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Evening Session
Men's qualifying finals:
Joel Hinds bt Joe Lee
14/12, 11/5, 5/11, 9/11, 11/6 (81m)
Adrian Waller bt Rory Pennell
11/6, 11/7, 11/8 (28m)
Lewys Hurst bt Chris Tasker-Grindley
11/5, 11/6, 11/9 (23m)
Eddie Charlton bt Tom Phipps
11/5, 11/5, 11/5 (28m)
Jethro Binns bt Neil Cordell
11/5, 11/9, 11/5 (30m)
Stuart Crawford bt Mark Fuller
11/5, 11/6, 11/0 (24m)
Jaymie Haycocks bt Phil Rushworth
11/8, 11/8, 11/5 (29m)
David Barnett bt Steven Siveter
11/9, 11/7, 11/6 (29m)
Stacey Ross withdrawn - Lucky Loser, Chris Tasker-Grindley
Men's
Updated Draw
Women's
Qual. Draw & Results
After the men's second round it was
the turn of the women to try their hand at PAR to 11 scoring.
The first five matches all finished 3/0, in favour of
Victoria Lust, Victoria Bell, Kimberley Hay,
Fiona Moverley and Jeanine Cowie, with Lust taking
the longest at 24 minutes and Cowie the shortest at 17 minutes
for her 11/5, 11/7, 11/6 victory.
The matches did lengthen though, with Sarah Bowles
winning the longest women's match of the day, edging
through in 50 minutes in the fifth against Lauren Selby after
squandering a two-game lead.
The men's qualifying finals were mainly quick affairs - seven of
the matches finishing in straight games in 30 minutes or under,
while qualifying top seed Joel Hinds took 81 minutes to
fend off a comeback from two-nil down by Joe Lee.
Joel's reward was a match against second seed and three-time
champion Lee Beachill, while Chris Tasker-Gridley, who
lost the shortest of the eight matches, picks up the lucky loser
spot against an unseeded opponent - it hardly seems fair, does
it!
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Qualifiers' Quotes ... |
 "I
felt a lot looser and more comfortable than in my earlier
match, and he seemed a bit tired, maybe feeling his
five-setter from earlier. It was a different game too, a
faster pace which suited me better.
"I was a lucky loser last year, had a good game against Tim
Vail, so it's good to qualify properly this time."
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 "I'm
really pleased with that win. I played him here two years
ago and he beat me 3/0, last year he coached me through
qualifying to the main draw, and I guess he helped me this
year too by losing! I played well though, not many errors.
"Whoever you get in the main draw it's going to be tough,
but I enjoyed playing Beachill last year, I wouldn't mind
another go at him …"
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 "I
saw him play earlier and he looked good, so I was really up
for this one. I thought I played well, and it was pretty
comfortable in the end.
"It's my third time here, the first time I've qualified, and
by far the best I've played. I don't care who I get … bring
them on!"
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 "The
match seemed to slow down – it was fast and wild at the
start, but when it slowed down it was easy for me to just
get drawn into that style of play.
"I knew that I needed to make it fast again, to get out of
my comfort zone. He played well though, he got so much
back."
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 "It's
my first Nationals, so I'm very happy to get through and
have a crack at one of the big boys.
"It's the first tournament I haven't felt my knees after two
or three games, so that's promising. My quads are too strong
and it affects my knees, I need to build up the other
muscles in my legs so I wear those knee protectors when I
play, but it's improving.
"I just want the easiest draw possible, but whoever it is it
will be good experience …"
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 "I
was top seed in qualifying last year, eighth this time, not
sure why, but as long as you're in the top eight it doesn't
really matter.
"He looked like he was blowing a bit in the second after a
hard win earlier today, and my first match today was
probably tougher, but I'm pretty happy with my form.
"I got James last year, so it can't be any tougher than that
…"
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 "I
didn't drop a game today, managed to keep my concentration
up and played pretty positive squash, so I'm happy with that
– it's good not to have to rely on the lucky loser spot!
"Chris and I train together three or four times a week. I
can't say that I usually win when we play, but there has to
be one time to do it, and this would be a good one …"
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 "I'm
very happy with that win. He was maybe a little jaded, but I
thought it was going to be tougher than that. I played well
though, hit a few good winners – and the best backhand drop
I've ever played, but no-one clapped!
"I qualified two years ago but had to miss the event last
time, so I'm looking forward to another go at the main draw
…"
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Afternoon Session :
Decision day for the men
Qualifying continues on Day Two, with two rounds for the men to
decide the eight spots in the main draw, and round one of the
women's qualifying event (playing PAR to 11 for the first time).
Match of the day so far was Adrian Waller's 87-minute
(including a couple of injury breaks) win over Chris Fuller.
Chris made a determined comeback from 2/0 down to reach 5/2 in
the fifth, but reigning British U19 champion Adrian held it
together to go through to a final against Rory Pennell,
whose own five-game win over Adam Taylor took exactly
half the time of Adrian's ...
 "I
slowed down at the end of the second and my length dropped
off. Once I got that back and kept in front of him I was
winning again.
"The injury breaks helped him as I think he was getting
tired anyway, but it didn't feel like an 87-minute match,
more like an hour, so I should be ok for tonight."
 "I
just got scared when I was up in the fifth, I was putting my
dropshots sooooo high!"
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"It was a very up and down match, I've only been back a
couple of weeks from a few weeks injured, so my matchplay
isn't there yet.
"I had a lead in all the games, don't know if it was my
fitness of his just nothing to lose attitude when he was
down, but I'm happy with the win in the end.
"This is my third Nationals and this is the furthest I've
got, o hopefully one stage further tonight ..."
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The only upset so far came when
Neil Cordell beat Lewis Walters, seeded 9/16, in five games.
"I was up in all the game, but just kept hitting the tin," said
Lewis.
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Day 2 Gallery
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Sun 10th, Day ONE
Youth prevails ... for the most part
 First
day qualifying is usually the territory of the juniors, with the
occasional 'old hand' mixed in.
Two of the first batch of matches ran true to form, with Joe
Lee and Sam Wileman flying the junior flag into the
next round with hard-fought wins over Morgan Hibberd and Adam
Murrils.
The other opening match was a bit different though, with
Cornwall's Neil Counter playing his first ever Nationals
- "I was here with friends so I thought I'd get the T-shirt" -
and winning 3/2 over Derbyshire's Qamran Yaqoob, who was
playing his first ever squash tournament!
 "I
enjoyed that. It's a long time since I've beaten Adam, he's
had a hold on me for the last couple of years, so it's good
to get a win over him, especially on these bouncy courts.
It's Joel Hinds next. I've never played him before, but he's
a few years older, I'll just try to stay on court as long as
I can and take what I can from it ...
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"It's really hot on there and he was getting everything
back. In the first two I wasn't stepping up and putting him
under pressure and he was sucking me into his game, but I
managed to step it up in the last two.
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'Newbies' Counter & Yaqoob
Youth continued to prevail as the
first session wore on, with Adam Taylor, Rory Pennell,
Chris Fuller, James Snell, James Earles,
Lewys Hurst and Tom Phipps all winning while Joel
Hinds, Alex Phillips, Adrian Waller, Steve
London, Eddie Charlton and Lewis Walters
progressed courtesy of drop-outs or no-shows.
To be fair, the session's losers also tended to be from the
younger generation, so the average age of the victors was always
going to be low.
Two years ago James Earles was the youngest-ever entrant
into the senior Nationals, but it took him until today to earn
his first win, a five-game thriller against Mick Biggs.
 "I
lost to Lewys last time so I'm looking forward to another
shot at him.
"It's my third year in the Nationals, I got to the
qualifying finals last year so hopefully I can go one better
tomorrow - third time lucky!"
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 "That
was a tough match, he's got a good reach so I had to try to
keep the ball really tight and keep to a good width.
"I got a bye last year then got Tom Pashley, this time I
play Eddie Charlton so that's going to be tough too ...
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The bottom half of the draw saw
more youngsters progress, but towards the end of the day the
'oldies' started notching up a few wins with Phil Rushworth,
Steve Siveter and Jago Nardelli giving the Over-30
brigade three spots in tomorrow's second round.
Nardelli, 33, beat Danny Massaro (husband of ...) in four
well-contested games and the longest match of the day at 71
minutes.
"That was good fun, good long
rallies. He doesn't give you anything, no mistakes at all, I was
getting tired, I needed to win that fourth game, I don't know
how much I had left for a fifth.
"I haven't played this event for about five years, and although
I've always won my first qualifying match I've never made the
main draw. Maybe tomorrow ...
Having got his t-shirt, Neil
Counter bowed out in his second match of the day, holding out
for 12 minutes against Chris Tasker-Grindley.
The next shortest match of the day, at 16 minutes, was between
ex-University sparring partners Jaymie Haycocks and
Michael Bull. It was fast and furious with 51 points scored
(averaging 3+ points a minute), Jaymie taking the 33 necessary
to put him through to tomorrow.
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GALLERY
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