British Nationals Report: All Seeds Through to Quarters by Steve Cubbins
photos courtesy Steve Cubbins
February 13, 2014
- Day four of the British Nationals Championships in Manchester saw the
top eight seeds in both men’s and women’s competitions progress to the
quarter-finals.
The afternoon session
at the National Squash Centre saw defending champions Nick Matthew and
Alison Waters safely through to the quarter-finals, Matthew beating
Scotland’s Greg Lobban and Waters beting qualifier Amina Helal, both in
straight games.
Matthew now faces Joe Lee, who needed all five games to see off the challenge of Lucy Loser Richie Fallows.
“It wasn’t my best
match,” admitted Lee, “but he didn’t allow me to play my game. It was a
very mature performance from him, he proved he deserves to be in the
main draw and got in my face and made it difficult. He just needs a bit
more consistency which will come very quickly.”
In the other top-half
quarter-final Daryl Selby and Tom Richards will meet for the fourth
year in a row. Richards beat Eddie Charlton, also for the fourth year
in a row, in an hour-long four-game match.
“Eddie is always tough
to play,” admitted Richards, “he just needs one of those big wins to
propel him up the rankings, I’m sure he’ll get it soon.”
Selby, the 2011
champion, also needed four games to get past unseeded Chris Ryder.
“Chris is a really good player for anyone to learn from,” said Selby.
“He controls the ball very well, has good touch and doesn’t overhit the
ball. I’ve had a lot of tough battles with him so I knew it wasn’t
going to be easy.”
In the women’s draw
Waters will face Emma Beddoes while two-time champion Jenny Duncalf
meets Sarah Kippax, who reached a seventh quarter-final in row after
coming from a game down to beat Deon Saffery, ending Welsh interest in
the main draws.
The evening session brought more victories for the seeds as the quarter-finals lined up as predicted.
Adrian Grant was given the sternest test as he came from a game down to beat Scottish number one Alan Clyne.
“He’s always tough to
beat,” said Grant, “he came out firing in the first and at the start of
every game, I really had to dig in, he so difficult to sdake off.”
The last match of the
day saw Adrian Waller beat Ben Coleman in three tight games to set up a
meeting with second seed James Willstrop . “I’ll have nothing to lose,”
said Waller, “and it will be good to see how I stack up against one of
the very top players in a competitive match.”
Quarter-finals begin at noon, all on the glass court.
Men's Round Two :
[1] Nick Matthew 3-0 Greg Lobban 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (34m) Joe Lee 3-2 Richie Fallows 11-8, 11-13, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5 (65m) Tom Richards 3-1 Eddie Charlton 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5 (61m) [3/4] Daryl Selby 3-1 Chris Ryder 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8 (58m)
[3/4] Adrian Grant 3-1 Alan Clyne 10-12, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (60m) Chris Simpson 3-0 Declan James 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (32m) Adrian Waller 3-0 Ben Coleman 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (44m) [2] James Willstrop 3-0 Charles Sharpes 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (32m)
Women's Round One:
[1] Laura Massaro 3-0 Carrie Ramsey 11-2, 11-5, 11-1 (28m) Sarah-Jane Perry 3-0 Lisa Aitken 12-10, 11-7, 11-9 (35m) Emily Whitlock 3-0 Dominique Lloyd-Walter 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 (36m) [3/4] Madeline Perry 3-1 Tory Temple-Murray 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4 (38m)
