Willstrop & Beachill To Contest Nationals Semi-Finals

Yorkshire club-mates James Willstrop and Lee Beachill will meet in Saturday's semi-finals of the British National Championships in a repeat of last year's final at the National Squash Centre at Sportcity in Manchester.

The Pontefract pair came through tonight's quarter-finals in straight games, top seed Willstrop beating eighth seed Joey Barrington, from Somerset, and third seed Beachill, the defending champion, overcoming Kent's seventh seed Adrian Grant.

In the women's quarter-finals, Lincolnshire's No2 seed Tania Bailey crushed local favourite Rebecca Botwright, the eighth seed from Manchester, for the loss of just a single point, while fourth-seeded Londoner Alison Waters beat her Middlesex county team-mate Dominique Lloyd-Walter, the seventh seed, 9-5 9-5 10-8 in 48 minutes.

It was nip and tuck in the first game of the first men's quarter-final with little separating the pair until favourite Willstrop took three successive points from eight-all to win the game.

After both players were advised by their fathers in the break between games - James by noted coach Malcolm Willstrop and Joey by the legendary six-times British Open champion Jonah Barrington - the top seed came back to face his opponent who had survived an 85-minute marathon second round match less than 24 hours earlier.

At 1-2 down in the third game, Willstrop reeled off nine points in a row to reach match ball, before winning 11-8 11-5 11-3 in 34 minutes.

"He was clearly just that little bit off the pace after his match last night," said Willstrop. "That makes such a difference - and I know as I've been there myself a number of times!

"But you can't give Joey an inch - give him a sniff and he'll get encouraged," added the 22-year-old.

Barrington junior had a different view of the game: "I've only played on that glass court four times before - and it's so different from the conventional courts I'm used to.

"But James played well - he's one of the most consistent of the top players. Hopefully I'll be playing these guys more often - that's the level I aspire to," added the 26-year-old.

Jonah Barrington agreed that Willstrop is now looking like a complete player - 'as if he was born on a glass court'.

"James plays with the confidence of someone who's made his imprint over the last two years at the highest level of the game. He looks the part," said the 1980 National champion.

Less than 24 hours after acknowledging that 'drastic improvements' were needed in his game, it was a more assured performance from Lee Beachill that took the three-times champion to an 11-9 11-6 11-5 win over left-hander Grant in 45 minutes.

"I feel I have made some improvements since yesterday - but getting on that glass court also made a big difference," conceded Beachill, the 28-year-old former world number one.

Asked how he felt about playing his good friend Willstrop in the eagerly-anticipated semi-final, Beachill said: "Everybody always puts massive pressure on us when we're due to meet - perhaps it's because I'm one of the few people he's never beaten.

"But it's two days away - and I'm sure he and I feel the same way, that we hope it's a good match."

Since arriving in Manchester direct from Virginia in the USA, where he reached a PSA Tour semi-final last Saturday, Grant admitted that he has only had seven hours sleep in three days.

"I just haven't been able to have any rest since the event in the US, and didn't feel good going into the match today. I've never been in this position before - usually I've been able to refresh myself mentally and physically. There's only so much the body can take," said the Londoner.

In the first women's quarter-final, Manchester's Rebecca Botwright admitted that she was "on the back foot for most of the match" as she went down 9-1 9-0 9-0 to second seed Tania Bailey.

Back in the semi-finals for the first time since 2003, Bailey has been plagued with injuries for the past few years - but now believes these troubles are finally behind her. "It's the first time I've been able to train as hard as I used to - and it's really paying off," said the 26-year-old from Stamford in Lincolnshire.

Men's quarter-finals:
[1] James Willstrop (Yorks) bt [8] Joey Barrington (Somerset) 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 (34m)
[3] Lee Beachill (Yorks) bt [7] Adrian Grant (Kent) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (45m)

Women's quarter-finals:
[2] Tania Bailey (Lincs) bt [8] Rebecca Botwright (Lancs) 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 (22m)
[4] Alison Waters (Middx) bt [7] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Middx) 9-5, 9-5, 10-8 (48m)