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16-18 June 2004, Abingdon |
FULL DRAWS
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Fri 18th June, Day THREE:
Men's Final:
[1] John White bt [3/4] Marcus Berrett \
11/2, 8/11, 10/11 (2/4), 11/6, 11/6 (43m)
Women's Final:
[1] Rebecca Macree bt Suzie Pierrepont
9/2, 9/5, 9/5 (32m)
White & Macree claim
Grand Prix Final Titles
Steve Cubbins reports on the finals
Top seeds John White and Rebecca Macree claimed the end-of-season BSPA
Grand Prix Finals titles in front of a full house of 80+ at Abingdon, in contrasting
finals.
Macree completed a third successive finals victory with a comprehensive
9/2, 9/5, 9/5 victory over Suzie Pierrepont, dominating from the start and
never letting her younger opponent into the match. It's a case of all the
threes for Macree, who celebrates her 33rd birthday tomorrow.
In the men's final John White took on Marcus Berrett, with both appearing
in their first Grand Prix Finals. White, the world number five,
demonstrated his class as he blitzed the first game 11/2.
The Scot's pace diminished in the second and third as Yorkshire's Berrett,
aiming to add the GP Finals to his Grand Prix circuit title, won a
nip-and-tuck second game 11/8 and the third 4-2 on the tie-break.
It was time for White to reassert his authority, which he duly did. At 4-1
in the fifth White hit a tremendous, cracking backhand, that died in the
nick. "That had to hurt," said Mark Cairns, who was performing the dual
role of marker and referee.
White was back in control, although at 7-2 up he served a fault, called by
Cairns. "Are you sure?" asked White, "how about a beer?". "Two beers,"
said Cairns. But Berrett's "three beers" won the day, and a fault it was.
"It's been a fun week," said the new champion, "and it's good to finish
the season on a winning note."
Referee Cairns, who retired from the circuit last year and marries on 11th
September, was
impressed with the quality of the squash. "I'd rather have reffed all the
matches than played," he said.
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Abingdon Squash & Racketball
FULL DRAWS
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Thu
17th June, Day TWO:
Men's Semi-Finals:
[1] John White bt Scott
Handley 11/8, 5/11, 11/6, 6/11, 11/6 (54m)
[3/4] Marcus Berrett bt Stephen Meads 11/7, 11/3, 11/7 (34m)
Women's Semi-Finals:
[1] Rebecca Macree bt Laura Lengthorn 9/4, 9/2, 9/2 (29m)
Suzie Pierrepont bt [2] Stephanie Brind 3/9, 3/1 rtd (13m)
Berrett aims for BSPA Double
Scotland's top seed John White moved into the final of the BSPA
Grand Prix Finals with a 3/2 victory over wildcard Scott Handley which
kept the packed Abingdon crowd entertained for just under an hour. "John
played some fantastic squash, and in the end was just too strong for
Scott," said an observer at Abingdon.
White's opponent in Friday's final will be Yorkshire's Marcus Berrett,
the Grand Prix champion who is appearing in his first Grand Prix Finals.
Berrett, who enjoyed a quick quarter-final win on Wednesday, was always in
control against Stephen Meads who was still suffering the effects of a
marathon quarter-final.
In the women's semi-finals, top seed Rebecca Macree, aiming for a
third successive Grand Prix Finals title, took just under half an hour to
beat Lancashire's Laura Lengthorn.
In the final Macree will face Sussex's Suzie Pierrepont, who went
through to the final after Kent's second seed Stephanie Brind was forced
to retire in the second game with a self-inflicted ankle injury.
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Wed 16th June, Day ONE:
Men's Quarter-Finals:
[1] John White bt Peter Genever
7/11, 11/7, 11/9, 11/9 (36m)
Scott Handley bt [3/4] Rodney Durbach
11/5, 11/5, 11/4 (31m)
[3/4] Marcus Berrett bt Stacey Ross
11/6, 11/10 (2-0), 11/4 (27m)
Stephen Meads bt [2] Alex Gough
7/11, 11/6, 9/11, 11/10 (3-1), 11/8 (73m)
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