The Leamington Royals advanced to the Grand Final of the inaugural Optasia Squash Super League following a hard-fought night of squash with the St George’s Hill Knights.
Heading into the crunch clash at Leamington Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, the Royals needed just one win from the four matches to set up a date with the Chichester Centurions on the finals night.
And it was Saran Nghiem, on her debut for the side, who took the Royals over the line in the second match of the night, with teammate Satomi Watanabe also claiming a thrilling win for the home side. World No.5 Joel Makin and Club Hero Indie Flint were the two winners on the night for the Knights.
With the teams having claimed two wins apiece, and both also tied on five individual games throughout the night, the tie was settled by the number of points won by each team, with the Royals claiming 91 compared to the Knights’ 87. This ensured that the Royals claimed the winning bonus point in the Squash Super League table.
The first match of the evening saw the Knights’ Club Hero Indie Flint win an entertaining three-game clash against Sam Cross.
At one game up and 5-2 up in the second, Flint looked well placed for a straight games victory, but Cross came firing back into the contest with the home crowd roaring him into a decider.
Cross continued where he had left off from the second game, racing into an early 3-0 lead in the decider, but Flint held strong to firstly draw level and subsequently move through to take an 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 win after 36 minutes of play.
The Royals, though, weren’t to be denied a spot in the Grand Final, with Saran Nghiem delivering a knockout performance to defeat compatriot Asia Harris in straight games.
World No.56 Nghiem dampened any nerves within Leamington Lawn Tennis & Squash Club after bursting out of the blocks with some pinpoint squash and not allowing Harris a route back into the encounter.
After taking the opening game, Nghiem raced into a 7-0 lead to put the result beyond doubt, sealing the victory with a thumping cross-court winner.
The women’s match of the evening saw World No.9 Satomi Watanabe and World No.18 Jasmine Hutton square off for the second time in this Squash Super League season.
The match certainly didn’t leave the crowd short-changed, with the pair trading two sudden-death tie-breaks during their 31-minute battle.
However, it was home favourite Watanabe who eventually snuck over the line, with Hutton clipping a forehand drop into the tin at 10-10 in the deciding game.
Last up on court for the evening were World No.5 Joel Makin and World No.14 Victor Crouin. In a match that saw a number of high-quality, 90-second-plus rallies, it was British National champion Makin – who was marking his return from injury tonight – who defeated the French No.1 by an 11-9, 11-5 scoreline.
Full replays of the four matches will also be available on the England Squash YouTube Channel.
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Results:
Indie Flint [SGK] bt Sam Cross [LR] 2-1: 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 (36m)
Saran Nghiem [LR] bt Asia Harris [SGK] 2-0: 11-5, 11-3 (15m)
Satomi Watanabe [LR] bt Jasmine Hutton [SGK] 2-1: 10-11, 11-7, 11-10 (31m)
Joel Makin [SGK] bt Victor Crouin [LR] 2-0: 11-9, 11-5 (38m)
