The Leamington Royals and Bristol Buccaneers claimed hard-fought victories in their respective Optasia Squash Super League fixtures this evening, overcoming the St George’s Hill Knights and the Coolhurst Cavaliers in two blockbuster encounters.
The Royals recorded a 3-1 away victory over the Knights to move up to second in the current league table, while the Buccaneers took a winning draw after a 2-2 tie with the Cavaliers – having claimed more individual games across the four matches than their opponents. This result sees the Buccaneers climb up to fifth in the current standings.
Read below for the individual reports and results from each of the two fixtures. If you missed out on the action, full replays will are available to view on the England Squash YouTube Channel.
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Bristol Buccaneers v Coolhurst Cavaliers
The Bristol Buccaneers claimed a thrilling win over the Coolhurst Cavaliers to celebrate their return to a packed house inside Workout Harbourside and move off the bottom of the Optasia Squash Super League table.
Despite the eventual 2-2 scoreline, the total of five individual games claimed throughout the evening by the Buccaneers – the last of which was secured by Mohamed ElShorbagy in a 2-1 defeat to Karim Abdel Gawad – trumped the total of four won by the Cavaliers, and hence resulted in victory for the home side.
The dramatic tie went all the way down to the wire, with the battle between former World Champions Karim Abdel Gawad and Mohamed ElShorbagy the deciding rubber.
ElShorbagy and Gawad, both former World No.1s, went toe-to-toe in a box-office 35-minute encounter, but it was World No.9 Gawad who took the spoils by an 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 scoreline. ElShorbagy’s second-game victory, though, ultimately, secured the win on the night for the Buccaneers.
Despite this victory for Gawad, as well as an impressive win on debut for World No.15 Nada Abbas over Welsh No.1 Tesni Murphy, the two earlier wins from Buccaneers duo James Snell and Ameeshenraj Chandaran proved crucial.
Snell got the Buccaneers off to the perfect start in the first match of the night as he came through his encounter with James Carman by an 11-4, 11-10 scoreline, notably taking a crucial sudden-death tie-break in the second game to seal victory.
The Buccaneers’ Ameeshenraj Chandaran matched the impressive performance of Snell in his following U25s clash, treating the crowd to a showstopping 11-8, 11-6 win over the Cavaliers’ Perry Malik. The Malaysian’s victory included a number of eye-catching winners and animated celebrations, and he was greeted with huge applause from the crowd after sealing victory inside Workout Harbourside.
The narrow win for the Buccaneers sees them move onto four points after their opening two matches of the season, while the Cavaliers sit in third spot on nine points, having played a game more.
Results:
Bristol Buccaneers v Coolhurst Cavaliers
James Snell [BB] bt James Carman [CC] 2-0: 11-4, 11-10 (26m)
Ameeshenraj Chandaran [BB] bt Perry Malik [CC] 2-0: 11-8, 11-6 (21m)
Nada Abbas [CC] bt Tesni Murphy [BB] 2-0: 11-6, 11-9 (26m)
Karim Abdel Gawad [CC] bt Mohamed ElShorbagy [BB] 2-1: 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 (35m)
St George’s Hill Knights v Leamington Royals
The Leamington Royals fought back from a rubber behind to defeat the St George’s Knights by a 3-1 scoreline at the St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club.
After Miles Jenkins had given the home side the lead with a close-fought win over Owain Taylor, Royals trio Ben Smith, Satomi Watanabe and Declan James, all claimed respective victories to move their team up to second in the Optasia Squash Super League table.
The match of the evening was that between top-20 duo Satomi Watanabe and Jasmine Hutton – both of whom have already enjoyed huge success on the PSA Tour this calendar year – and who delivered a high-quality two-game bout that was ultimately decided by fine margins.
In both games the pair were hard to split, but it was World No.11 Watanabe who came from game ball down to take the first game in a sudden death tie-break, and narrowly clinch the second game by a nip-and-tuck 11-9 scoreline.
Elsewhere, World No.29 Declan James overcame home favourite Charlie Lee in straight games with an impressive performance and Ben Smith defeated compatriot Will Salter by an 11-4, 11-5 scoreline.
St George’s Hill Knights Club Hero Miles Jenkins had earlier given his team the lead after a hard-fought 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 win over Owain Taylor in the first match of the night.
This result sees the Royals climb up to ten points in the Optasia Squash Super League table, while St George’s Hill Knights sit on six points.
Results:
St George’s Hill Knights v Leamington Royals
Miles Jenkins [SGK] bt Owain Taylor [LR] 2-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 (34m)
Ben Smith [LR] bt Will Salter [SGK] 2-0: 11-4, 11-5 (25m)
Satomi Watanabe [LR] bt Jasmine Hutton [SGK] 2-0: 11-10, 11-9 (33m)
Declan James [LR] bt Charlie Lee [SGK] 2-0: 11-4, 11-7 (28m)
