BSPA HEAD UK Grand Prix Finals 2006
15-17 June, Ipswich Sports Club

01473- 251143

Our reporters, Martin Levens
and Hilary Brakefield

The Men’s Final, saw fit fresh young Azlan Iskandar take on a tired, slightly older young man, Alex Gough.

After last night's exertions surely Alex couldn’t manage to push Azlan ... but to prove everyone wrong Alex came out playing some delightful attacking squash right from the start, chopping the ball in early he looked to be in great nick.

Azlan wasn’t getting a look in and although he kept trying to drag the rallies out, Alex would always find that little bit extra, one backhand reflex volley was just awesome, that one put Alex 6/1 up, and try as he might Azlan couldn’t get into the first game, 11/1 Alex.

At the start of the second Azlan started off a bit sharper but at 3/1 down Alex seemed to tweak something in his hamstring.

Somehow he managed to keep himself in the second game, he kept giving himself time by moving the ball around, he dragged himself back to 4/4 and was hitting some great shots both sides.

But Azlan just kept pushing forwards and try as he might, Alex couldn’t stop the flow of winners coming from the Malaysian's racket.

The second ended 11/7 for Azlan, at which point the game was over as a contest, Alex tried to keep the crowd entertained but after the break he wasn’t really able to move even as freely as in the second, and Azlan has been around long enough to know not to give someone of Alex’s class any leeway.

A true gentleman at the end, Alex asked the compere not to take away from Azlan’s win by mentioning his pull despite his natural disappointment.
   

In the Ladies Final Laura Lengthorn took on Lauren Briggs, and Laura went off at a pace.

Laura was striking the ball better, dominating the T easily and playing the better shots. Lauren was using her movement to get herself out of trouble and to try and mount the odd counter attack, but Laura was simply too strong, and after a couple of lovely straight backhand volley drops to finish off the first, she ran out 9/1 winner.

The second started much the same but slowly Lauren was beginning to get into the game. Although Laura took a 5/2 lead Lauren began to look a bit stronger, she was up on the T a little quicker and was attacking the ball ... slowly she was beginning to use her speed to attack. She got herself back to 4/5 and 5/6 with some lovely volley drops of her own. But at this point Lauren just seemed to back off again and couldn’t quite worry Laura at the end of the game, 9/5 Laura.

At the start of the third Lauren pushed forward again and kept using her movement and speed to get in and attack. Some great boasts and lovely straight drops saw her go 4/0 ahead; Laura attacked a couple and Lauren made a couple of mistakes, 4/4; Lauren got forward again, found her rhythm and began to look slightly stronger; some lovely positive volley drops and Lauren and 7/4 followed 8/5; Laura started to change the pace at this point she thumped a couple and floated a couple, it seemed to work.

Lauren seemed to lose her rhythm and timing on to the ball and backed off a touch once more. She had one chance to close the game out, but took a let where she might have been better playing it.

That was it, game and match to Laura, great advert for ladies Squash, and a tremendous way of inspiring the girls at Ipswich Sports Club.
  

Photos by
Hilary Brakefield
& Allan Norman
 

Azlan pulls through

The first men’s semi was between Azlan Iskandar and Joey Barrington, Azlan being the favourite, someone just forgot to tell Joey.

Joey was moving really well, that and some great straight drops saw Joey take a 7/2 lead fairly quickly. Although Aslan started to nibble at the lead Joey hung on for an 11/6 first game.

The second Game saw Joey starting well again and a couple of mistakes from Azlan saw Joey take a 3/0 lead. Azlan started to get a little more positive, he pushed forwards and was getting on to everything a little quicker, hence Joey was unable to attack quite as well, some delightful straight volley kills get Azlan’s nose in front 5/3, at 7/6 Joey misses an easy one gets a harsh no-let and at 9/6 the game is drifting away.

A couple of great rallies with Joey keeping up the pressure and getting everything back see Joey take a 10/9 lead, not a good time to serve out, it really does happen to everyone, another harsh no-let and a great kill from Aslan, 1-1.

Azlan is relentless with his pressure and pushes forwards again to lead 8/4, he is just getting enough time at the front to hold and feint a few. Joey comes back at him again, and after some great straight kills gets 9/8 up, three mistakes 10/10, and now a tough tiebreak to follow, Aslan stays on top somehow and wins it 15/13.

Azlan looks slightly stronger now and goes 8/1 up in the fourth, surely it’s all over now, back comes Joey again 5/8, Azlan claims a cheap stroke to break the run ,hits an outrageous dead nick for 10/5 and this time there’s no coming back for Joey, 11/5.

Old rivals meet again

So on to a meeting of old rivals Alex Gough and Simon Parke.

These two have played each other a few times over the years, and there would be no quarter given tonight by these old rivals and friends.

Simon comes out of the blocks better and goes 6/4 and 8/6 up, he hits some unreal nicks during this period and pushes through to win 11/6.

At the start of the second Alex goes up a gear and the rallies get seriously punishing. A 2/3 down Simon even gives one up, that says it all really, some horrific rallies. Alex just starts to look a little stronger now, he goes 10/7 up an another great cross court nick sees Alex win the second 11/7.

Simon goes for it at the start of the third and keeps playing some delightful touches, after a couple of these he goes 6/5 up, Alex, however, looks the stronger. Simon goes 9/7 up, Alex is back at him again but after he misses a sitter Simon goes 10/8 game ball up. At this point Alex ups the pressure again, Simon makes a couple of what one could call unforced errors but to be honest Alex’s pressure is brutal, and Alex goes through to 12/10.

It’s beginning to look like the end for Simon now and Alex ups his game t the start of the fourth, 6/1 Alex. But just when you think it’s all over Simon finds another wind, and all of a sudden Alex looks a bit tired, at 7/9 Alex pulls out another great shot 10/7 and it’s all over shortly afterwards 11/8 Alex.

As the compeer Martin Cook said at the end of it all, “A truly great advert for Squash, we can’t wait to have you lads back again next year.

The ladies started the proceedings at Ipswich, Rebecca Macree coming out of retirement to take on Laura Lengthorn, World no 12.

The Ipswich girls have been looking for some inspiration to motivate and bring in new juniors, sorry girls but this just wasn’t a game to inspire.

Rebecca has always been known as Feisty and a battler; she also knows how to play the rules! This game went on and on, pts won 48, let’s played 96, maybe I’m being a bit harsh, maybe it was 95.

The game started o.k. Rebecca was dominating the backhand wing with some good volleying and great lengths, Laura was battling to get a rhythm and get Rebecca away from the T.

4/2 lead for Rebecca, Laura started to get a rhythm and began to get ahead, she also managed to wrong foot Rebecca a couple of times with great attacking boasts and edged ahead 6/4.

It all went downhill from there really; Rebecca is probably not as fit as she was, Laura was trying to keep a rhythm going to exploit this, Rebecca was doing her best to break the rhythm.

It wasn’t pretty kids!

Laura got herself a two one lead, after about one and a half hours, finally the referee gave a couple of no lets and Laura ran out a 3/1 winner.
  

The second Ladies match was between Lauren Briggs and Georgina Stoker, this was a delightful aesthetic advert for Squash.

Both girls were playing everything they could and the pace was really quite startling; in the first game Georgina went off well and was coping delightfully with Lauren’s attacking game, after a couple of great winners Georgina took a 4/1 lead, Lauren just kept upping the pace, and slowly but surely Georgina crumpled.

It was a tough game for Georgina, she only found out she was playing on Wednesday, and after having to fill in at such short notice she might have hoped for a slightly easier start; Lauren just kept taking the ball in short quickly, some lovely fading boasts, loads of quick straight drops and every time Georgina tried to get past her some great crisp volleys. From here on in she took control, 9/4 in the first, a bit of hard work at the start of the second , until around 4/2 and then Lauren pulled away again 9/2, the last game was all over pretty quickly with Lauren running out a 9/0 winner.

Looking forward to a great final tomorrow, Laura and Lauren, hopefully another great advert for women’s squash.

15-June-06:
Seeds show their
class at Ipswich
Martin Levens reports ...

The BSPA finals arrived at Ipswich Sports Club tonight, with the favourites showing their class throughout the evening.
  

Joey on song

In the first match Joey Barrington proved too strong for Stephen Meads, Joey pulled away well in the first and led 5/2 early on, Meads fought his way back into it and managed to square it at 6/6. From then on Joey looked the stronger and pulled away to win the first game 11/8.

A very positive Joey then took control of the match constantly moving Stephen that bit too far and he ended up a 3/0 winner.
 

Azlan on course

The second match saw the favourite Azlan Iskandar take on Scott Handley. Azlan, ranked no 12 in the world, was pushed hard in the first game by Scott, who showed some lovely creative Squash to open up a couple of chances. In spite of this Azlan proved too strong and sneaked in 11/9.

In the second Azlan tightened up and was always too quick going forward when attacked by Scott, he took the second 11/1. In the third Scott pushed Azlan to 5/5 before the Malaysian tightened his game up again for a 3/0 win.
 

Alex on the Attack

Alex Gough and Tim Vail produced the most attacking game of the night, after a couple of testing rallies early on Alex took an early 4/2 lead. After some delightful touches Alex forged ahead 8/3, Tim began too find his touch and hit a few nicks but couldn’t quite get back, first game to Alex 11/7.

Tim was always in with a shout in the second and after some testing rallies, with both players using the whole court, he took a 6/5 lead. Although there were still some great rallies to follow Alex just looked to have the edge from here on in and went on to win the second 11/9.

Tim was still in with a chance at the start of the third but after wrong footing Alex at the start to get back to 2/2 Tim made a few mistakes to fall 6/2 and then 9/5 behind. Tim found another couple of great nicks at the end but Alex held on for a 3/0 win.
  

Parky on the tie-breaks

The last game of the night was certainly the closest. Simon Parke was pushed all the way by Andy Whipp. After three rapid tins to start, the game settled into a fast pace with some lovely variation. With Whipp playing some lovely creative squash throughout, and after a delightful feint at the front he took a 5/3 lead in the first.

The game carried on with some great exchanges and Andy after another delightful straight volley drop took an 8/6 lead, a couple of long rallies where Simon seemed to get even more back than usual and Andy just seemed to find the tin at the wrong time saw Simon sneak in 11/9.

In the second game some lovely attacking squash from Andy, but Simon is retrieving as well as ever and is on to any loose ball quickly, 5/5. Andy attacks with a couple of great holds at the front, and gets himself to a 10/8 lead, a mistake and a loose ball, 10/10, Simon makes the important rallies count again 12/10. 2-0!

Simon took the third game by the scruff of the neck, Andy was still in their but after some tough rallies Simon took a 5/1 lead, all over you’d think.

Somehow Andy starts to get back into it and realises that Simon is tiring a touch. So on the attack again Andy gets himself back in. Following some delightful volley drops and holds at the front Andy gets his nose ahead 6/5 Andy, a mistake and a loose ball leading to a stroke for Simon, 7/6 Simon. Andy again attacks brilliantly a couple of great nicks 8/7 Andy. Yet again two mistakes, 9/8 Simon, Simon had elways looked the stronger at the crucial points, but right at the death he drops a couple of clangers himself, 10/9 Andy, and yet again, a poor shot, Simon puts it away, a tin 11/10 Simon and Simon makes another big effort to bring the match home. 11/9, 12/10, 12/10 Simon.

Afterwards Simon seemed to think that Andy, “had helped me along a bit there at the crucial moments.”

Grand Prix Finals 2006
15-17 June, Ipswich Sports Club

Draws

The culmination of the UK circuit, the Head Grand Prix Finals will take place at Ipswich Sports Club in June.

It will be the first major Squash event since its refurbishment of 2005 and will play host to world class players including Azlan Iskandar (World no 12), Alex Gough World no 19) and Laura Lengthorn (World no 12).

The Finals bring together the best 8 men and the best 4 ladies from the British Squash Professional Association tour, the Head Grand Prix, through the 2005/6 season. They will be competing for a total prize fund of over £5,000 from Thursday the 15th to Saturday the 17th of June.

In the men’s event, World no 31, Joey Barrington, son of Squash legend Jonah Barrington and Simon Parke (former World no 2) will be expected to give Iskandar & Gough a severe test at the semi-final stage. Meanwhile, Lengthorn will be the favourite in the Women’s event, but she will face stiff opposition from the rapidly improving Lauren Briggs and of course the defending champion Rebecca Macree.

BSPA representative Tim Garner was delighted to have the Ipswich Sports Club on board for this event and added, "We are delighted to bring world class squash to the well renowned Ipswich Sports Club, particularly following on from its recent refurbishment. I am sure all the players will receive a warm welcome and we look forward an exciting event."

The one remaining refurbishment within the club, the completion of new seating arrangements means that seating will be somewhat limited, so if you’re looking to reserve tickets for this top class event please call 01473- 251143 as soon as possible.