Alan Thatcher
alansquash@hotmail.com

02-05 May 2002

 Men's Draw/Results    Women's Draw/Results

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Sunday 5th
Maidstone Club Championship Final:
Colin Payne bt Duane Harrison  5/9, 9/5, 9/1, 9/0

Men's Final:
Nick Matthew bt Peter Genever  12/15, 11/15, 15/11, 15/12, 17/15

Women's Final:
Rebecca Macree bt Vicky Botwright 9/4, 9/4, 9/7

MATTHEW & MACREE TAKE MAIDSTONE
YORKSHIRE’S Nick Matthew conjured up a sensational recovery to fight back from two games down and a huge 11-3 deficit in the fifth game to beat the more experienced Peter Genever in a dramatic final of the INVESCO Maidstone Open.

Matthew, the 21-year-old from Sheffield, completed an astonishing 12-15, 11-15, 15-11, 15-11, 17-15 victory in exactly 100 minutes of high quality squash.

Genever, the 28-year-old world No.30 from Chichester, looked to have the match in the bag as he dominated the opening stages to take a commanding two-game lead.

He had started slowly in each game, trailing 5-1 in the first and 9-4 in the second, before gaining control with precision squash and patient rallying that forced his younger opponent into a succession of errors. Genever led 11-10 in the third game and seemed on the verge of a 3-0 victory but world No.36 Matthew served notice of what was to follow when he reeled off five points in a row to take the game.

The fourth followed a similar pattern as Genever led 9-4 and then 10-6, but Matthew patiently worked the ball deeper into the back corners to win eight points in a row on his way to taking the game 15-11 to level the match.

Genever, a regular training partner of world champion Peter Nicol in London, is one of the fittest players in the game and he began the final game determined to stamp his authority on proceedings.

Both players were moving well and demonstrating breathtaking powers of retrieval after almost an hour and a half of punishing squash that completed a gruelling schedule of five matches in three days for the pair of them.

Genever looked the stronger as he powered into a 5-1 lead that soon became 8-2 and 11-3 but Matthew is a tenacious performer and clawed his way back point by point. Genever finally reached match ball at 14-12 but was unable to finish it off and, when Matthew levelled at 14-14, Genever called “set three”.

Matthew won the first point of the tiebreak, Genever levelled at 15-15 but the younger player took the next two to clinch the title and collect a first prize cheque of £800.

The tournament, once again sponsored by INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited, was the final event of the Prince Grand Prix Series and produced a weekend rich in drama and shock results to delight the packed gallery at Maidstone Squash Club.

The top two seeds, Lancashire’s Nick Taylor and South African No.1 Rodney Durbach, the reigning champion, were both knocked out at the quarter-final stage on Saturday.

Taylor, the England international from Manchester, lost an ill-tempered battle with Berkshire’s Stephen Meads, who came back from 2-1 down to triumph 15-12 in the fifth game after 99 minutes.

There were more fireworks to follow as Durbach surrendered his title. He lost the first two games to Surrey’s Stacey Ross but hit back to draw level at 2-2. Durbach won the first two points of the fifth game, but Ross took control to win 15-8. That match lasted 97 minutes.

Amazingly, the 32-year-old Meads had plenty of energy left for another marathon contest later on Saturday when Matthew had to fight back from 2-1 down and 12-8 down in the fifth to win 5-15, 17-15, 10-15, 15-13, 15-12 after 86 minutes.

Matthew had earlier removed last year’s runner-up Tim Garner, who is this season’s Grand Prix champion.

The Maidstone Open featured a women’s event for the first time this year and the final produced a dazzling, glamorous occasion featuring the top two seeds, world No.12 Rebecca Macree from Essex, and world No.16 Vicky Botwright from Manchester.

Botwright had overpowered fellow Lancashire rival Helen Easton, this year’s women’s Grand Prix champion, in the semi-finals, but could not repeat that level of performance against her taller opponent in the final.

Macree dominated the opening two games to win each one 9-4, but Botwright battled throughout the third before finally going down 9-7.

The event attracted three touring Australian players plus five members of the Kent women’s squad, who were all overpowered by their full-time opponents but found the experience invaluable.

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Saturday 4th
Matthew beats Meads and Genever beats Ross in men's semis ...

TOP MEN'S SEEDS BOW OUT
Top seed Nick Taylor beaten in the quarter-finals by Stephen Meads in a 99-minute thriller ... Helen Easton wins the overall Grand Prix ... Stacey Ross beats defending champion Durbach in 88-minutes ...

Women's quarters - Macree, Waters, Easton & Botwright through to semis ...

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Friday 3rd
CHAMP DURBACH HOLDS OFF GARNER CHALLENGE
Reigning Maidstone champion Rodney Durbach came close to a shock defeat in the first round, against the younger brother of the man he beat in last year's final. Ben Garner lead 5-1 in the fifth before the South African #1 regained control to win a marathon match 15-8 in the fifth after 79 minutes. Durbach now meets Surrey's Stacey Ross, who eased past Shahid Khan in four games.

Seasoned pro Paul Lord won another marathon affair, fighting back after losing the first game against Alex Stait to win in convincing style. Lordy had an amazing run, winning 24 consecutive points from 2-5 down in the third to 11-0 up in the fourth before Stait staged a mini-revival. Lord now faces Peter Genever who withstood a barrage of attacking squash from Ben Ford before winning 15-11 in the fourth.

Top seed Nick Taylor dropped the first game against Joey Barrington, and was made to work hard for his 3-1 victory, taking him into the quarters against Stephen Meads who battered his way past Ben Howell in three.

Yorkshire's Nick Matthew looks in fine form, and faces fourth seed Tim Garner in the quarters. Garner toughed out Connaught team mate Lee Jemmett in straight games. Tim, as BSPA organiser, has arranged tomorrow's matches to ensure that he gets to see the Cup final, where he hopes his beloved Arsenal can clinch the first leg of the double.

Absentees: Bradley Ball and John Russell both sadly had to withdraw, Bradley with a leg injury and JR because of a viral infection. We wish them well in their recovery.

Meridian TV cameras spent two hours at Maidstone this morning, interviewing BSPA promoter (and Arsenal fan) Tim Garner, top seed Nick Taylor, and Maidstone Open Tournament Director yours truly, but most of tonight's two-minute transmission was take up with ... you guessed it, photos of Vicky Botwright's famous British Open shoot. The Thong Goddess, second seed behind Rebecca Macree, received a bye into the quarter-finals when her opponent withdrew. In the men's event all the seeded players progressed to this morning's quarter-finals.

TIM CONFIRMED AS 2002 GRAND PRIX CHAMPION
Tim Garner, who faces Nick Matthew in today's quarter-finals, is confirmed as the Prince 2001-2002 Grand Prix champion. All today's matches look tough, with top seed Nick Taylor meeting Stephen Meads, Pete Genever facing an in-form Paul Lord, and Rodney Durbach playing the stylish Stacey Ross.

The women's event gets under way at 10a.m. ... after the early morning junior coaching session. Tomorrow sees a special clinic and competition involving the younger Maidstone juniors and group of children who are being introduced to the sport from local schools.

MAIDSTONE OPEN PREVIEW
By ALAN THATCHER

VICKY BOTWRIGHT, the glamour girl of squash, is competing in the Maidstone
Open next week.

The tournament runs from Thursday to Sunday (May 2-5) at Maidstone Squash
Club, Starnes Court, Union Street, and Botwright is the No.2 seed in the new
women’s event which has been added to the schedule this year thanks to an
increase in funding from the tournament sponsors, INVESCO Private Portfolio
Management Limited.

The Maidstone Open is the final event of the season in the Prince British
Grand Prix Series and the women’s No.1 seed is England international Rebecca
Macree, from Essex.

Macree, who is profoundly deaf, won last year’s women’s Grand Prix finals.
She was a member of the England squad who won the Women’s World Team
Championships in 2000.

She is currently ranked 12 in the world with Botwright at 16. Botwright
caused a sensation during last year’s British Open in Birmingham when she
posed for pictures in a revealing thong.

She was instantly dubbed the Anna Kournikova of squash, and even outscored
the Russian tennis pin-up for website searches for several weeks. Her
personal website (www.vickybotwright.com) has attracted more than a million
hits.

Unlike Kournikova, however, Botwright is enjoying considerably more success
on court and last week she partnered fellow Mancunian Nick Taylor to the
final of the World Invitation Mixed Doubles at the new Commonwealth Games
squash venue in Manchester.

The competition followed the British Open as a test event for the Games, and
Taylor and Botwright lost the decider to fellow England pair Chris Walker
and Fiona Geaves.

Taylor is No.1 seed in the Maidstone Open men’s event and is seeded to meet
the reigning champion Rodney Durbach, the South African No.1, in the final.

Sussex stars Pete Genever and Tim Garner are seeded three and four. Garner
was runner-up to Durbach last year, while Genever is enjoying a spell of
superb form.

Having fought through the British Open qualifying competition, he beat the
2000 champion, David Evans of Wales, in the first round and came within a
whisker of reaching the quarter-finals. He held four match balls against
Chris Walker, last year’s runner-up, before losing 15-14 in the fifth game.

Both Garner and Genever are training partners of world champion Peter Nicol,
who claimed his second British Open title last week.

Other experienced professionals adding depth and quality to the Maidstone
event are 5/8 seeds Bradley Ball (Suffolk), Paul Lord (Cheshire), Nick
Matthew (Yorkshire) and Steve Meads (Berkshire).

Joey Barrington, son of squash legend Jonah, is in the group seeded 9/16. He
is scheduled to meet top seed Taylor in the second round.

Kent’s John Russell, who caused a sensation at Maidstone last year when he
beat higher ranked players Mark Cairns and Iain Higgins, is also seeded
9/16.

Other senior Kent players in the draw are Maidstone’s county over-35
champion Colin Payne, Ben Ford (9/16), Chris Tomlinson and James Robbins,
who meets Durbach in the first round.

Maidstone players Graham Appleby, Alan Shepherd and Duane Harrison are
involved in Thursday night’s qualifying competition. Harrison meets Armando
Zarazua of Mexico.

Schedule – Qualifying competition: Thursday (6pm onwards. First round:
Friday (10.30am onwards). Second round: Friday (6pm onwards).
Quarter-finals: Saturday (12 noon onwards). Semi-finals: Saturday, 6.30pm
and 7.30pm. Final: Sunday: 3pm.

Women’s draw - First round: Saturday (10.30am onwards). Second round:
Saturday (5pm onwards). Semi-finals: Sunday (11am and 12 noon). Final:
Sunday (4pm).

During the weekend there will be a special junior fun tournament and an
exhibition match featuring Maidstone’s longest-serving playing member, Ken
Randall, who recently reached the British Open Over-50 final and lost to
Egyptian Abbas Kaoud, a former coach at Medway Squash Club.


++ Maidstone is one of the oldest squash clubs in the country, with the two
original beamed courts still in excellent condition today, 65 years after
their construction.

Club chairman Geoff Denney said: “It means a lot to us to host an event like
this. We may be a traditional, two-court club but the players are well
looked after and always seem to enjoy their time with us.

”We are a real family club and the Open gives our members a chance to watch
and rub shoulders with some of the world’s leading players.

”None of it would be possible without our sponsors, and we are indebted to
Bryan Baughan of INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited for his
continued support. This has enabled us to expand the tournament this year to
include a women’s competition.

”We would like to welcome squash players from around the county who might
want to come along to watch and we can guarantee them an extremely
entertaining weekend of high quality squash.”

Further details on the club website  (www.maidstonesquash.com  ).
 

2001 Event

29-Apr
SPRINGBOK TOP SEED DURBACH
POWERS TO MAIDSTONE TITLE

TOP seed Rodney Durbach powered his way  to the Maidstone Open title after a titanic battle with England's Tim Garner in Sunday's final.

Durbach eventually won 17-14, 15-8, 12-15, 16-17, 15-6 after 72-minutes of classic squash that thrilled a packed gallery at Maidstone Squash Club.

Durbach and Garner delighted the crowd with a fascinating display of skill and athleticism.  Garner had never beaten Durbach in seven previous meetings on the international tour and set out determined to reverse that trend.

The Sussex player, a training partner of world champion Peter Nicol, began strongly and opened up a lead of 10-4 before holding game ball at 14-10. But then the South African got into his stride and produced a flow of error-free rallies to level at 14-14. Garner called "set-three" but it was Durbach who maintained his consistency to win 17-14.

Garner began brightly in the second game to lead 6-4, but the Springbok, who is based at the Broxbourne club in Hertfordshire, again asserted his authority to win 15-8.

At one stage it looked as if the match might be over in straight games as Durbach led 7-4 and 9-6 in the third, but this time it was Garner who played tight, controlled squash to take the game 15-12.

Durbach was probably feeling the effects of his 75-minute semi-final against England's Stephen Meads on the Saturday night, and he allowed Garner to fight back from match ball down to square the tie at 2-2 after an eventful fourth game.

Garner had led 8-5 and 12-6 before Durbach countered strongly to level the score at 13-13. Garner sneaked the next point to hold game ball but Durbach retrieved the situation again to level at 14-14.

Garner again called "set-three" and the players traded point for point, with Garner holding game ball at 16-15 and then Durbach drawing level to gain match ball at 16-16.

Garner pinched the point to extend the match to a fifth game and opened up a 3-0 lead to suggest a shock result might be on the cards. However, Durbach finished as strongly as he had started to win the next 11 points in
succession to break Garner's spirit.

Despite a fighting finish from the Englishman, Durbach was too far ahead to let it slip and he closed out the match 15-6 to add his name to the list of previous South African stars who have won the Maidstone title, including Paul Symonds and Trevor Wilkinson.

Kent player John Russell, from Swanley, produced the shock of the tournament when he beat the number two seed, former national champion Mark Cairns, in the second round.

Cairns, from Oxfordshire, could not cope with Russell's adventurous, attacking play and succumbed by three games to one.

Russell was involved in a niggly, physical encounter with Iain Higgins of Essex in the quarter-finals before squeezing home 17-16 in the fifth.

He had little energy left in the tank for the semi-finals and went down 3-1 to Garner after taking the first game in style.

Garner had been a model of efficiency, winning his opening three matches in straight games including a second round victory over Joey Barrington, son of squash legend Jonah.

The Maidstone Open was sponsored by INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited and their managing director, Bryan Baughan, delighted the audience and organisers by confirming the company's involvement again next year.

The event was the final tournament in the Prince UK Grand Prix Series, with Garner already assured of topping the points table after winning previous events at Tynemouth and Croydon, and reaching the final of the Middlesex Open, where he lost to Russell.

The top eight players in the points table competed in  the  the Grand Prix play-off finals this week at the Moonrakers Club in Salisbury, Wiltshire, where Garner was seeded to meet world champion Nicol in the semi-finals.

Nicol charmed the audience at Maidstone on Saturday afternoon with a Prince exhibition clinic involving the club's junior squad, followed by individual games with promising youngsters Tom Chapman, aged seven, and teenagers Olly Wilkins, Ross Henschen and Chris Mead.

Another international star at the club throughout the weekend was British women's champion Sue Wright, who was representing Prince but also played in the doubles tournament with her husband, Neil Rose.

They surprised The Mote's tournament favourites, Jason Goodayle and Marcus Robson, in the round robin stage and qualified for Sunday's final, where they lost 15-12, 12-15 15-12 to Maidstone's Garry Clarke and Dave Rannard.

It was a day, and a tournament, not to be forgotten.

INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited to sponsor Maidstone Open Squash Championship

THE 2001 Maidstone Open Squash Championship rises in status to become one of the key competitions on this season's British squash calendar following a major sponsorship agreement with INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited.

The tournament, which will be held at Maidstone Squash Club from April 27-29th, carries £3,000 worth of prize money and is the final event in the prestigious BSPA British Grand Prix Series.

Sponsorship details were confirmed this week and Bryan Baughan, Managing Director of INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited, said: "We are delighted to be supporting Maidstone Squash Club in sponsoring such a significant tournament for Britain's up and coming young squash professionals.

"The fact that this is the final tournament in the British Grand Prix Series adds extra competitive spice to the occasion."

INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited is the focus of investment management for high net worth individuals, trustees of smaller pension funds and charities for the AMVESCAP Group, one of the world's largest independent fund management groups.

 Maidstone Squash Club is one of the oldest squash clubs in the country and chairman Brendan Touhey said: "Reviving the Maidstone Open is a major boost for the club and we are indebted to INVESCO Private Portfolio Management Limited for their generous sponsorship.

"The event is sure to produce squash of the highest calibre and we are looking forward to staging a tournament of outstanding quality to satisfy the sponsors, the players and spectators."