Matthew Beats Gaultier in 103 Minutes to Gain AJ Bell British Grand Prix Final by Nathan Clarke December 7, 2014
- The final of the 2014 AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix will see
England's three-time World Champion Nick Matthew take on Frenchman
Mathieu Castagnet at the National Squash Centre in Manchester tomorrow
(December 8)
34-year-old Matthew from Sheffield booked his place with an epic
victory over French World No.2 Gregory Gaultier in a marathon
103-minute battle in front of a vocal home crowd to consign Gaultier to
defeat in Manchester once again, just over 12 months after he beat the
Frenchman to claim his third World Championship title in the same city.
He will now face the French National No.2 Castagnet, who saw off the
challenge of Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez 3-0, when both men will
be hoping to pick up the trophy as an early Christmas present.
"When you get to my age you have a few rivals on tour and Greg and I
have been playing for a very long time against each other on tour,"
said Matthew.
"It never gets any easier against him, today he made a few errors in
crucial points and at this level it comes down to such fine margins -
it could have gone his way in a few of those close points.
"I felt like I was due a big win like that this season so I'm really
pleased and I'm ready to give it one more big push tomorrow to try and
end the year on a high."
Castagnet goes into the final in the best form of his career having
scalped current World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the quarter-final
stage, following his biggest ever career title triumph in Montreal in
October, and he's hoping to end his year on the biggest high yet.
"Beating Mohamed yesterday was great for me but it was very important
for me to refocus on today's match and to try and do everything I could
to reach another final," said Castagnet.
"I'm very happy to be in the final and I'm looking forward to playing again tomorrow."
Results - Semi-finals: AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix:
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 3-2: 11-7, 10-12, 15-13, 9-11, 11-5 [103m]
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [7] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-2, 16-14, 13-11 [74m]
Final - To be played Monday December 8:
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
