A third successive win in the new season of the Premier Squash League (PSL) extends TWP St George's Hill's lead at the top of the Group B tables after the third round of the world's most prestigious squash league.
The Surrey club visited south coast rivals Team Chichester – and, after the hosts took the early advantage when Lauren Briggs beat the visitors' Rachel Willmott 11-7, 11-5, 11-9, St George's Hill fought back with impressive straight games wins by team stalwarts Mark Krajcsak, the Hungarian number one, and Nicolas Mueller, the top Swiss player.
And Tom Richards ensured a St George's Hill victory when he recovered from a game down to beat Chichester regular Tim Vail 9-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-7.
But the standout match came at the end of the night when Chichester's Olivier Pett, ranked well outside the world top 100, took on England international Daryl Selby, the world No13. After surviving a close first game, Pett dropped the next two as the crowd undoubtedly sensed another win going to the visitors.
But Pett, making a determined comeback after two major injury upsets over the past 15 months, stuck to his game-plan and ultimately beat his higher-ranked opponent 12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9 in 79 minutes.
"It's been a good day," admitted the 22-year-old from Sussex. "That's by far my best ever result."
It was in August 2009 that Pett's world sunk to an all-time low when he underwent surgery on both ankles only shortly after his father died suddenly. "I was out for about seven months, and on crutches for some of that time – but in fact it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it gave me time to think about things and deal with the loss of my Dad.
"Then, some three months after getting back on court, I suffered a further injury setback - which meant that I've only been training properly again for the past month or so.
"But tonight's win means so much to me as I've put in so much hard work recently, both with my trainer and my coach Tim Vail," added the world No 145.
PSL title-holders Surrey Health & Racquets returned to winning ways after a 4/1 away victory at UWE Bristol. But the 2010 champions, who suffered a rare defeat last week, survived five-game matches in all their wins – Scotland's Alan Clyne clinching victory for the visitors after fighting back from 2/0 down to beat the home side's former world No4 David Evans 12-14, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 in 59 minutes.
Surrey squad number two Adrian Grant made his debut for his new club on the courts of the Bristol club he represented for the past four seasons – but battled for 67 minutes to beat Mathieu Castagnet in five games to begin his new affiliation on a positive note.
But Surrey team-mate and fellow Londoner Peter Barker was unable to give his team maximum points: The world No8 went down in five games to Mohamed El Shorbagy, the world No12 from Bristol who avenged his defeat by Barker earlier in the month in the Qatar Classic.
And IGT Winchester had good reason to celebrate after the PSL newcomers beat Exeter Diamonds 3/2 to record their first win in the league. After Lauren Selby and Marwan El Shorbagy gave the home side a good start, it was Portsmouth teenager Robert Downer who clinched Winchester's win by beating Chris Tasker-Grindley 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8.
"We had a total sell-out here tonight, with some 200 supporters – and the place was really buzzing," said Winchester team manager Gary Hinton. "And Robert played out of his skin tonight to give us a fantastic win."
Despite losing away from home, CLFS Esporta Oxford maintain a slender lead at the top of the Group A tables. It was a workman-like performance by former champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield who, in only their second tie of the season, romped to a 4/1 win in Oxford, with squad number one Nick Matthew – playing his first PSL match since winning two Commonwealth Games gold medals in Delhi – beating Australia's in-form Cameron Pilley 15-13, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4.
The visitors gained consolation points at the end of the evening when Oxford's top-ranked Spaniard Borja Golan despatched Jonathan Kemp 11-6, 11-6, 11-2.
The other tie in Group A featured a battle between two former champions – in which the 2009 winners LEBC Group Chapel Allerton beat 1999 champions MB Nottingham 4/1.
Like Derbyshire club Duffield, Leeds-based Chapel Allerton have also only played two ties so far this season – and both unbeaten clubs share second place in the Group A tables on 37 points, just four behind league leaders Esporta Oxford.
RESULTS: 3rd round, Tuesday 23 November 2010
Group A:
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 4 CLFS Esporta Oxford 1
Nick Matthew bt Cameron Pilley 15-13, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4
Jonathan Kemp lost to Borja Golan 6-11, 6-11, 2-11
Stephen Coppinger bt Scott Handley 11-7, 11-3, 12-10
Andrew Whipp bt Andrew Birks 13-11, 14-12, 11-6
Millie Tomlinson bt Katherine Quarterman 11-4, 11-3, 11-3
LEBC Group Chapel Allerton 4 MB Nottingham 1
Alister Walker bt Lewis Walters 11-6, 11-9, 11-2
Aaron Frankcomb bt Chris Truswell 11-5, 11-8, 11-7
Chris Simpson bt Mark Fuller 11-1, 11-8, 11-4
Shaun le Roux bt Declan James 6-11, 9-11, 11-1, 11-3, 11-4
Carrie Ramsey lost to Emily Whitlock 9-11, 0-5 ret.
Group B:
UWE Bristol 1 Surrey Health & Racquets 4
Mohamed El Shorbagy bt Peter Barker 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9 (68m)
Mathieu Castagnet lost to Adrian Grant 7-11, 11-7, 15-17, 13-11, 1-11 (67m)
David Evans lost to Alan Clyne 14-12, 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 4-11 (59m)
Michael Harris lost to Adrian Waller 3-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-7, 7-11 (42m)
Rebecca Quiney lost to Margaux Moros-Pitarch 15-17, 7-11, 11-1, 11-3, 9-11 (37m)
Team Chichester 2 TWP St George's Hill 3
Olivier Pett bt Daryl Selby 12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9 (79m)
Tim Vail lost to Tom Richards 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 7-11
Alex Gough lost to Nicolas Mueller 8-11, 5-11, 4-11
Nic Birt lost to Mark Krajcsak 5-11, 4-11, 5-11
Lauren Briggs bt Rachel Willmott 11-7, 11-5, 11-9
IGT Winchester 3 Exeter Diamonds 2
Joey Barrington lost to Laurens Jan Anjema 12-14, 8-11, 9-11 (45m)
Ryan Cuskelly lost to Campbell Grayson 10-12, 13-11, 5-11, 12-14 (79m)
Marwan El Shorbagy bt James Snell 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 (50m)
Robert Downer bt Chris Tasker-Grindley 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 (43m)
Lauren Selby bt Emma Chorley 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 (25m)
PSL TABLES (after 3rd round)
Ties Matches Games Pts
P W L W L W L
Group A:
CLFS Esporta Oxford 3 2 1 10 5 31 23 41
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2 2 0 9 1 27 5 37
LEBC Group Chapel Allerton 2 2 0 9 1 27 8 37
MB Nottingham 3 0 3 1 14 12 42 12
Courtcraft Pontefract 2 0 2 1 9 8 27 8
Group B:
TWP St George's Hill 3 3 0 10 5 36 18 51
Exeter Diamonds 3 2 1 9 6 32 26 42
Surrey Health & Racquets 3 2 1 9 6 32 28 42
IGT Winchester 3 1 2 7 8 26 28 31
Team Chichester 3 1 2 6 9 21 33 26
UWE Bristol 3 0 3 4 11 26 40 26
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