English Finalist Assured In San Francisco

Straight games victories by Nick Matthew and Peter Barker in the quarter-finals of the NetSuite Open Squash Championship will ensure English representation in the final of the PSA World Tour International 70 event staged on an all-glass court at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, USA.

Despite falling behind compatriot Daryl Selby in the second game of the first quarter-final, world No2 Matthew never looked to be out of control of the match. The 32-year-old from Sheffield simply did what he does best - play error-free squash with commanding court presence by driving the ball deep to both corners to force Selby into scramble mode.

In that second game, Matthew ran the table with five consecutive points to erase the deficit built by his fellow countryman and good friend, taking the game 12-10.

The opening game was Matthew's from the start. With long rallies, neither player appeared to be eager to take the ball short. The cold conditions suited Matthew's reach across the mid-court, and he ran out to a comfortable 5-3 lead before extending it to 8-4. Midway through the game, Matthew started taking the ball short on the backhand side, and Selby could not answer.

The third and final game was never in doubt. Matthew needed just nine minutes to finish Selby off, 11-6, 12-10, 11-4 in 53 minutes.

The nightcap showed off Londoner Barker's short game and total court control in despatching Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema in a methodical 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 47-minute encounter.

Afterwards, when asked about the cold San Francisco evening air, fourth seed Barker acknowledged that the conditions are more suited to his game than Anjema's. "Obviously with the court playing more dead, I like to attack the front of the court," commented the world No6.

Jessica Winstanley, interviewing Barker, noted that steam was rising off his warm body. The bundled capacity crowd got a good laugh watching the steamy man his friends call Spider Man.

Anjema, spent the majority of the match trying to solve the puzzle of how to get Barker out of the middle of the court. When successful, Anjema capitalised by taking the ball early with sharp drops. Barker, however, was moving fluidly and reaching virtually every length Anjema placed without much difficulty.

Semi-final line-up:
Amr Shabana (EGY) v [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [4] Peter Barker (ENG)

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Photo by Ma Patapoff