English Finalist Guaranteed As Matthew Leads Trio Into British Grand Prix Semi-finals by Nathan Clarke
photos PSA
December 3, 2016 -
England are guaranteed at least one presence in the final of the 2016
AJ Bell Squash Grand Prix after three-time World Champion Nick Matthew
was joined by former World No.1 James Willstrop and current World No.16
Daryl Selby in the last four of the PSA M70 tournament taking place at
the National Squash Centre, Manchester.
Three-time tournament winner Matthew secured his berth courtesy of a
3-1 win over in-form Hong Kong number one Max Lee, setting up a
semi-final clash with Essex-man Selby. While Willstrop, with whom
Matthew has contested a fierce-some domestic rivalry for over decade,
will face 2015 World Champion Gregory Gaultier - the man Matthew beat
to claim two of his three World Championship crowns.
“I had to work hard and play well physically tonight to beat Max and
solve the problems he imposed on me, and there will be more of that
tomorrow," said 36-year-old Matthew.
“I know very well what to expect from Daryl, he has a very economical
game. If he moves well he tends to play well, and he is moving well at
the moment. So I’ll have to work hard.
“My game plan didn’t work as well as I’d have liked today - in the
second game I was sloppy and gave him a bit of a lead and I felt I gave
him a few easy points. But I managed to win the big points and that
will also be important tomorrow."
Selby booked his place in the last four courtesy of a 3-1 win over
up-and-coming English youngster Richie Fallows while Willstrop downed
Australian number one Cameron Pilley to set up his encounter with
Gaultier, where the Frenchman will be hoping to prevent an all-English
finale.
In his first tournament since injury struck during the semi-final stage
of November's 2016 World Championship the 33-year-old World No.3 put in
a commanding performance to beat Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan 3-1.
“Coming here I just wanted to play so I’m happy to get through to the semi-finals," said Gaultier.
"Hopefully this will help build up my confidence, because I haven’t
played for a while. But I'm used to playing in this stage of
competitions, so hopefully I can push on and I'll try to adapt my
routine a little to make sure I am ready for the challenge."
On Gaultier, Willstrop said: "I'm excited about tomorrow. It's a thrill
to be playing here in this atmosphere - these are the events and
environments that you want to play in and why you play the game.
There's history between Greg and I, so I'll get my head around it and
look forward to tomorrow and try and enjoy playing against him again on
a big occasion."
Results - Quarter-finals: 2016 AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix
