|
|
|
 |
|
Mon 6th, Finals:
Peter Nicol bt Jonathon Power 11/9, 12/10, 12/14, 11/5
3rd/4th: Simon Parke bt John White 9/11, 11/5, 11/9
Peter the Great
Peter Nicol took the Nine Telecom Legends title with an
impressive performance against arch rival Jonathan Power
at St George's Hill.
After a mesmeric opening rally of more than 70 strokes
Power started brightly, leading in the first before Nicol managed
to squeeze a couple of errors from the Canadian's racket.
Looking slightly demoralised Power got off to a poor start in
the second but seemed to give himself a talking to before
launching himself back into the match with trademark kills and
deft drops. However, an overhead volley that clipped the top of
the tin saw his game point slip away and Nicol took full
advantage to close out the crucial second.
The quality of the squash was world class and as one observer
commented they looked five years younger than when launching the
tour back in January at the Tournament of Champions. Power lost
that day and, clearly keen to avoid a repeat, he upped the pace
in the third to pull one back.
Nicol sensed the danger and responded in kind, forcing Power
into taking risks. His movement and quality eventually paid
dividends and Nicol clinched the title after 60 minutes of
pulsating squash.
Next stop on the Legends Tour is Baltimore in mid October.
The success of the event
prompted sponsors Nine Telecom to confirm their backing
for next year’s event to secure the future of the tournament at
St George’s Hill.
“This is the culmination of two years hard work to create a
squash hub in the south that can rank with anything in the
country,” said Danny Lee, the club’s squash manager.
“Staging an event like this is a first for us. We didn’t know
how the tournament would turn out but the whole weekend has
proved a major success and provides a firm foundation to build
on.”
 |
The England Commonwealth Games
squash squad will use the new court for training later in
September before departing for India but before then it will see
qualifying play for the Saudi World Open and Kuwait Open.
 |
|
 |
Sun 5th Sep, Day Three:
Peter Nicol bt John White
3/11, 11/9, 11/9
Jonathon Power bt Simon Parke
11/7, 11/6
Dave Evans bt Tim Garner
14/12, 11/13, 11/5
Stacey Ross bt Paul Gregory
11/5, 11/5
Dream final at St George's
In the final pool match of the inaugural Legends event, Peter
Nicl beat John White to set up the dream final - Nicol v Power -
winning an exhilarating match.
White was devastating in the first, smashing in winners that had
Nicol as well as the crowd gasping! The pattern continued in the
second but Nicol somehow weathered enough of the storm to start
getting points on the board.
Nicol sneaked the second to set up a tantalising decider. The
high paced squash continued in the third and at 7-7 it could
have gone either way before Nicol finally put the match to rest
and both players left to a standing ovation.
|
|
 |
Day Two:
Top seeds power through
Peter Nicol bt Stacey Ross
11/9, 11/8
Simon Parke bt David Evans
11/7, 11/2
Jonathon Power bt Tim Garner
11/5, 11/6
John White bt Paul Gregory
11/6, 11/7
Day 2 of the Nine Telecom Legends at St. George’s Hill started
off with Simon Parke once again demonstrating his intent.
Despite being worked hard by Welshman Dave Evans Parke
kept the tempo up and the quality of the shot high, eventually
forcing the former British Open Champion into making an error. A
competitive first game was followed by a comfortable second.
A play-off for the final spot was confirmed when Jonathon
Power beat Tim Garner in straight games. The best
reception of the weekend greeted the local player and one of the
most talented players to ever wield a squash racket, and the
crowd was disappointed as the latter opened up with kill
millimetres above the tin. The match then followed a fairly
consistent pattern as Power controlled the ball and Garner
worked hard trying to work out where the ball was going and then
getting it back!
Afterwards Garner highlighted that although Power is known for
his silky skills at the front of the court it is the quality of
his length that sets up the opportunities to use those skills.
Power's win means that he will face Parke on Sunday with the
winner progressing from the Harrow Group to the Monday’s Grand
Final.
Surrey’s Stacey Ross was involved in another tough
encounter, this time with ex-World no.1 Peter Nicol.
Both players played at a high face probing for weaknesses and
using all the court to try and work an opening. The rallies were
long and demanding and Nicol will have been relieved to have
edged both games to set himself up for a tilt at a final spot.
Peter Marshall’s injury had not cleared up overnight so the
organisers brought in former British Champion Paul Gregory
as a late replacement. Despite having had little warning Gregory
acquitted himself well against the World’s hardest hitter
John White and indeed managed to build a 7-1 lead in the
second. However, at that point
White stepped up a gear and started smashing the ball into the
nick at will. His straight games win means that the Prince Group
will also be decided on Sunday evening with a mouth-watering
clash between White & Nicol.
Day One:
Legends Assemble
Simon Parke bt Tim Garner
11/4, 12/10
John White bt Stacey Ross
7/11, 11/6, 11/8
Jonathon Power bt David Evans
11/4, 11/6
Peter Nicol bt Peter Marshall
11/5, 2/0 rtd
All the stars of the Nine Telecom Legends at St. George’s Hill
arrived safely from as far afield as Toronto & Philadelphia to
kick off the inaugural event on the tour.
Ex-World no.3 Simon Parke demonstrated his intent coming
out of the blocks firing and jumping to 10-1 in the first
against wildcard and event promoter Tim Garner using his
trademark speed to good effect. Garner started to get back into
the match and indeed could have sneaked the 2nd. Leading 10-9 he
put in a tight backhand drop that Parke did well to reach, and
managed to jag it off the frame for a lucky winner.
Taking the game 12-10 he then informed the crowd in the
post-match interview that the Legends tour has given him a new
lease of life to put in a little training and was looking
forward to the challenge.
The most competitive match of the session was between Ex-World
no.1 John White and wildcard Stacey Ross. The
latter got off to an excellent start and took the first forcing
White in to making errors with sweetly struck drives inter
mingled with deft drops. However, White was in no mood to lie
down and came back to level it at 1-1. The deciding third ebbed
and flowed both ways, leading one of the watching Legends to
suggest "Looks like the tour is back on!"
Despite being down for most of the game, White eventually got
the upper hand and the win.
The brand new McWIL all-glass court was then officially
opened by Peter Nicol & Jonathon Power, who then played a
rally to mark the occasion.
Mercurial Canadian Power followed on from the ceremony by
showing he can still play at the highest level with a straight
games win over Ex-British Open Champion Dave Evans. The
Welshman looked a little rusty and ex-World no.1 Power was in no
mood to hang around as he worked Evans around the court before
clinically finishing the rally, often with a trademark hold &
flick.
The final match of the session saw Ex-World no1 Nicol take on
former rival Peter Marshall. Renowned for his two handed
style Marshall reached number 2 in the World behind Jansher
Khan. The rallies were tough, but Nicol always seemed to have
the edge and took the first relatively easily. At 2/0 in the
second Marshall pulled up as his calf muscle spasmed and despite
taking a time out he was unable to continue, rather ironic given
he is now a qualified Physio!
After an evening of high quality entertaining squash the players
then donned their Dinner Jackets for the St. Georges Hill Club’s
Dinner & Dance. The charity auction in aid of the Sam Beare
Hospice raised over £5,000 and everyone was then entertained
by the Danny Lee Band.
|
Legends meet the Juniors
...
 |
|
 |
|
Power & Nicol line-up in
9Telecom Legends at St. George’s Hill
 Eventis
Sports Marketing has announced that the Legends of Squash
Tour will officially launch with the 9 Telecom Legends of
Squash at St. Georges Hill in Weybridge, Surrey.
The Gold Tour event will take place from 3rd-6th September
and will coincide with the club’s grand opening of its
brand new all-glass McWIL squash court in St. George’s
fantastic new auditorium.
 Headlining
the event will be arch rivals Jonathon Power & Peter Nicol,
who will go up against each other in a competitive event for the
first time in nearly five years. Power & Nicol dominated the
World rankings and major championships for over a decade in the
late 90s, but will be severely tested in the form of ex-World
no.1 & world’s hardest hitter John White and ex-World
no.3 Simon Parke. The exciting line-up of Legends will be
completed by ex-World no.2 Peter Marshall and the former
British Open Champion David Evans.
Peter Nicol, director of Eventis, promoted the Legends of Squash
Tour with exhibition matches against Power in
Grand Central Station in January and
then Parke at Canary Wharf's East
Wintergarden in March.
However, there will be a much more competitive edge to
proceedings this time around as Nicol points out -
"Everyone who is competing on the tour has kept themselves in
reasonable shape and this will simply motivate them to get ready
for a very competitive opening event. Most of the guys are still
playing in the Premier Squash League and Jonathon even
represented Canada at last year’s World Team Championships, so I
will have to be ready!"
 He also highlighted why St. George’s was chosen as the
first port of call on the new tour - "St. George’s Hill was the
ideal venue for the first full tour event given their forward
thinking approach to the sport and we are delighted that the
event can form a pivotal part in the opening of the stunning
all-glass court. The support of the Nine Telecom Group has
enabled us to kick things off with a truly world class field."
Miles Hill, Club Manager, welcomed the chance to host
such an exciting event explaining, "it made perfect sense when
Head Squash Professional Danny Lee highlighted the
opportunity to host a Legends event here and to build it into
the court opening. The club has always prided itself on being
one of the best at what it does and the 9 Telecom Legends event
along with the fact that we now have a state of the art court,
will continue to build on this reputation.
"The all-glass court also boasts the ability to be expanded into
the larger version that is used in international doubles
competitions, and we are hoping that it will be utilised by the
players who will be competing in the Commonwealth Games in
Delhi."
|
9Tel Legends
of Squash, 03-06 Sep,
St. Georges Hill, Surrey
Group A
1. Jonathon Power
2. Simon Parke
3. David Evans
4. Tim Garner (w/card)
Group B
1. Peter Nicol
2. John White
3. Peter Marshall
4. Stacey Ross (w/card)
Friday 3rd September
5.00pm: Parke v Garner
5.45pm: White v Ross
7.00pm Ribbon cutting to mark opening of new court.
7.15pm: Power v Evans
8.00pm: Nicol v Marshall
8.45pm Opening Dinner
Auction in aid of Chase Children's Hospice
Saturday 4th September
4.00pm: Parke v Evans
4.45pm: Power v Garner
6.00pm: Nicol v Ross
6.45pm: White v Marshall
Sunday 5th September
4.00pm: Evans v Garner
4.45pm: Marshall v Ross
6.00pm: Power v Parke
6.45pm: Nicol v White
Monday 6th September
7.00pm Doubles
7.30pm 3rd/4th
8.15pm Grand Final
9.15pm Presentation
Pool matches and 3rd/4th best of 3, Grand Final Best of 5
St George’s Hill LT & SC
Weybridge, Surrey
KT13 0LL
www.sghltc.co.uk
More Info:
Legends@Eventis-Sports.com
Tickets: 01932 843541 |
|
