RESULTS: British National Squash Championships, National Squash Centre,
Sportcity, Manchester
Men 2nd round:
[1] Peter Nicol (Yorks) bt [14] Peter Genever (Sussex) 15-10, 15-6, 15-12
(55m)
[7] Simon Parke (Yorks) bt [10] Nick Matthew (Yorks) 15-9, 11-15, 15-1,
15-11 (65m)
[15] James Willstrop (Yorks) bt [4] Martin Heath (Scotland) 15-12, 9-15,
15-7, 15-5 (58m)
[8] Nick Taylor (Lancs) bt [12] Stephen Meads (Berks) 15-7, 15-5, 15-12
(52m)
[9] David Evans (Wales) bt Marcus Berrett (Yorks) 15-10, 15-13, 15-6 (44m)
[3] Lee Beachill (Yorks) bt [16] Bradley Ball (Suffolk) 15-11, 15-10, 14-15,
15-10 (69m)
[6] Alex Gough (Wales) bt Liam Kenny (Ireland) 15-11, 15-12, 15-7 (83m)
[2] John White (Scotland) bt Tim Garner (Sussex) 15-7, 6-15, 15-11, 15-7
(51m)
Women's 1st round:
[1] Linda Charman (Sussex) bt Jenny Duncalf (Yorks) 9-6, 9-1, 9-1 (29m)
Jenny Tranfield (Yorks) bt [5] Fiona Geaves (Glos) 9-2, 9-2, 9-4 (31m)
[4] Rebecca Macree (Essex) bt [Q] Laura Hill (Derbyshire) 9-4, 9-0, 4-9,
9-3 (34m)
[8] Pamela Nimmo (Scotland) bt [Q] Janie Thacker (Yorks) 9-3, 9-2, 9-1
(19m)
[6] Stephanie Brind (Kent) bt [Q] Vicky Lankester (Warwicks) 9-6, 8-10,
8-10, 9-5, 9-5 (65m)
[3] Cassie Jackman (Norfolk) bt Vicky Botwright (Lancs) 9-1, 9-3, 1-9, 7-9,
9-4 (61m)
[7] Suzanne Horner (Yorks) bt Madeline Perry (Ireland) 9-5, 10-9, 9-0 (37m)
[2] Tania Bailey (Lincs) bt [Q] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Middx) 9-4, 9-5, 9-6
(31m)
WILLSTROP AVENGES SWEDISH DEFEAT TO REACH NATIONALS QUARTER-FINALS
Yorkshire's World Junior Champion James Willstrop staged the biggest upset of
the day when he defeated fourth-seeded Scot Martin Heath 15-12 9-15 15-7 15-5
in the second round of the British National Squash Championships at the
National Squash Centre in Manchester to reach the quarter-finals for the
first time.
It was only six days earlier that Heath, the world No10 now based in Toronto
in Canada, beat the 19-year-old from Pontefract - ranked 41 in the world - in
the first round of the Swedish Open.
"I feel I learned a lot from that match in Sweden," said Willstrop, the 15th
seed, on his personal website www.JamesWillstrop.com. "I made a slow start
then and by the time I truly got into the game, it was too late. This time,
it was like starting half way through the last game, knowing much more what
to expect from the beginning - and I felt I was in control for most of the
match."
Willstrop, England's most successful junior of all time who won the World
title in India in December, goes on to face local hero Nick Taylor, the world
No19 from Manchester who has been at least a Nationals semi-finalist for the
past three years. Eighth-seeded Taylor claimed his second straight games win
in the event with a 15-7 15-5 15-12 victory over Berkshire's Stephen Meads in
52 minutes.
Willstrop and Taylor play alongside each other for Manchester-Pontefract in
the National League - but have never met before in a competition. "We know
each other well and he always plays well in this tournament," said Willstrop.
"I can't wait - it'll be a big battle and it's on the all-glass showcourt so
it should be a great match."
Defending champion Lee Beachill - also a member of the Manchester-Pontefract
team - maintained his bid to become the first person to win the men's title
three consecutive times when he overcame Suffolk's Bradley Ball 15-11 15-10
14-15 15-10 in 69 minutes. The third seed from Yorkshire now faces Welshman
David Evans, the ninth seed from Pontypool who ended unseeded Yorkshireman
Marcus Berrett's run with a 15-10 15-13 15-6 victory in 44 minutes.
It was another great day for Yorkshire players - four of whom will compete in
the men's quarter-finals and two in the women's. Top seed Peter Nicol, who
adopted allegiance to the white rose after defecting from Scotland, will meet
seventh seed Simon Parke in an all-Yorkshire clash featuring two former
champions. Nicol, champion in 1996, took 55 minutes to quash Peter Genever,
the 14th seed from Sussex, 15-10 15-6 15-12, while 1998 trophy winner Parke,
originally from Harrogate, beat county colleague Nick Matthew 15-9 11-15 15-1
15-11 in 65 minutes.
Attention on the opening day of the women's event was focussed on the clash
between defending champion Cassie Jackman, the No3 seed who is making her
comeback after a second career-threatening back operation last September, and
unseeded local star Vicky Botwright, the in-form world No17 from Manchester
who reached two finals on the international circuit last month. Jackman
dropped just four points as she raced to a 2-0 lead. With the crowd behind
her, Vicky rallied back to level the match. "I think Cassie went to sleep in
the third," said Botwright later. Four-times champion Jackman, who has not
failed to reach the final in her last five appearances, regrouped in the
fifth, fighting back from 3-4 down to take the match 9-1 9-3 1-9 7-9 9-4 in
61 minutes.
"I was pleased with the way I played in the first two games and Vicky made a
lot of errors, but she came back strongly in the third," said the world No8
from Norfolk. "These courts are really tough, so I was pleased to get back
into it by the fifth, and get the win. After what I've been through, every
match I win is a bonus - and now I can look forward to a day off before my
quarter-final match on Friday."
Jackman takes on England team-mate Stephanie Brind in the last eight, after
the 6th seed from Bexleyheath in Kent clawed her way back from 2-1 down to
beat Warwickshire's Vicky Lankester, a qualifier originally from Bury St
Edmunds in Suffolk, 9-6 8-10 8-10 9-5 9-5 in 65 minutes, the longest women's
match of the day.
There was a notable women's upset - and a further Yorkshire 'gain' - when
unseeded Jenny Tranfield beat Gloucester's fifth seed Fiona Geaves 9-2 9-2
9-4 in 31 minutes. Originally from Sheffield, Dr Tranfield - a PhD in Sports
Psychology - is now based in Milton Keynes and goes on to meet Sussex's top
seed Linda Charman, a 3-0 victor over Yorkshire's former European Junior
Champion Jenny Duncalf.
The most remarkable quarter-final clash of all will take place at the bottom
of the women's draw between second seed Tania Bailey, the 23-year-old world
No7 from Stamford in Lincolnshire and seventh seed Suzanne Horner, the world
No15 from Wakefield in Yorkshire who will celebrate her 40th birthday in
little more than a week. Bailey, the England No1, beat Harrow-based
qualifier Dominique Lloyd-Walter 9-4 9-5 9-6 in 31 minutes to claim her first
ever victory in five Nationals' appearances. Horner, however, defeated Irish
champion Madeline Perry 9-5 10-9 9-0 in 37 minutes to reach her 13th
successive quarter-final in her 23rd appearance in the event since making her
debut in 1978 - the year before Bailey was born!
Official website: www.nationalsquashchamps.co.uk