Fri 27th Mar, FINAL
[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-0 [4] Simon Rosner (Ger)
11/4, 11/9, 11/7 (55m)
Nick Matthew won a fifth Canary Wharf title, stopping the
run of Simon Rosner, who was aiming for a third successive upset
win over an Englishman ...
Matthew bags a fifth
Joel Durston reports
Nick Matthew bagged
his fifth Canary Wharf title, beating Simon Rosner in a heavyweight battle full of ferocious hitting and
frenzied rallies.
The
scoreline might suggest it was a fairly routine win against a
lower-ranked opponent - it was anything but.
Rosner brought his A-game, which had already seen him beat James
Willstrop and Peter Barker this week, but Matthew had an answer
for everything the German "treechopper" could throw at him.
At times, it was like watching a prize fighter take punch after
punch on the ropes and not only recover but have enough
composure to land several haymakers of his own.
Not to say he was merely counter-punching - in the pivotal
second game, he hit seven winners to just one error - something
Rosner credited afterwards.
The
Wolf flew out of the blocks, to the extent that when he made his
first error, at 7-1 up there was an audible note of alarm in the
crowd.
He drew gasps from the crowd with some gut-ripping retrievals.
After losing one such point Rosner, who displayed fantastic
movement himself, was looking to the skies, presumably thinking
what must I do to beat this man.
Matthew
took the first 11-4 and went three points up in the second.
Rosner fought back with some ferocious hitting, but the
Yorkshireman dealt with the onslaught and took it 11-9.
Then the intensity rose yet another level at the start of the
third, with the rallies drawing several "oohs" and "aahs" from
the packed-house crowd, before Matthew pulled away at 4-4 to
make it 9-5.
Rosner pulled it back a bit, to the delight of the crowd who
wanted more - but, as Rosner said, Matthew was "just too good on
the day", sealing the win 11-7.
Matthew said: "I've enjoyed this tonight. It's amazing to win
this title for the fifth time.
"It's
a great venue. This is where you want to be playing squash.
"I had one of those moments here two years ago where I was
looking around wondering why I wasn't enjoying it. Because I was
thinking you should be enjoying it.
"That makes you appreciate it even more. It was just brilliant.
"I feel a bit guilty because two years in a row I've been the
only person in the building that doesn't want it to go to a
five-game match. So apologies for that!"
Wildcard shootout: Ben Coleman bt Lyell Fuller
CW Square Mile Grand Final
Credit Suisse bt Accenture 2-1
Aaron Robson 0-3 Nick Sutcliffe
Jonathan Machin 3-1 Neil Waller
Mark Borton 3-2 James Pearson
Credit Suisse claim their third title in four years, having won
in 2012 and 2013.
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