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CHARLTON AND BEDDOES
BAG BOSTON TITLES
Eddie Charlton
and Emma Beddoes were crowned champions of the sixteenth
annual BSPA Boston Open on Sunday.
It was Charlton’s first tournament win in Boston having
entered on three previous occasions, while Beddoes achieved
the notable accolade of winning the women’s event for the
third consecutive year.
MEN'S
The squash kicked off on Friday with the men’s round of 32.
All the seeds made it through in straight games, with the
exception of Paul Rawden, who dropped the third game on his
way to a 3-1 victory.
Later in the afternoon the second round saw top seed Eddie
Charlton secure another comfortable 3-0 victory, while
second seed Greg Lobban made hard work of beating the
unseeded Nick Mulvey, eventually winning out 11/3 in the
fifth.
Tom Ford and Kevin Moran won in straight sets, but their
fellow 5/8 seeds did not progress as easily. Thoboki Moholo
won in five games, while Paul Rawden was defeated 3-1 by
Douglas Kempsell. Unseeded Tristan Eysele caused the major
upset of the round, knocking out 3/4 seed Mark Fuller 11/9,
11/9, 11/9. Chris Fuller, the other 3/4 seed, made the
quarters with a straightforward 3-0 win.
The second round upsets had certainly been due at the Boston
Open, with last year’s tournament unfolding unusually
precisely according to the seedings.
 Saturday’s
quarter finals as a collective were the best for a number of
years. Eddie Charlton dispatched 5/8 seed Tom Ford 3-0, but
the other three quarters were all five-setters. Perhaps the
best of the lot was Chris Fuller’s victory over Kevin Moran.
Fuller, renowned for his long matches, twice came from
behind to win in an incredible 85 minutes. The match time
was 19 minutes longer than any other match from the
preceding two years.
Thoboki Moholo beat Tristan Eysele 12/14, 11/2, 11/3, 8/11,
11/6, and Greg Lobban fought back from 2-0 down against
Douglas Kempsell to win 11/3 in the fifth, just as he had
done in the previous round.
 The
crowd gathered for Saturday night’s semi finals, which are
often the highlight of the event. The two matches were
contrasting affairs. Eddie Charlton beat Chris Fuller in a
ferocious 80-minute long encounter - 11/4, 11/9, 10/12,
14/12. Fuller played a total of 2 ¾ hours of competitive
squash in one day, but still had the energy to exclaim “Stop
with the gameplan, just hit the ball hard and run!” during
the third game. The following match was good, but less than
half as long, as second seed Greg Lobban beat Thoboki Moholo
11/6, 11/8, 12/10.
Sunday’s men’s final was therefore a battle between the top
two seeds. Charlton beat Lobban 12/10, 11/8, 11/9, but
despite the 3-0 scoreline the closeness of the match was
evidenced by its length (50 minutes).
WOMEN'S
 In
the women’s event, three drop-outs meant that only one
quarter final was held on Saturday afternoon. Kirsty West
beat Emily Ison to earn her place in the last four, where
she was knocked out 11/1, 11/1, 11/8 by defending champion
Emma Beddoes. The following semi saw second seed Sarah-Jane
Perry beat Samantha Ward 11/6, 11/2, 11/3.
Despite low overall numbers, the women’s final was only the
second to go to five sets in the Open’s 16 years – the last
occasion being in 2004. Rather unusually the women’s
showpiece was longer than the men’s, because it took over an
hour for Emma Beddoes to win 11/9, 10/12, 9/11, 11/9, 11/5.
Sarah-Jane Perry hit a number of routine shots into the tin,
which may have been the difference between the two players
on the day.
WHAT THEY SAID
Tournament Organizer Mark Hildred: “I think this year has
been a particularly good tournament. There’s been some
cracking matches right the way through."
Women’s champion Emma Beddoes: “Mark mentioned how long this
tournament’s been running. I think I came [here] when I was
18 and I’m 27 now, so I’ve been coming a long time, and I
think that speaks for itself really.
“Thanks to everyone that puts this on every year.”
Men's champion Eddie Charlton: “They [the referees] do a
good job and it’s a thankless task. I know there’s been
arguments this weekend. It isn’t personal, it’s just our
livelihood and we just care.
“Thanks to Greg for a great final. He’s a really good guy.
He’s very fair and it makes for what I hope was a good
match."
Patrick Hildred |
Tournament Programme
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