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The Masters Finals
Martin Pearse
reports
 The
ultimate pinnacle for any masters player is to win a British
National title. Looking at the list of twelve winners I believe
all (or nearly all) have won before.
The absolute and total perfection seen the night before in the
Willstrop/Matthew match can never be replicated in Masters, as
squash is one game where everything deteriorates bit by bit
after 30 years of age. But the skill factor is just as high and
paradoxically because of the fallibilities, the spectator volume
is increased. The galleries have seen some fantastic matches
over the week and Finals Day was no exception.
In the Women's 50 Julie Field reversed last week's upset
at Pontefract and claimed the Closed to go with her World Title
in November '08, beating Jackie Gardner 9/2 9/7 6/9 7/9 9/3. "It
should have been 3/0", said Field. "I concentrated at the start
and she was a bit nervous and made a lot of errors. In the third
and fourth I wasn't timing the ball well on my volleys, which I
rely on, and she took advantage. In the fifth I started taking
the ball early again."
In the Women's 45 Mandy Akin started confidently against
Carole Page and despite a hiccup in the third she closed out the
fourth. "That's the first time I've ever beaten her," said a
delighted Mandy. "She had two five-setters yesterday to my one,
so that probably helped. I'm thrilled to hold the double now,
the British Open and the Nationals."
Carole was back on court in the O40 final against newcomer
Sam Willis, now an England committee member, but Sam was too
strong for a very tired Carole. "I'm really thrilled to win the
Nationals at my first attempt," said Sam. "When I played
professionally I was in the nationals four or five times but
never got past the quarters, so this is a great feeling."
Donna Vardy captured the W35 title against newcomer Chris
Smylie, but the latter will be happy just to be there. Donna
showed why she was such a good professional.
The Men's O70 saw another Woodliffe/Kirton battle - number 50
probably! This time it was Kirton 3 Woodliffe 2 and no
doubt unless some cheeky interloper comes on board it will be a
rematch in September. "My wife told me what to do when I was 2/1
down," said Kirton, "and I did it. It's good to be married
sometimes ..."
With Adrian Wright obviously having one of his off days and
Mike Clemson having the opposite, the little Humbersider
took another title, in straight games. A great reward for
someone who is so keen on squash he had a five-set friendly
three hours before his semi!
Rooming together is always interesting when you have to play
each other in the final (again), so Howard Cherlin might have
wished he had had a couple of glasses of wine on Saturday night.
Phil Ayton did, as always, and this fortified him enough
to record a 9/7, 9/5, 10/9 victory in 42 minutes. This match
was, as expected, one for the purists.
The O55 saw Dave Lumsden finally crack the Nationals and
he will be mightily pleased. John Duckworth's superb semi-final
victory left him very drained and Lumsden - "I had a disaster in
the final last year when my shoes broke, so I made sure I
brought two pairs this year" - is too quick for most
anyway, even when they are 100%.
Ian Bradburn loves courts 1,2 and 3 and so it was proven
again in the O50. Fast and furious nicely encapsulates the
Wigan-based player, and his backhand drive-kill is simply
perfection. Chris Harland was unable to stem the flow but the
result was always in doubt until the end.
Phil Whitlock gave a masterclass in the O45, but Greg
Pearman nearly sneaked the second, getting to 7. Whitlock then
notched up another gear, showing the gallery just what standards
top touring professionals can achieve. "It was almost too easy
in the first," he said, "so I really had to dig in to stop him
taking the second."
In the O40 Yawar Abbas beat Berkshire's Rick Weatherall
on the glass court to retain the title. The court obviously
suited the home-based player, but Weatherall will have been
extremely pleased to have been there.
Finally two former tour players slugged it out in the O35,
Simon Parke coming from 2/0 down to beat Nick Taylor in the
longest match of the day at 79 minutes.
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M55: Lumsden 3 Duckworth 0 |
W45: Akin 3 Page 1 |
M70: Kirton 3 Woodliffe 2 |
M40: Abbas 3 Weatherall 0 |
Field 3 Gardner 2 |
Clemson 3 Wright 0 |
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Bradburn 3 Harland 1 |
Whitlock 3 Pearman 0 |
Vardy 3 Smylie 0 |
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Willis 3 Page 0 |
Ayton 3-0 Cherlin |
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Saturday 14th Feb:
Day Four at the Masters
Martin Pearse
reports
The
semi-finals got off to a cracking start with a signature display
of drive-kill brilliance from Ian Bradburn in the O50s. Jon
Evans looked in control for the majority of the time but
Bradburn's superb backhand defied Evans' retrieving powers for
the Lancashire favourite to sneak the fifth.
Carole Page and Linda Winder in the Women's O40 gave the large
gallery their money's worth with a high quality display, Page
defying her years to come home 9/6 in the fifth. Not content
with that she took out the ultra-fit Fran Wallis in the O45
semis just three hours later in a 3/2 nailbiter. Would you
believe 55 minutes for the first and 54 for the second - not bad
for a 49-year-old!
The other O40 semi-final saw Sam Willis in pole position after a
clinical 9/5, 9/0, 9/5 victory over Stephanie Marriott.
The O35s saw a wonderful surprise for newcomer Chris Smylie, a
policewoman from Manchester. In her second masters event she
removed top seeded ex-professional Jeanette Cowie. Smylie is
very fast, very fit, and very strong, a difficult combination if
you are her opponent. She meets Donna Vardy, who beat Same
Willis (in her second match) 3/0.
Ladies' O50 sees Jacky Gardner and Julie Field in the final
after the latter eventually sneaked past Eunice Bond. Gardner,
fresh from a victory over Field at Pontefract, was too strong
for Karen Hume, and the final will be a close one to call.
The Men's O35 semis were both on the glass court, and again
there will be an ex-pro final, Simon Parke v Nick Taylor. Parke
took out Clive Ewins whilst Taylor removed Nick Wall in a
typically-lengthy 3/0.
The second semi in the Women's O45 was also a cracker, poor
Heather Tweedle will need a few drinks to forget it, leading 2/0
and 6/1 against the ultra-competitive Mandy Akin. Full marks to
the latter who retrieved vertically, horizontally, and pulled a
lost cause back to win 3/2.
"Brutally efficient" was how (knowledgeable) spectators
described Phil Whitlock in his 9/1, 9/0, 9/1 lengthy removal of
England number three Eamonn Price. Virtually every shot was the
correct one, and poor Eamonn was clutching at straws.
Next door regular combatants Greg Pearman and Alan Thompson met
again ant it was RAC pro Pearman who won through to the final.
Peter Gunter missed two match balls in the fourth against Rick
Weatherall, and he was not given another chance, the Bucks
player steadying himself to claim a memorable victory in the
fifth, for the right to play Yawar Abbas, who's fitness
accounted for the highly-skilled Nigel Willis, back from a long
layoff.
The O60s saw Howard Cherlin, last year's O55 champion, enter yet
another final as John Smith suffered from some confusing initial
form and devastating pickups from the man who is a gambler in
real life. Cherlin will play old friend and England number one
(just for the lat 40 years!) Phil Ayton, who gave the gallery a
display in squash technique against Cheshire's Rod Boswell.
Another final for the purists, well worth waiting for.
Dave Lumsden blew two years of chances to win the O55 by still
playing in the O50, and then lost last year to Cherlin. So this
year, with a very heavy cold, he will be pleased to be in the
final with John Duckworth, a crucial victory for the local hero
over Geoff Redfern, top seed, while Lumsden removed Moussa Helal
in an entertaining and skilful battle.
Webmaster Adrian Wright, missing his Barmy Army, made life
difficult for himself in the O65s despite beating Andrew Beeston
3/0, for the pleasure to meet long-time rival Mike Clemson, who
insists on getting his money's worth and did so again with a
five game victory over Len Froggitt.
At the sharp end, the only Woodliffe on display was the former
world champion, in the O70, John, with his son Mark back in
Switzerland. He was too wily for Tony Sears, and this sets up
another National Final against his long-time adversary, with
decades of international caps to his name, Pat Kirton.
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Parke 3 Ewins 0 |
Bradburn 3 Evans 2 |
Abbas 3 Willis 1 |
Willis 3 Marriott 0 |
Page 3 Winder 2 |
Harland 3 Waller 0 |
Weatherall 3 Gunter 2 |
Field 3 Bond 1 |
Whitlock 3 Price 0 |
Pearman 3 Thompson 0 |
Cherlin 3 Smith 1 |
Gardner 3 Hume 1 |
Akin 3 Tweedle 2 |
Kirton 3 Kinder 0 |
Page 3 Wallis 2 |
Wright 3 Beeston 0 |
Lumsden 3-1 Helal |
Smylie 3-1
Cowie |
Clemson 3-2 Froggitt |
Vardy 3-0 Willis |
Taylor 3 Wall 0 |
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Friday 13th Feb:
Day Three at the Masters
Martin Pearse
reports
With
over 240 original entrants, Sportcity's complex becomes less
cluttered with players as the week progresses, while the
standard goes up and up. The age groups today were mainly
quarter-finals.
World O50 Champion Julie Field was on display, and she
will be coming back tomorrow, whilst 49 year old no. 2 Carole
Page took out youngster Diana Parmous in the O40.
 Surprises
in the Men's O60 as seeds Mike Taylor and Barry Featherstone
crashed out, and the dark horse here is John Smith, who
lost 10/9 in the fifth to eventual winner Brian Cook in the
World Masters and has been training ferociously - this is where
retirement helps!
Squash being the only game where people actually want to be
older, newcomer Jon Evans removed 3/4 seed Duleep
Adihetty in the O50 with some considerable skill, and former
champion Peter Alexander succumbed to a long time injury which
seems as if it requires some surgery.
The 45s sees all the top eight seeds together, with Phil
Whitlock out and out favourite.
Some mouth-watering matches already in the bag, Steve Calvert v
Richard Millman being an absolute cracker, the latter
having jetted in from America and overturning a 0/2 deficit to
win, with lobbing of the very highest quality, and he is due a
re-run of his North of England duel with Eamonn Price in
the quarters.
Nigel Willis, back in the O40 fold, removed 3/4 seed
David Youngs to set up a semi with Yawar Abbas, and
Simon Parke will be determined to take the O35 title from
Lancashire's Nick Taylor.
Martin lost to
John Smith in the O60 quarters
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