Experience triumphs over youth at Wimbledon
By PHIL RUSHWORTH – Squash Mad Correspondent
It was a tale of experience vs youth in this year’s finals of the Wimbledon Cup.
In the women’s final, world No. 11 Alison Waters was going for her third successive title, up against 21-year-old Kace Bartley. While in the men’s match, world No. 43 Ben Coleman was aiming for his second WC win, after winning the trophy back in 2015. He was up against 19-year-old Tom Walsh.
Waters didn’t face too many problems against Bartley in the women’s match, winning 11-2, 11-6, 11-3. The 34-year-old remained calm throughout the whole match and although Bartley threatened to forge a comeback in the second set when they were tied at 4-4, Alison showed too much quality for Bartley.
The young finalist remained positive after the match, saying: “I had a good win yesterday and it was good to play such a high-ranked player. I’ve just got to take all the positives and go back to the drawing board.”
The champion Waters praised the quality of the women’s draw and claimed: “it was a really strong group of players this year and it was good to have a 16 draw in qualifying for the first time.” Walters says she hopes to be back next year at WRFC, aiming for 4 Wimbledon Cup titles on the trot.
In the men’s final, It felt as though the longer the match went on, the more chance Tom Walsh would have had to win. He started off slow and allowed Coleman to win the first game comfortably 11-4.
However, in the second game he found his way into the match and caused Coleman some real problems. He had a chance to take the game on a couple of occasions, but Coleman remained calm and got the job done.
In the final game, it was a similar story but instead a lot closer. In an epic 10 or so minutes, Walsh led numerous times and had game points. But unfortunately a few sloppy errors cost him at crucial times – something you can’t afford to do against the formidable Ben Coleman.
The game finished 14-12 in the end, which meant Coleman got his hands on the title for a second time.
This is Walsh’s third Wimbledon Cup and he is continuing to show progress in this tournament. After getting knocked out the first year, he got to the quarter’s in 2017 and the final this time out. Don’t be surprised to see him in the latter stages of the tournament next year.
That’s it for the Wimbledon Cup this year. We’ve seen some really exciting young players in the men’s and women’s draw, such as Sam Todd and Torrie Malik, who can certainly learn a lot from playing the two champions this weekend. Congratulations to Ben Coleman and Alison Waters. Bring on the Wimbledon Cup 2019!
Wimbledon Cup 2018, Wimbledon Racquets & Fitness Club, London, England.
Men’s Final:
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [5/8] Tom Walsh (ENG) 11-4, 11-8, 14-12
Semi-finals:
[5/8] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Vini Rodrigues (BRA) 11-6, 11-9, 11-2
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [5/8] Oliver Pett (ENG) 11-4, 11-2, 11-1
Quarter-finals:
[5/8] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt [2] Richie Fallows (ENG) w/o
Vini Rodrigues (BRA) bt [3/4] Abhay Singh (IND) 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 12-10
[5/8] Oliver Pett (ENG) bt [3/4] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt [5/8] Kyle Finch (ENG) 11-6, 11-2, 11-5
2nd round:
[2] Richie Fallows (ENG) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 12-10, 11-8, 5-11, 12-10
[5/8] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Stuart George (SCO) 11-3, 11-3, 11-9
Vini Rodrigues (BRA) bt [Q] Jordan Warne (ENG) 11-6, 4-11, 11-3, 11-3
[3/4] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Josh Owen (ENG) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9
[3/4] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) bt Neil Cordell (ENG) 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 13-11
[5/8] Oliver Pett (ENG) bt Joe Green (ENG) 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-3
[5/8] Kyle Finch (ENG) bt Anthony Rogal (ENG) 11-7, 11-5, 5-11, 14-12
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) bt Sam Todd (ENG) 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 7-11, 11-4
Women’s Final:
[1] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [3/4] Kace Bartley (ENG) 11-2, 11-6, 11-3
Semi-finals:
[1] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Lily Taylor (ENG) 14-12, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9
[3/4] Kace Bartley (ENG) bt [2] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) 12-10, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9
Quarter-finals:
[1] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Ciara Richards (WAL) 11-2, 11-4, 11-2
Lily Taylor (ENG) bt Salma Alameldin (EGY) 8-0 ret.
[3/4] Kace Bartley (ENG) bt Elspeth Young (SCO) 11-8, 11-6, 11-9
[2] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt Amy Jones (ENG) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7
1st round:
[1] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Torrie Malik (ENG) 11-0, 11-5, 11-3
Ciara Richards (WAL) bt Bruna Marchesi Petrillo (BRA) 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 13-11
Lily Taylor (ENG) bt Katriona Allen (SCO) 11-3, 11-5, 11-2
Salma Alameldin (EGY) bt [3/4] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 11-7, 11-8, 11-7
[3/4] Kace Bartley (ENG) bt Katie Wells (ENG) 11-3, 11-5, 13-11
Elspeth Young (SCO) bt Margot Prow (ENG) 4-11, 3-11, 15-13, 11-9, 11-7
Amy Jones (ENG) bt Emilia Korhonen (FIN) 3-11, 11-5, 11-3, 12-10
[2] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt Mari Taylor (ENG) 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6
Pictures courtesy of Wimbledon Racquets and Fitness