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Masters Finals
M35 Nick Taylor bt Clive Ewins
11/5, 11/2, 11/6 (23m)
M40 Rick Weatherall bt Kevin White
12/10, 11/7, 3/11, 11/7 (40m)
M45 Eamonn Price bt Jonathan Foster
7/9, 9/3, 9/4, 9/6 (63m)
M50 Richard Millman bt Jeremy Goulding
9/5, 9/0, 9/3 (25m)
M55 Mark Cowley bt Peter Alexander
3/9, 2/9, 9/6, 9/1, 10/9 (64m)
M60 Barry Featherstone bt Bob Robinson 9/5, 6/9,
8/10, 10/8, 9/6 (72m)
M65 Adrian Wright bt Bill Wilson
9/6, 9/6, 4/9, 9/6 (46m)
M70 Pat Kirton bt John Woodliffe
9/3, 9/2, 9/3 (25m)
W35 Jeannine Cowie bt Gayle Kerrison
9/6, 10/8, 9/7 (23m)
W40 Nikki Fowler bt Isabelle Tweedle
9/7, 9/1, 10/8 (32m)
W50 Julie Field bt Jacky Gardner
1/9, 9/5, 9/0, 9/3 (26m)
W45 Heather Tweedle by Mandy Akin
2/9, 7/9, 9/3, 10/9, 9/4 (60m)
W55 Winner, Averil Murphy |
Hail the Champions
An exciting finals day at the Masters, with several outstanding
matches, and a schedule which over-ran, delaying the
presentations until after the women's final.
Congratulations to all the new and repeat champions, and we'll
see you all next year ...
Martin Pearse takes us through some of the finals ...
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Women's 40:
Nikki Fowler, after surviving a close and tense first game,
consolidated in the second against Isabelle Tweedle.
Fowler, previously from Cheshire, now lives in Northamptonshire,
and her band of supporters were on hand to witness her take the
third game and the National title despite a fightback from
Tweedle.
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Women's 45:
No prisoners are taken when Mandy Akin and Heather Tweedle are
on court together, and so it proved again as after some
exchanges on parity with the men's O50 final, the match as
expected went the full distance.
On the day Tweedle's shotmaking ability slightly shaded Akin's
all round game, and the Merseyside lady claimed her first
National title, amidst great jubilation from her supporters.
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Women's 50:
World Champion Julie Field has lost before in important matches
to Jacky Gardner, but in the latest encounter Field triumphed in
four, coming back from a first game pasting to reassert herself
as the National Champion.
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Men's 40:
The men's O40 final saw a complete upset when 3/4 seed Rick
Weatherall removed Derbyshire's Kevin White in three games on
the showcourt.
White never seemed to settle and Weatherall's obvious like of
the very different court conditions saw him record the best win
of his career.
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Men's 45:
Eamonn Price's rebranding from International Banker to
semi-professional masters squash player was complete when he
accomplished his mission to become National Champion,
overturning a first game deficit to record a win over the dark
horse newcomer, Jonathan Foster from Hampshire.
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Mens 50:
The unheralded Jeremy Golding from Avon, having dulyt removed
all his more illustrious opponents on the way to the final, was
probably still recovering from his semi-final win over Jon Evans
the night before, as he was never allowed to settle by the
master tactician Richard Millman, who won in straight games.
Millman's minute analysis of every facet of his opponent's game
means no-one is safe, and combined with a computer-like brain
transferring all very quickly to his right hand means all shots
played are normally the correct ones.
Considering he has been to India for a hip resurfacing at a
fraction of the UK price, he still covers the court perfectly
normally.
Golding, however, can feel very pleased at his performances
here, which have virtually guaranteed his international
selection.
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Men's 55:
One of the main ambitions of every squash master is to win the
British Closed - so the Sunday is always a day of joy or
heartbreak. Some have had the joy many times and never seem to
get tired of it!
The match started accordingly with Mark Cowley tumbling into the
right-hand corner from a reinvogorated Peter Alexander. The
first game saw Alexander keeping up a ferocious pace, and the
first blood injury occurred with the Suffolk player leading 8-3,
pure theatre!
Alexander duly clinched the game after a number of "exchanges",
to the amusement of the players section in the crowd and awe in
the spectators.
Alexander's intent was obvious, and he demonstrated his quality,
keeping Cowley's attacking game in check. The latter, the first
player to beat Hiddy Jahan at age group level, is not often - if
ever - outmuscled on the squash court, but Alecander took the
second with Cowley's composure out of sorts.
The third saw Alexander race to a 6/1 lead, but Cowley gained
some control and put together an amazing string of winners to
take the third 9/6.
Alexander, inwardly cross at the transformation, exerted some
parity with an amazing piece of luck when a bad return hit the
wall-dividing nick to deny Cowley a certain point. Two powerful
serve nicks saw the Middlesex player equal at 4-all, and then a
succession of superb nicks and reverse angles saw the games
equal at 2-all.
Round Twelve saw some rather brutal exchanges with Alexander
taking a 3/1 lead. Hard to believe these two are 55 plus, such
was the standard of retrieving and agility.
Cowley's determination took him to 8/6, Alexander saved two
match balls to level at 8-all. Cowley served a fault, 9/8 match
ball Alexander, 9-all, 10/9 Cowley.
An incredible match, that would never have happened with PARS,
Alexander would have won easily 3/0 and spectators would have
been denied a thriller.
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Men's 60:
The danger of finals is that they come at the end of a long week
and it is easy to still concentrate on the semi-final victory
the day before, losing focus. Barry Featherstone, though,
started strongly, winning the first game. Robinson's racket
skills and retrieving saw him claim the second 9/6 to level.
In the third the trampoline player's 6/3 lead was overturned to
6-all with Robinson's laconic style disguising his ability. Game
ball came and went and suddenly it was 8-all with some
incredible retrieving and shots from both players. Robinson
eventually sneaked it 10/8 to lead 2/1.
Robinson introduced his backhand drop into the proceedings in
the fourth, hitting five on the trot to lead 5/1 and then 8/2
match ball.
One was frittered away, the second went the same way as
Featherstone played a superb drop from deep. 3/8, 4/8, 5/8 with
a superb dropshot. 6.8, this was turning into the comeback of a
lifetime. Penalty point denied, seemingly very very harshly, now
7/8, then a backhand drop from heaven, 8-all, and Featherstone
completed the comeback.
The fifth game commenced in the 61st minute, and anyone who
plays serious squash at masters level appreciates that PARS has
absolutely no place in senior age-group levles. This match would
have already finished 30 minutes earlier under PARS.
Featherstone's conditioning (and luck) continued, and with some
incredible dropshots he got to match ball number one. That went,
so did number 2, 3 and four, but he eventually clinched this
incredible match on the fifth.
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Men's 65:
Adrian tonight was outright favourite but William Wilson,
conqueror of 3/4 seed Graham Fisher and top seed Mike Clemson,
was hoping for a trio of illustrious scalps.
Wright, who has won all the important titles - world, open,
closed - only seems to be totally relaxed on the squash court
under pressure, and despite some tit and tat exchanges with the
Cheshire player battling hard, he duly recorded another title
3/1.
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Men's 70:
The two leading players, John Woodliffe and Pat Kirton, have
played each other a number of times, with Kirton well ahead on
victories.
Woodliffe's string of title victories ended a couple of years
ago when he suffered a serious illness and since he returnes he
hasn't been able to trouble the ever-present Kirton, a veteran
of many England and Great Britain teams from the sixties and
seventies.
So it proved again as Kirton won most of the important exchanges
to win in straight games.
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 Semi-finals
at the Masters
Martin Pearse reports
Men's 60:
One doesn't often see grown men cry (apart from politicians) but
Barry Featherstone shed a tear after his epic victory over many
time champion and top seed Phil Ayton in an enthralling starter
on court 1. Featherstone's nemesis on a number of occasions was
unable this time to keep his usually rock solid defence intact,
and the Hampshire player's immense conditioning (he trains
solidly every afternoon, courtesy of a nice army pension, a
working wife, Ros, and the Telegraph crossword) saw him through.
 The
other semi-final was terribly unfortunate in as much that poor
Ian Graham was suffering acute food poisoning (along with others
from the same hotel), and in all honesty shouldn't have played.
Grounds for suing the hotel, methinks.
 Men's
O55:
Both allocated top seeds reached tomorrow's eagerly anticipated
clash - all tickets are sold and it promises to be a match to
savour, if not for the purists. Peter Alexander is ultra keen to
start reclaiming his title sequence, and duly removed Ronnie
Bell in clinical fashion, as did Mark Cowley over Dave Lumsden.
Men's O35:
Jersey-based ex-professional Nick Taylor was just too skilful
and focussed for Nick Wall on the showcourt, and Clive Ewins,
3/4 seed, dealt in similar fashion with Danny Massaro to set up
an appealing final tomorrow.
Men's O45:
Eamonn Price gave the gallery a demonstration of basic simple
squash played to perfection, and despite a fightback in every
game from a very athletic and determined Adrian Jaski, he
entered Sunday's final.
The other semi saw newcomer Jonathan Foster (Hampshire) facing a
surprise semi-finalist, the dogged Peter Lonsdale. I must
mention that it is unlikely any other competitor has endured
working 12 hours nightly and still be able to play top squash,
plus caring for his little daughter as Mum wasn't very well.
So in the match Foster gained a 2/0 lead but Lonsdale fought
back to take the third. Lonsdale's 5/1 lead in the fourth was
overhauled as Foster entered the final.
Men's O40:
Two thrilling battles here, where in the first local hero Yawar
Abbas unfortunately had to concede due to a calf injury against
Rick Weatherall with the match tightly poised. In the other semi
Peter Gunter stuck manfully to his task but Kevin White's
incredible retrieving and four year age advantage eventually won
the day.
Women's O45:
Top seed Mandy Akin entered another final, beating Claire Baker
3/0 while the other semi saw a battle royale between old friends
Heather Tweedle and Fran Wallis. Wallis started like a rocket
and led 2/0, but overhitting was her downfall as Tweedle
exploited her variation in pace to, in the end, comfortably push
through the third and fourth. The fifth was a dogfight but
Tweedle had enough shotpower to enter the final.
Women's O50:
Another enthralling match, between world champion Julie Field
and Bristol-based Helen Gould. Field took the first but Gould,
heavily down in the second, recovered well to level. The
opposite happened in the third with Field taking a 2/1 lead.
Gould recovered to level, and Field eventually took it 10/8 in
the fifth.
In the final she'll meet Jacky Gardiner who beat Sue Pynegar
3/1.
 Women's
O40:
Isabelle Tweedle was too consistent for Di Parsons, although the
local girl made her fight every inch of the way, and the other
finalist will be Nikki Fowler, formerly from Cheshire but now
based in Kettering, who saw off a (very) determined Linda
Winder, and her travelling army of fans, 3/1.
Women's O35:
Jeannine Cowie was too good for Kent's Lucy Murphy, who was
nevertheless well pleased with her points tally against an
ex-professional, and will play the talented Gayle Kerrison, a
3/2 conqueror of the extremely fast Chris Smyllie. Kerrison, a
coach at Sportcity for ESR, has immense racket skills and
despite some incredible retrieving, eventually wore down the
second seed to enter the final.
Others to follow ... if we get time before the finals ... |
Masters
Update #2, Friday
Martin Pearse reports
With the women's events commencing, there was plenty for the
masters afficionados to appreciate, and some very entertaining
matches.
No 2 seed Lesley Sturgess found neighbour Sue Pynegar in steady
steady mode, and Sue recorded a valuable scalp. Next door,
battle royale between Helen Gould and Karen Hume, nip and tuck
with plenty for the marker to adjudicate. In the middle of the
third, Helen then unleashed her backhand cut dropshot time and
time again, and this alone was the reason why she is playing
Julie Field in the semis today. 3/4 seed Jacky Gardner took out
regular regional entrant welsh no 2 Lynne Davies in a tight
encounter, setting up a meeting with Pynegar.
 W45
saw top seed Mandy Akin beat Jo Brown while close rivals Tammy
Bennett and Claire Baker were on court. The latter's training
regime paid dividends as she was in charge all the time, whilst
Heather Tweedle set up a fascinating semi with old rival Fran
Wallis.
W40 saw both top seeds through, but one of the standout matches
was between Di Parsons, recovered from her lumbar facet injury
the previous Saturday, against Yorkshire's Nicky Horn. Having
not concluded the fifth in the first encounter the second went
exactly the same way and in a 70-minute match Di just edged the
final game, the very large gallery appreciating they had their
money's worth.
The 35 section saw Jeannine Cowie remove Sam Mueller and
unseeded Gayle Kerrison showed some superb skills to overturn
3/4 seed Beverley Sawyer 3/1. Police officers normally arrest
someone when they get smacked in the face, but Chris Smyllie too
the (accidental!) blow in good grace and despite a fightback by
Sarah Taylor, recorded a 3/1 win to enter the semis.
 The
Men's 70 is pure BBC Gold - lots of reruns of old matches! Pat
Kirton, having had the indignity of having to wear the new
England kit once, was back in his traditional international
shorts and shirt from the sixties and looked, as usual, every
inch a top player. Both he and Phil Ayton have remained at the
peak for over 50 years, which is some feat when you consider how
competitive masters squash is.
Lance Kinder lost the first to John Shaw but recovered to win in
four and set up yet another battle with his close friend John
Woodliffe. Nutritionists will have paled at their pre-match
dinner diet as Lance stole some of our curry and John was seen
actually eating a McDonalds (with a merlot).
The men's 65 saw one shock is as much that 3/4 seed Garham
Fisher went down to local William Wilson, the second being
vbital. Mike Clemson likes his money's worth and gave Andrew
Beaston hope at 2-all but scuttled through eventually. Newcomer
Tommy Elves beat Nigel Belle and webmaster Adrian Wright, in his
favourite environment (the only place he doesn't worry)
surgically removed Tony Clifford.
One of the day's standout matches in the men's 60, and what a
thriller it was. Newcomers Derek Collins and Ian Graham put on a
display both can be proud of, a pity someone had to lose.
Collins, ex-SAS (allegedly), quicksilver and ultra-fit, had
three match balls, but Graham weathered the storm to clinch it
10/8 in the fifth after 58 minutes. Bob Robinson at no 2 seed
had never beaten Moussa Helal but, despite an amazing scoreline,
finally triumphed. Barry Featherstone and Phil Ayton both
recorded victories to set up another encounter in the semis.
In the 55 all the top four came through unscathed with Mark
Cowley against Dave Lumsden as a treat in store. Peter
Alexander, unusual to see him at the bottom of the draw, quietly
edged past Ian Holmes to face Cumbria coach Ronnie Bell, who
beat Richard Whitehouse 3/1.
 Welsh
5/8 seed Jon Evans was too good on the day for O50 second seed
James Ockwell and 5/8 Jeremy Golding will be pleased to have
given his England cap chances a big boost by claiming a
semi-final berth over Neil Harrison, 3/0.
Chris Harland's speed saw off a tough challenge from Dermot
Hurford and Duleep Adihetty showed up a slight chink in Richard
Millman's armour by being within a point of a 2/0 lead. Not to
be, as Millman concentrated harder, and displayed all his skills
to win the last two 9-1, 9-0.
Peter Lonsdale, fresh from his 12-hour nught shift at work,
continued his giant-killing in the M45 with a 3/0 win over 5/8
Darren Witney, and gave his international cap chances a great
boost. Dark horse in the draw Jonathan Foster showed great
skills to remove the tough left-handed 33/4 seed James Hyatt,
while Andrew Jasks and Greg Loach engaged in a battle, the
Southerner coming out on top 3/1. Eamonn Price will be his
opponent, as predicted.
 In
the M40 there was another of the three standout matches, which
gave spectators 63 minutes of top quality masters squash in
Peter Gunter's grit and technique versus Nigel Willis's sublime
skills. Willis, back from a layoff, kept right in the frame, and
the match was anybody's until the final points, when Gunter
raised his arms for an 11/9 in the fifth victory.
Yawar Abbas removed 5/8 David Youngs but not without a scare ort
two, as all games were closely contested, and Rick Weatherall
edged England committee member Steve McLoughlin in a miserly 50
minutes (Steve likes his money's worth).
 Elsewhere
Kevin White showcased his skills with a longer than probably
required victory over Andrew Cross, 11/8 in the fourth.
Nick Taylor gave a consummate performance beating Jago Nardelli
3/0 in 35 minutes, and in the same half a generation of Walls
saw Nick Wall take out Jamie Goodrich for the second time in a
week.
Yorkshire star for many years, and witnessing Nick's 9-year-old
on court, the name Wall will be around for a long time! 3/4 seed
Clive Ewins saw off Ian Cox 3/0 and meets 5/8 Danny Massaro who
edged Scotland's Simon Boughton 3/1.. . |
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Masters
Update #1, Thursday
Martin Pearse reports
The six courts were well attended even though the young
professionals were on centre stage next door. Some superb
matches gave spectators (and players) their monies' worth.
With the ladies not really commencing proceedings until the
Friday, the men's events started sorting out the wheat from the
chaff. With International selection very much on the minds of
quite a percentage of players, there was a lot at stake, even
though there is still the South of England at Broxbourne to
come. However the Closed carries double points, apart from the
prestige.
Hardly any action in the men's 70 or 65 sections due to the draw
size, but Durham Mr Big, John Shaw, carefully ignored the advice
of travelling companion Tommy Elves and recorded a 9/0, 9/0, 9/4
victory over Mike Parr.
 In
the 60+, a very strong grouping this year, Jersey's Allan Brown,
seemingly fresh from his 50-minute battle the night before,
removed Mike Taylor 3/0, narrowly winning a crucial second game.
Newcomer Derek Collins decimated Howard Cherlin, as did Ian
Graham over Larry Grover. Both Moussa Helal and Bob Robinson
played within themselves to set up a fascinating quarter-final.
The 55 saw Martin Ballands squeak past John Duckworth 3/2 and a
(slight) upset was the unheralded but very efficient Richard
Whitehouse's removal of 5/8 seed Phil Collins. Otherwise all
went to plan, except for the referee's complaint over one
player's beach shorts, not to be seen again!
In the 50 Richard Millman's racket skills shaded Doug Waller, no
slouch himself, and Duleep Adihetty, coming back into the frame
after a long layoff, edged Steve Barlow 3/1. All the allocated
seeds went through setting up Harlow v Hurford, Goulding v
Harrison, Evans v Ockwell and Millman v Adihetty.
The 45s saw Cumbria's Tony Hetherington surprise Eamonn Price,
and after 40 minutes or so the score was 1-all and 5-all. Price,
though, always seems to win the crucial points when it counts,
and eventually he came through 9/3 in the fourth. Mark Hildred
will be very pleased with his 5-point victory over fellow
England hopeful Paul Clark, and Pete Lonsdale, as tough as teak,
reduced second seed Jonathan Clarke into conceding in the middle
of the third game. Seemingly Jonathan was unhappy with the way
he was playing.
The 40s saw all the seeds reach their rightful positions, none
of the matches went past 33 minutes, so all should be fresh for
Friday's quarters.
In the 35s the withdrawal of top seed Scott Handley leaves the
door open for 5/8 Danny Massaro, 3/0 victor over Michael
McLaughlin. Jamie Goodridge arrived just in time this yeat (last
year he was scratched) and took out Chris Stanley 11/9, 11/8,
11/4. With PARS shortening matches by approximately 30%, only
Clive Ewins' 51-minute slog over Ireland's Rob Staunton went the
distance. Nick Wall, playing Masters squash instead of Juniors
in the National Qualifiers, was too consistent for the deft
skills of Galen Le Cheminant, and Norfolk's second
quarter-finalist Ian Cox cemented his place in the points table
with a 3/0 win over Gary Milner.
Friday Masters Gallery |
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