Beachill Bounces Back To Take English Open Title

England's world No2 Lee Beachill bounced back from a game down in today's all-Yorkshire final of the Mamut English Open, hosted by Sheffield City Council, to cruise to victory over qualifier Simon Parke at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

It was a match too far for the plucky Parke, the former world No3 who is currently ranked 35 in the world after fighting back from a series of injury woes.

Employing the same tactics which took him to a shock semi-final victory over the event favourite and world No1 Peter Nicol, Parke chased everything that Beachill could offer in the first game, leading throughout the game before going one up. It was at 5-5 in the second that the tables began to turn, and second seed Beachill, 26, from Pontefract, stepped up the pressure and ultimately secured a comfortable 9-15 15-8 15-4 15-4 victory.

"That was hard, very hard," said the new champion. "Simon's proved all week he's competing with the best, playing top eight squash, and tonight was no different. He didn't let me get settled in the first, and I was lucky to win a couple of crucial points to get ahead in the second."

Parke, though disappointed to lose, was extremely pleased with his week's work. "I expected to qualify, and maybe beat one top 20 player, but everything else has been a bonus," he said, referring to his wins over compatriots Mark Chaloner, Nick Matthew and Peter Nicol, ranked 19, 8 and 1, respectively, in the world.

"But after about the hour mark I found more and more balls starting to get away from me, and that's when Lee is strong. My other matches were all an hour, so that was a zone I'm not used to and it told."

Beachill was also pleased with his work: "For the first tournament of the season, I had a couple of ideal first two matches to get back into it, and then two hard matches. I've got better as the week's gone on, and that's what you have to do to win tournaments," said Beachill after the sixth PSA Tour title success of his career.