Battle of The Bankers at Canary Wharf

Squash rivals from Barclays and Credit Suisse aim to show their class on the glass

By ALAN THATCHER, Squash Mad Editor

Forget The Wolf of Wall Street: top seed Nick Matthew is the Wolf of Bank Street.

The most successful English squash player in history is seeking a sixth Canary Wharf Classic title this week in front of sell-out crowds at the superb East Wintergarden venue in Bank Street, Canary Wharf.

The venue is surrounded by high-powered financial institutions. And Matthew showed plenty of power himself last night as he beat the hardest hitter in the game.

Australia’s Cameron Pilley has been clocked striking the ball at an astonishing 178 miles per hour but last night fell in straight games to the super-fit Matthew, who is still playing phenomenal squash at the age of 36.

Tonight Matthew, known as The Wolf, meets squash’s very own Superman when he faces New Zealander Paul Coll in the first semi-final.

Coll is famed for his dives around the court and, after beating No.3 seed Simon Rosner of Germany in a two-hour marathon in the first round, he took out No.6 seed Daryl Selby, from Essex, in the quarter-finals.

The other semi-final features rising Egyptian star Fares Dessouky against Spanish number one Borja Golan.

Before Friday’s, two City bankers are playing in a special challenge match inside the glass court as they aim to emulate the world’s top stars.

Soren Willemann from Barclays is taking on Jakob Von Kalckreuth from Credit Suisse and it promises to be a sweaty, high octane court war between the two bankers.

Bookee, a Tinder-style mobile sports betting app, have signed up as the official betting partner and are offering a market on the Battle of the Banks.

Von Kalckreuth is the 4/6 favourite with Willemann available at 11/10.

 

 

Pictures by STEVE LINE (www.squashpics.com)  and PATRICK LAUSON (www.patricklausonphotography.co.uk)