The Leamington Royals have been crowned the inaugural Optasia Squash Super League champions after a blockbuster 3-2 Grand Final victory over Chichester Centurions at Winchester Racquets & Fitness.
It was former Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Declan James who delivered a thrilling victory for the Centurions in the final rubber, fighting back from a game down and a sudden-death championship ball in the second game to defeat compatriot Curtis Malik and help his team lift the title.
Earlier in the night, the two teams had sent the Grand Final to a decider after Royals duo Ben Smith and Satomi Watanabe and Centurions pair Torrie Malik and Oli Pett claimed respective wins.
This title victory comes in Leamington’s first year competing in a national-level squash league.
Royals Men’s U25 player Ben Smith came through a three-game thriller to kickstart the evening, eventually prevailing past England compatriot Noah Meredith by an 11-9, 9-11, 11-10 scoreline.
In the first game, World No. 85 Smith got off to a quicker start but became edgy as he drew closer to moving up one game. From 9-6, behind, Meredith drew on the crowd’s support to win five straight points with some outrageous winners and move 1-0 up.
After Smith had drawn the match level by the same scoreline, the pair entered a tight deciding game, which moved through to 5-5 and later a sudden-death deciding point at 10-10.
The otherwise fantastic match was brought to a somewhat anticlimactic conclusion when Smith was awarded a stroke at sudden death to put the Royals one tie up.
Soon afterwards, though, the Grand Final was locked in at one victory apiece for the Centurions and Royals after Sussex-based Torrie Malik defeated the Royals’ Olivia Besant by an 11-2, 11-10 scoreline.
After a one-sided opening game, in which Malik pressed up high on the ’T’ and used her destructive hitting power to great effect, Besant grew into the match in the second.
The Royals’ left-hander found joy with her deception down the forehand wing and managed to take the second into a sudden-death tie-breaker. However, it was the experience of World No.43 Malik that shone through, with the Centurions star wrapping up the win after 13 minutes of play.
The Club Hero encounter between the Royals’ Owain Taylor and Centurions’ Oli Pett certainly didn’t disappoint, with Pett eventually coming through a gruelling three-game clash.
36-year-old Pett clinched a 22-minute first game in dramatic style at sudden death, but seemingly hit a physical wall after falling 8-4 down in the second game. Taylor grew into the ascendancy and managed to square the match at 1-1.
Momentum swings continued to go both ways in a see-saw third game, with Pett charging into a 6-2 lead, but Taylor hanging tough to fight back to just 8-6 behind.
However, it was Pett who eventually moved through to take a crucial 11-10, 4-11, 11-8 win for the Centurions.
World No.7 Satomi Watanabe of the Royals sent the Grand Final to a deserved deciding match with an impressive 11-7, 11-3 over World No.15 Salma Hany.
Japanese No.1 Watanabe burst out of the blocks with a flurry of attacking winners all over the court and never let Hany back into the encounter from an early 5-1 lead in the first.
After holding on to take the opener following a brief comeback from Hany, Watanabe raced through the second game to the loss of just three points to bring the final back to two wins apiece.
It came down to the experience of World No.29 Declan James to get the Royals over the line in the final rubber of the evening, with the Englishman fighting back to defeat compatriot Curtis Malik in a dramatic conclusion to the inaugural season.
In a match which saw constant momentum swings between the pair, it was James who delivered an incredible moment of magic when one game down, 10-10 in the second, pulling off three incredible back-to-back retrievals before firing a forehand winner into the nick.
Despite both players grappling for control of a nervy third game, it was ultimately 32-year-old James who held on to take the match by an 8-11, 11-10, 11-8 scoreline.
If you missed out on any of the action from tonight, full replays are available to watch on the England Squash YouTube Channel.
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Results:
Men’s U25: Ben Smith [LR] bt Noah Meredith [CC] 2-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-10
Women’s U25: Torrie Malik [CC] bt Olivia Besant [LR] 2-0: 11-2, 11-10
Club Hero: Oli Pett [CC] bt Owain Taylor [LR] 2-1: 11-10, 4-11, 11-8
Women’s: Satomi Watanabe [LR] bt Salma Hany [CC] 2-0: 11-6, 11-3
Men’s: Declan James [LR] bt Curtis Malik [CC] 2-1: 8-11, 11-10, 11-8
