BRITISH
NATIONAL SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS - MANCHESTER 2010 National Squash Centre,
Sportcity, Manchester
Men's
Final: [1] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6
(49m)
Women's
Final: [2] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [1] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 10-12, 11-7, 4-11,
11-7, 12-10 (65m)
After
two contrasting finals at the National Squash Centre in Manchester, Nick
Matthew and Alison Waters emerged as the 2010 British National Squash
Champions - Matthew retaining his men's title after beating James Willstrop
in straight games and Waters twice coming from behind to defeat top seed
Jenny Duncalf.
World
No.2 and defending champion Nick Matthew emphatically demonstrated that he
is Britain's best player when he beat Willstrop, ranked four places lower,
11-5 11-6 11-6 to win the men's title for the third time since 2006.
It was a
repeat of the controversial clash on the same court last September when the
two England team mates contested the British Open final - when Matthew saved
a match ball before winning a five-game 122-minute marathon. On this
occasion, top seed Matthew always had the upper hand and extended his
unbeaten run against Willstrop to nine wins since 2007. "That's got to go
down as one of my best performances - I didn't make many errors," explained
the 29-year-old Englishman who is now unbeaten in the championship since
2005.
"You go
on the court prepared for two hours with James. I know how good he is. "It's
not often you beat him 3/0," added the new champion. Asked how it felt to be
the British National champion again, the England No.1 said: "It feels good -
it always feels good at this venue - I'm at home on the court." And how will
he celebrate? "I'll go out with family and friends - have a meal and a glass
of wine - maybe some champagne." Willstrop, the World No6 who reached the
final despite suffering a shoulder injury a week ago, admitted that Matthew
was "just too good". "His physical presence was so strong - he made me play
bad squash," added the tall the Englishman who recently beat three of the
top four players in the world en-route to winning the Tournament of
Champions in New York. "His superior physical condition found me out - like
it hasn't done for a while.
"Physically, he's probably one of the best specimens in the sport. He's now
a tremendous athlete. "I hope I can develop over the next few years - I'm
not at my peak yet. "I just felt lacking physically - there was no spark - I
couldn't use my racket like I wanted to. "But I feel absolutely not
disappointed - I couldn't do anything else," added the runner-up. "The only
disappointment is that I have not produced."
Second
seed Alison Waters celebrated her fifth appearance in the women's final in
six years by prevailing in an epic match over favourite Jenny Duncalf, the
World No.3. Duncalf, the defending champion from Harrogate, twice led her
close friend and England team-mate. But Londoner Waters battled back in both
cases to force a fifth game decider. Again Duncalf moved ahead, leading 6-1
and 9-5 before reaching match ball at 10-9. Waters saved the match ball
before eventually converting her own first to win 10-12 11-7 4-11 11-7 12-10
in 65 minutes. "I think that was the best match we've ever played - I kept
telling myself to keep down the errors," said the 25-year-old World No.5
after the pair's third final together since 2007.
"It's
hard - we're good mates. Neither of us wanted to lose. We've got a lot of
respect for each other - let's hope that will still be the case!"
