2008

Willstrop surges on
Howard Harding's round-up
 
Willstrop breaks through
Ian McKenzie witnesses a special moment

  [4] Rebecca Macree bt [8] Pamela Nimmo 9-6, 9-3, 9-1
  [15] James Willstrop bt [8] Nick Taylor 15-7, 10-15, 9-15, 17-15, 15-9
  [1] Linda Charman bt Jenny Tranfield  9-3, 9-5, 9-0
  [1] Peter Nicol bt [7] Simon Parke  15-7, 15-11, 15-8

Willstrop Tames Taylor
Malcolm Willstrop's totally unbiased report ...
World Junior Champion James Willstrop continued his run in the National Championships with another mightily impressive win to surge into the semi-finals. This time it was his friend and local hero Nick Taylor who fell.

Starting faster than a Virgin Express, he quickly asserted himself in the first game to win it with conviction. But Taylor's record in this event is exceptional, and the Mancunian recovered, playing disciplined squash to lead 2-1 with Willstrop helping by mysteriously tinning several drops.

The nineteen year-old is not World Champion for nothing though, and stayed with Taylor throughout the third game, and saved a match-ball at 13/14 to level at 14-all. Taylor spurned another match-ball in calling three, and Willstrop took the fourth to set up a thrilling climax.

Summoning great reserves of strength, mental and physical, Willstrop gradually assumed control with his long-armed retrieving as Taylor regretted his missed match-ball opportunity.

Willstrop pulled away to win 15/9, and can look forward to a semi-final against the great Peter Nicol - an 'all-Yorkshire' clash ...
 

Full results

Men's Draw

Women's Draw

Age Group Draws

RESULTS from the tournament desk
 

Men's final 2002

Women's final 2002

WILLSTROP BREAKS THROUGH
Ian McKenzie witnesses a special moment

Tonight we witnessed one of those brilliant moments in sport that is pure and memorable - a young player breaking through.

James Willstrop is making that breakthrough in front of our eyes, from junior to senior. Almost unbelievably, having won the World Junior Championships in December, in February he is now in the semi-finals of a world class National Championships, having knocked out the local hero Nick Taylor with an epic comeback 15-7, 10-15, 9-15, 17-15, 15-9.

In a stylish first game Willstrop hit 12 winners, flicked two brilliantly deceptive forehands without backswing that were unreadable, and left Taylor stranded where before he had been dominant in the rally. It was all easy, the ball moving around the court at different angles and paces. Ironically his one mistake came after Taylor had stopped running and with an open court he tinned, to much laughter from the crowd.

But the vice like grip all but disappeared for two and a half games. Taylor tightened in the second, while Willstrop made eight errors, many of them just tipping the tin to give Taylor the second 15-10 and, with in PAR scoring the first break being so crucial, fell behind from 2-2 to 2-6 in a hand and only a lapse by Taylor when 13-4 ahead gave the third game, won by Taylor, some respectability 15-9.

The fourth was a point for point struggle. Willstrop was now working Taylor hard and although the Mancunian was up 11-10 the Yorkshire lad levelled with one of his favourite shots - a faded crosscourt drop, before Taylor's mistakes gave him a vital 13-11 lead. Willstrop was back in the match but a stroke and two winners gave Taylor matchball and it looked like it would slip away from him.

Suddenly galvanised, Willstrop produced a fantastic rally, taking total control, risking little and forcing Taylor to flick recovery shots off the back four times before hitting the winner. It all ended in a let but Willstrop was now totally focused. He levelled and although Taylor was the first to 15 with a winning crosscourt drop Willstrop's control of the rallies and the three winners with which he finished were emphatic as he took the game 17-15.

He was away in the fifth. The momentum was with him now and there was, with PAR, an inevitability about it. Taylor fought, he got to 5-2 but Willstrop responded with five winners in a row surged to 8-5 and was hardly interrupted as he went through to take the match 15-9 in one hour 28 minutes.

Taylor was not at all bad here. Willstrop fluctuated but pulled off a great comeback. One for the future we all thought, but Willstrop's here, now.

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TEENAGER WILLSTROP SURGES ON
TO REACH SEMI-FINALS
Howard Harding reports

Yorkshire teenager James Willstrop pulled off another formidable display in today's quarter-finals of the British National Squash Championships at the National Squash Centre in Manchester when he fought back from 2-1 down - and saved a matchball in the fourth - to beat local hero and eighth seed Nick Taylor.

It was the second successive upset by the 19-year-old World Junior Champion from Pontefract who beat fourth seed Martin Heath, the world No10 from Scotland, in the previous round. In tonight's first men's quarter-final on the all-glass showcourt which staged the Commonwealth Games action last summer, Willstrop beat Taylor 15-7 10-15 9-15 17-15 15-9 in 87 minutes after almost throwing the match away in the third and fourth with a succession of unforced errors.

"The third game was just horrendous," said the delighted 6' 5" tall youngster after his triumph in the longest match in the competition. "Nick managed to contain it all in the early part of the match. After the third, I decided to change my tactic and stay forward - I knew I just had to get back to playing my own game and when I did, things started to go right for me again."

A disconsolate Taylor, a semi-finalist for the last three years who was playing his team-mate in the Manchester-Pontefract National League side for the first time, said: "I was really disappointed with my game - I got the tactics completely wrong and I felt the whole match was scrappy. But I can't take anything away from James - he played really well."

Willstrop will meet top seed Peter Nicol in Saturday's semi-finals after the London-based world No1 beat 1998 champion Simon Parke in an 'all-Yorkshire' clash. "I put Simon under a lot of pressure in the first game and, though he pushed forward in the second, I think I had done enough by then," said Nicol after his 15-7 15-11 15-8 victory in 50 minutes.

"James and I have never played each other before so I'm looking forward to meeting him - even though I'm giving him ten years!" added the 1996 British National champion on the prospects of his semi-final encounter.

Sussex's top seed Linda Charman and Essex's No4 seed Rebecca Macree will renew their rivalry in Saturday's semi-finals after straight games victories in tonight's women's quarter-final clashes. Charman, the 31-year-old world No4 from Eastbourne who is bidding to win her first title after three appearances in the final, ended unseeded Jenny Tranfield's run in the event, beating the world No13 from Yorkshire 9-3 9-5 9-0 in 36 minutes. Londoner Macree, boasting a career-high world No9 ranking, defeated Scottish No1 Pamela Nimmo, the world No16 from Edinburgh, 9-6 9-3 9-1 in 34 minutes.

World number one and top seed Peter Nicol, who seems very much at ease with himself, will face the rejuvenated Simon Parke, whose win over Stewart Boswell in December's World Open was sensational. Parke will certainly not lack in endeavour and is sure to give Nicol something to do.

James Willstrop has already given notice of intent, beating world number 10 Martin Heath with some authority, and his match with Manchester's favourite son Nick Taylor, who saw off Stephen Meads with ease yesterday, is a fascinating one which promises a great deal.

Willstrop also has a following in Manchester and Taylor will not have it all his own way in the support stakes. With his impressive record in these championships Nick will start favourite, but whoever wins it will be no surprise.

On Friday Lee Beachill, who was kept up to his work by Bradley Ball on the unrewarding court one but played well enough, takes on David Evans, who ended the winning sequence of the in-form Marcus Berrett. It should be a delight to watch, since both are cultured players who will get on with it. Beachill is not likely to yield easily on his favourite court, which also suits the skilful Evans.

The last of the quarters sees the popular World Open finalist John White take on one of the game's most intelligent players, Alex Gough. Apparently 'Big John' doesn't like cats, and Alex intends to exploit this weakness. The Welshman is no stranger to causing upsets, and although White starts a clear favourite Gough will not go down without a fight.

In the unlikely event of a Beachill / Willstrop final the Pontefract supporters might be unusually subdued ... and that's got them warned!

Mouth-watering semis in prospect
The women's quarter-finals do not look quite as inviting as the men's, and it is likely to be at the semi-final stage that the questions will be answered here.

The main point of interest is the comeback of Cassie Jackman after a second back operation. A recent win over Tania Bailey was most encouraging, but yesterday Vicky Botwright recovered from 2-0 down and led 4-3 in the fifth before Jackman re-asserted herself. The Manchester girl has been in good form, so the champion's performance may have been better than the scoreline suggests.

In the quarters Jackman meets Stephanie Brind, who has not been in the best of form recently. Jackman may well find Brind easier to deal with than Botwright.

Top seed Linda Charman has no easy task today, as Jenny Tranfield breezed past 5th seed Fiona Geaves in an easy 3/0 win. The Yorkshire girl has been improving and will not go down without a fight.

Another in-form player is Rebecca Macree, who faces Pamela Nimmo. Good, solid player that she is, Nimmo will struggle against Macree, who none of the girls find easy to play.

Remarkable veteran Suzanne Horner, almost forty, plays second seed and new England number one Tania Bailey, who represents the future of England women's squash. She may not be able to withstand the youngster.

Should the seedings be borne out the semis will be Charman v Macree and Jackman v Bailey (and I emphasise the should). Those prospective matches are mouth-watering events indeed.

National Squash Championships

www.nationalsquashchamps.co.uk