Chapel Allerton & St George’s Hill Extend Unbeaten PSL Runs
By HOWARD HARDING
TWP St George’s Hill and Yorkshire club LEBC Group Chapel Allerton extended their unbeaten runs in the Premier Squash League (PSL) this season with comprehensive 5-0 victories in the fourth round of the world’s most prestigious squash league.
In a battle between two former PSL champions, England’s world No2 Jenny Duncalf led Chapel Allerton to an away win over three times champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield. Duncalf, from Harrogate, began the rout with an 11-4, 11-5, 11-9 victory over the Derbyshire club’s Laura Hill – before team-mates Anthony Graham, Laurence Delasaux andChris Simpson clinched their wins, leaving the door open for the team’s Australian number one Aaron Frankcombto make it a clean sweep with his straight games success over the home side’s world university champion Joel Hinds.
Chapel Allerton, the 2009 champions from Leeds, are now 16 points ahead of second-placed CLFS Esporta Oxfordin Group A, with Duffield a further point adrift.
There was a further whitewash in Group A when MB Nottingham recorded their first success of the season with a 5-0 win over Yorkshire’s Courtcraft Pontefract. Teenager Emily Whitlock celebrated her first PSL win since becoming the British Junior U17 Open champion earlier in the month – the first English winner of a British Junior Open trophy for almost a decade – when she bravely battled to an 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 2-11, 11-9 victory over Pontefract’s experienced former world No53 Kirsty McPhee.
The evening also marked the return of former Nottingham stalwart Simon Parke – a Nottingham PSL regular since 1999 who was making his first appearance at the club as an away player. Now living near Pontefract and playing for the established club, 38-year-old Parke took the first game against the home side’s 22-year-old top string Eddie Charlton – but youth ultimately prevailed as Charlton bounced back to win 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 to maintain the Nottingham’s squad’s clean sheet for the night.
TWP St George’s Hill were one of the few teams fielding their regular top string – and used their benefit to maximum advantage by crushing title-holders Surrey Health & Racquets 5-0 away from home in Group B.
The home side’s debuting Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad – a 19-year-old who already boasts 5 PSA Tour titles – was unable to make a winning first impression, as the visitors’ Hungarian number one Mark Krajcsak ground out a 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 1-11, 11-8 victory.
And St George’s number one Daryl Selby, fresh from a last-16 berth in theTournament of Champions in New York, dealt the final blow for the home crowd by recovering from a game down to beat the Croydon club’s top-ranked Italian Davide Bianchetti 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10.
It took the final game of the night in the south west for hosts Exeter Diamonds to clinch a 3-2 win over Team Chichester – a success which strengthens the Devon club’s grip on second place in Group B. Australian Stewart Boswell was the Diamonds’ hero, despatching Chichester’s top string Robbie Temple 11-5, 11-3, 11-5.
And there was cause for celebration in Avon, where event newcomers IGT Winchester earned a 3-2 win over hostsUWE Bristol. The visitors gained their win early on, with victories by Lauren Selby, Robert Downer and veteranMark Cairns – the 43-year-old 1997 British National champion overcoming rising French star Lucas Serme, the reigning European Junior champion.
But Bristol countered with their own demonstration of senior success when Welshman David Evans, the 36-year-old winner of the British Open crown in 2000, fought back from a game behind to see off Winchester’s Egyptian starMarwan El Shorbagy, the 2010 British Junior U17 Open champion, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.
And the home side further reduced the deficit when their French number one Mathieu Castagnet beat the visitors’Dylan Bennett, the Dutch No2 making his debut for the club, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-7.
RESULTS: 4th round, Tuesday 25 January 2011
Group A:
MB Nottingham 5 Courtcraft Pontefract 0
Eddie Charlton bt Simon Parke 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6
Mark Fuller bt Neil Cordell 11-7, 11-3, 11-4
Declan James bt Jacques Kruger 11-7, 11-2, 11-7
Ollie Holland bt Taminder Gata-Aura 11-5, 11-8, 11-5
Emily Whitlock bt Kirsty McPhee 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 2-11, 11-9
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 0 LEBC Group Chapel Allerton 5
Joel Hinds lost to Aaron Frankcomb 5-11, 5-11, 9-11
Andrew Whipp lost to Chris Simpson 11-9, 10-12, 8-11, 4-11
Aqeel Rehman lost to Laurence Delasaux 7-11, 4-11, 11-8, 6-11
Kevin White lost to Anthony Graham 3-11, 13-11, 5-11, 5-11
Laura Hill lost to Jenny Duncalf 4-11, 5-11, 9-11
Group B:
Surrey Health & Racquets 0 TWP St George’s Hill 5
Davide Bianchetti lost to Daryl Selby 12-10, 6-11, 6-11, 10-12
Karim Abdel Gawad lost to Mark Krajcsak 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-1, 8-11
Tim Garner lost to Joe Lee 4-11, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11
Ben Ford lost to Neil Hitchens 8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 5-11 ret.
Victoria Lust lost to Dominique Lloyd-Walter 8-11, 7-11, 8-11
Exeter Diamonds 3 Team Chichester 2
Stewart Boswell bt Robbie Temple 11-5, 11-3, 11-5
Jonathan Harford bt Olivier Pett 14-12, 11-9, 11-6
James Snell lost to Tim Vail 11-13, 11-7, 8-11, 3-11
Peter Creed bt Nic Birt 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 11-3
Victoria Temple-Murray lost to Lauren Briggs 4-11, 5-11, 4-11
UWE Bristol 2 IGT Winchester 3
Mathieu Castagnet bt Dylan Bennett 10-12, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-7
David Evans bt Marwan El Shorbagy 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8
Lucas Serme lost to Mark Cairns 9-11, 9-11, 3-11
Daniel West lost to Robert Downer 6-11, 13-15, 8-11
Rebecca Quiney lost to Lauren Selby 5-11, 11-8, 5-11, 2-11
PSL TABLES (after 4th round)
Ties Matches Games Pts
P W L W L W L
Group A:
LEBC Group Chapel Allerton 3 3 0 14 1 42 11 57
CLFS Esporta Oxford 3 2 1 10 5 31 23 41
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 3 2 1 9 6 30 20 40
MB Nottingham 4 1 3 6 14 27 45 32
Courtcraft Pontefract 3 0 3 1 14 11 42 11
Group B:
TWP St George’s Hill 4 4 0 15 5 51 24 71
Exeter Diamonds 4 3 1 12 8 42 33 57
IGT Winchester 4 2 2 10 10 38 35 48
Surrey Health & Racquets 4 2 2 9 11 38 43 48
Team Chichester 4 1 3 8 12 28 43 33
UWE Bristol 4 0 4 6 14 33 52 33
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