duffield
  • 2013  Surrey 3-2 Duffield
  • 2012  Surrey 3-2 St George’s
  • 2011  Surrey 4-1 St George’s
  • 2010  Surrey 3-2 Oxford
  • 2008  Surrey 4-1 Chichester

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