Top seeds Perry and Gaskin show who’s boss in Irish Nationals
By MICHAEL CATLING – Squash Mad Reporter
World number 11 Madeline Perry bounced back from a surprise second-round defeat at the Hong Kong Open to claim her 14th Irish Nationals title at the Fitzwilliam Club in Dublin.
The Irish number one, who was shocked in the final by Aisling Blake last year, barely broke sweat in the previous rounds and with defending champion Blake absent due to a back injury, Perry showed why she has dominated the event for over a decade with a resounding 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 victory over second seed Laura Mylotte.
Mylotte, who beat third seed and fellow European Championships silver medallist Ciara Moloney in the semi-final, has competed in just one WSA Tour event this year and there was a noticable gulf in class as Perry romped to her third title this year.Â
In the men’s draw, nine-time champion Derek Ryan’s hopes of retaining his title were ended as Arthur Gaskin claimed his second Irish Nationals crown with a 11-2, 11-2, 7-11, 11-3 success.
Ryan, a former world number seven, briefly threatened a comeback but Gaskin regained his composure in the fourth game to end a run of losing five-consecutive finals.
Thanks heaps 4 th txts/tweets&messages! Happy 2 hav this bit of silverware on th mantel-piece #2013nationalchampion pic.twitter.com/r5zFEBaD1y
— arthur gaskin (@artrgaskin) December 18, 2013
Pictures from www.irishsquash.com