ISS CANARY WHARF SQUASH CLASSIC
East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, London
Final
(1) Nick Matthew (England) beat (4) Peter Barker
(England) 5-11, 11-4, 11-1, 11-3 (58 mins)
MATTHEW MASTERS BARKER TO RETAIN
HIS ISS CANARY WHARF CLASSIC TITLE
World champion Nick Matthew retained his ISS Canary
Wharf Classic title last night by overcoming a fierce challenge from No.4
seed Peter Barker.
Matthew, the 30-year-old world No.1 from Sheffield,
fought back after losing the opening game to win 5-11, 11-4, 11-1, 11-3.
Both players were forced into some gut-wrenching
retrievals to keep in play some spectacular attacking shots from each other.
Barker, buoyed by his first-ever career victory
over No.2 seed James Willstrop the previous evening, started in positive
fashion.
He looked focused and disciplined as he constructed
tight rallies that presented serious problems for the top seed.
Londoner Barker took the opening game 11-5 and his
home supporters in the sell-out crowd at the East Wintergarden were hoping
for another shock victory.
However, Matthew responded in devastating fashion,
demonstrating exactly why he has been the dominant player in world squash
for the past year.
He powered ahead in the second game, and, as the
challenge from Barker faded, he took complete control to clinch victory in
58 minutes of entertaining squash.
Barker, despite doing most of the chasing, refused
to give up and launched himself into some massive diagonal runs as Matthew
powered winners into the four corners of the court.
Matthew said: “Peter started very well and it took
me a while to get into the match and start moving properly. But I was
pleased with the way I played and I hope the crowd enjoyed the match,
despite me beating the home favourite.
“This is one of the best tournaments in the world
and all of the players love coming to Canary Wharf. Next year is a big year
for sport in London and I hope it’s not too late for the IOC to change their
mind about having squash in the Olympics.”
Matthew was impressed by the success of the Video
Replay trial organised by the PSA that enabled players to direct an appeal a
TV judge, who was able to study replays of any controversial incident before
making a decision that flashed up on the huge screen above the front wall of
the glass court.
He said: “I think it worked well. There were one or
two tweaks by the end of the week and allowing one appeal per game, plus one
in the tiebreak, was the right number.
“It cut out the arguments between players and
referees and helped the crowd to get involved in the whole process.”
Runner-up Barker said: “I started well but Nick
showed what a great player he is by the way he came back. Overall I have to
be happy with the whole week and I need to start reaching more finals like
this.”
Before the match, Welsh international Jethro Binns
entertained the sell-out crowd with some amazing trick shots while balancing
on a giant Swiss medicine ball.
ISS
CANARY WHARF SQUASH CLASSIC
East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, London
Semi-finals:
(4) Peter Barker (England) beat (2) James Willstrop (England) 14-16, 11-1,
11-7, 11-8 (77 mins)
(1) Nick Matthew (England) beat (3) Gregory Gaultier (France) 8-11, 11-5
retired (31 mins)
BARKER BREAKS HIS DUCK AGAINST WILLSTROP
TO REACH ISS CANARY WHARF CLASSIC FINAL
World No.7 Peter Barker finally broke his long losing run against England
team-mate James Willstrop to reach the final of the ISS Canary Wharf Classic
against world champion Nick Matthew.
Top seed Matthew received a walk-over into the final when his opponent
Gregory Gaultier quit through illness with the score at one game each.
Matthew admitted he felt deflated at winning in such an unfortunate fashion,
but No.4 seed Barker was delighted to break his duck in front of a
full-house crowd at the spectacular East Wintergarden venue. The 27-year-old
Londoner had lost to No.2 seed Willstrop on every occasion they had played
throughout their junior and professional careers, so achieving a maiden
victory in front of his home crowd tasted even sweeter. Barker said: "I had
a game plan tonight, but I have had a game plan against James since the age
of ten and I'm very pleased that it finally paid off, 17 years later."
As his mother cried tears of joy in the front row, Barker showed his respect
for his opponent by saying: "I have played James for years, ever since our
junior days, and never beaten him, so tonight is very special, especially as
it's here in London, and at such a wonderful venue with a sell-out crowd
every night.
"James is not only a great squash player but a great guy and I knew it would
require a massive effort to beat him."
Barker revealed that he will now have to cancel plans to travel to France
with his fiancee to celebrate his future mother-in-law's 60th birthday. He
added: "It's a shame to miss out on a lovely trip to Paris but I hope my
girlfriend appreciates the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow."
Barker was apologetic after breaking his racket on his leg after a momentous
tiebreak at the end of the first game. "That was a mixture of adrenalin and
stupidity," he said. "I felt I should have won that first game and I had to
quickly refocus for the second.”
Barker came out for the second with all guns blazing, and powered through
11-1 as Willstrop, a three-time Canary Wharf champion, began to look jaded.
The 6ft 4in Yorkshireman responded positively to lead 7-5 in the third game,
but Barker hit back to win six points in a row to win it 11-7. From 3-3 in
the fourth game, Barker pushed ahead to 8-5. Again Willstrop fought back to
level at 8-8, but the effort took its toll and Barker reeled off the final
three points, with Willstrop conceding defeat with a weak shot down the
middle of the court to concede a penalty point.
No.3
seed Gaultier was taken to hospital for a check-up after retiring against
Matthew with a mystery virus. Astonishingly, he had begun the match in
superb style, moving ahead from 5-5 to win the opening game 11-5. However,
at 4-4 in the second game he seemed to be in obvious distress as Matthew
took control and picked up a string of points in quick succession to win it
11-5. Gaultier complained of feeling faint at courtside between games and,
after being treated by a doctor and paramedics, he was taken to hospital for
checks. Matthew said: “Nobody likes to win a match like that. Apparently
Greg was up all night feeling unwell so I find it amazing that he started
the match playing such great squash. He made me look very average at times.
“At the moment I can’t begin to think about the final because my thoughts
are with Greg. I just hope he’s OK.”
The unlucky Gaultier had only recently returned to the PSA World Tour after
suffering a hamstring injury in the World Open in Saudi Arabia in December.
First Round:
Simon Rosner (Germany) beat Chris Ryder (England) 11-8, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4 (53
mins)
(3)
Gregory Gaultier (France) beat Olli Tuominen (Finland) 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (42
mins)
(1) Nick Matthew (England) beat Borja Golan (Spain) 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 (47
mins)
Daryl Selby (England) beat Tom Richards (England) 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 14-16,
11-9 (97 mins)
British squash champion Daryl Selby has another chance to topple world No.1
Nick Matthew when they meet in the quarter-finals of the ISS Canary Wharf
Classic this evening (Wednesday).
Selby overcame Matthew in the final of the National Championships in
Manchester last month but nearly blew his chance of joining him in the last
eight at Canary Wharf.
He wasted 12 match balls in the fourth and fifth games before finally
overcoming a massive fightback from rising Surrey star Tom Richards.
Selby eventually won 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 14-16, 11-9 in 97 minutes of brutal
combat.
His first match ball came at 10-7 in the fourth but Richards fought back to
win the tiebreak 16-14.
Richards looked exhausted at the start of the final game and it looked all
over as Selby led 10-3.
But Richards dug deep and won six points in a row as the crowd roared their
encouragement.
He produced some stunning winners before Selby finally put the winning ball
beyond his reach.Selby, who is also the national racketball champion, said:
“That was not exactly the ideal way to prepare to face the world champion
the next day. That was total squash carnage out there. “Tom is a very
dangerous player and he showed in the recent North American Open that he is
capable of hurting the top guys when he came very close to beating Ramy
Ashour. The way he came back at the end was unbelievable.”
Top seed Matthew launched his bid to retain the Canary Wharf title in solid
style by overcoming Spanish No.1 Borja Golan in straight games. The
30-year-old world No.1 from Sheffield won 11-8, 11-2, 11-8, producing an
outstanding spell of form in the second game when he looked invincible.
No.3 seed Gregory Gaultier, runner-up to Matthew last year, overpowered
Finnish No.1 Olli Tuominen in straight games to clinch a quarter-final clash
with German No.1 Simon Rosner, who beat Leamington’s Chris Ryder in four
games.
England have five representatives in the quarter-finals.No.2 seed James
Willstrop from Leeds, a three-time champion at Canary Wharf, meets Joey
Barrington, the world No.31 from Somerset. No.4 seed Peter Barker from
London meets Australia’s Stewart Boswell.
Wednesday quarter-final schedule:
5.30pm (4) Peter Barker (Eng) v Stewart Boswell (Aus)
6.30pm: (2) James Willstrop (Eng) v Joey Barrington (Eng)
8.00pm: (1) Nick Matthew (Eng) v Daryl Selby (Eng)
9.00pm: (3) Gregory Gaultier (Fra) v Simon Rosner (Ger)
Tournament website:
www.canarywharfsquash.com
Further information from Alan Thatcher
Tel: 07971 639 829
Email: alan@squashuk.com
