Nottingham & Exeter Reclaim Top Positions In PSL Tables

The freezing weather might have caused the postponement of one of the ties, but the conditions failed to prevent former champions MB Nottingham and newcomers Exeter Diamonds from gaining convincing victories in Tuesday's 7th round of the Premier League (PSL) to reclaim their table-topping positions early in the second half of the season of the world's most prestigious squash league.

Nottingham, in fourth place in the Group A going into the home tie against Esporta Oxford, crushed their visitors 5/0 to leap to the top of the table - ahead of Chapel Allerton, the Leeds-based club enjoying a 'rest-day'. Meanwhile former world number one Lee Beachill led Pontefract to a 4/1 home win over former champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield - a victory which lifts the Yorkshire club off the bottom of the Group A table.

Exeter journeyed to Croydon to face league champions PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC - and pulled off their second victory over the title-holders this season, winning 4/1. While snowbound PNH Properties Chichester were forced to postpone their fixture with UniSport Guildford, the remaining tie Group B clash saw Probuild Bristol move up to second place in the standings for only the second time this season after despatching TWP St George's Hill 5/0 at home.

It was one-way traffic at the Park Squash Club when MB Nottingham entertained Esporta Oxford. Emma Beddoes and Eddie Charlton clinched straight games wins over their Oxford opposition before Nottingham stalwart Simon Parke - who will be seeking to gain his first Over-35 Masters title at the British National Championships next week in Manchester - defeated Kristen Johnson 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 to put the tie beyond the visitors' reach.

To the delight of the packed Nottingham crowd, Irishman John Rooney and Frenchman Renan Lavigne followed Parke's example by beating Jaymie Haycocks and Scott Handley, respectively, to guarantee maximum points.

It was a less-than-full-strength Benz-Bavarian Duffield squad that set off for Pontefract, hoping to open their 2009 campaign in Yorkshire in winning form. But the home side piled on the pressure from the outset - former world number one Vanessa Atkinson defeating the Derbyshire club's rising star Millie Tomlinson 11-8, 11-3, 11-8, before team-mates Neil Cordell and Harinder Pal Sandhu clinched victory for the home side.

Duffield picked up a consolation win when local star Joel Hinds beat James Earles in straight games - but Pontefract number one Lee Beachill played the perfect captain's innings to round off the night, beating the Duffield top string Andrew Whipp 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 to record a 4/1 win for his club.

PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC replaced Exeter Diamonds at the top of the Group B table towards the end of last year - and held a nine-point cushion ahead of their Devon rivals going into the seventh round clash. And the Croydon club's star Vicky Botwright put the hosts into the driving seat with an 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 win over Exeter's Emma Chorley.

But the tables turned thereafter as visitors James Snell, Tom Pashley and Jonathan Kemp battled to notable wins over their home opponents to ensure Exeter's victory. And Australian star Stewart Boswell - who had raced back from this week's Motor City Open in Detroit, where he made the quarter-finals - defeated Surrey's Italian ace Davide Bianchetti 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 to ensure the Diamonds return to the top of the points table.

Probuild Bristol marked up a first this season by recording their maiden 5/0 win - a victory made even more notable as it was achieved by a squad led by three 'part-time' players. The Avon side were already 2/0 up on TWP St George's Hill, thanks to wins by Sarah-Jane Perry and Lewys Hurst, when former world No2 Peter Marshall, now 37, took on rising star Joe Lee, aged 19.

Lee led the famed double-handed back-hander 2/1, but canny Marshall held his nerve to beat the youngster 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 in 59 minutes. "Not bad for a 37-year-old physiotherapist," commented Bristol captain Hadrian Stiff.

Stiff, last a Tour player more than six years ago, also had significant cause for celebration following his 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9 win in 51 minutes over Malaysian international Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan. The tie finished on a high note for the hosts when former British Open champion David Evans, who retired from the Tour in 2004, recovered from a game down to beat world No33 Daryl Selby 6-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-3.

RESULTS: 7th round, Tuesday 3 February 2009

Group A:
Pontefract 4 Benz-Bavarian Duffield 1
Lee Beachill bt Andrew Whipp 11-9, 11-7, 11-9
Harinder Pal Sandhu bt Alex Stait 13-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6
Neil Cordell bt Peter Billson 15-13, 11-5, 11-1
James Earles lost to Joel Hinds 4-11, 9-11, 5-11
Vanessa Atkinson bt Millie Tomlinson 11-8, 11-3, 11-8

MB Nottingham 5 Esporta Oxford 0
Renan Lavigne bt Scott Handley 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10
John Rooney bt Jaymie Haycocks 15-13, 11-1, 11-4
Simon Parke bt Kristen Johnson 11-7, 11-4, 11-2
Eddie Charlton bt Anthony Graham 11-6, 11-8, 11-3
Emma Beddoes bt Deon Saffery 11-3, 11-4, 11-4

Group B:
Probuild Bristol 5 TWP St George's Hill 0
David Evans bt Daryl Selby 6-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-3
Hadrian Stiff bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9 (51m)
Peter Marshall bt Joe Lee 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (59m)
Lewys Hurst bt Neil Hitchens 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6
Sarah-Jane Perry bt Julie Peachey 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 13-11

PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC 1 Exeter Diamonds 4
Davide Bianchetti lost to Stewart Boswell 7-11, 5-11, 4-11
Tim Garner lost to Jonathan Kemp 3-11, 7-11, 8-11
Ben Ford lost to Tom Pashley 14-12, 6-11, 4-11, 11-6, 4-11
Adrian Waller lost to James Snell 4-11, 11-4, 9-11, 7-11
Vicky Botwright bt Emma Chorley 11-7, 11-4, 11-8