NASH Cup 2015 – Day 5 Recap
Nash Cup 18 September..mens Semi’s and Ladies Final
Reporting Jay Francis
Wow, what a night. This small but vibrant club was packed to the rafters and absolutely buzzing. The amateur draw also kicked in tonight, so if you want to know what busy is, then you should have been at London Squash & Fitness club tonight. Jay Nash, the sponsor, was in his element. He loves the level, the squash,the social side, and the marketing side of this event. He loves the microphone, and rightly so!! The players and the public respond with total enthusiasm. I personally, heard that the matches were amazing, but never saw a point! When a club is this busy and ooooing and awwwing it makes you realise what a great “Olympic” game we all play and love!
Declan James beats Richie Fallows 7-11,11-8,11-7,7-11,11-8(83mins)
…reporting Jasan Boparai
High quality 1st game by both players. RF got some good nicks and was helped by a few unforced errors from DJ..Summed the game up for DJ as he broke his strings! In the 2nd DJ played a very effective defensive game, the quality was so high that it caused RF to lose the plot a little bit!. Both players displayed a high standard of squash. While Richie played with a lot of emotion, Declan persevered and won with his cool, clinical precision.
Many of the spectators are learning the ins and outs of squash at this level. Like many things, an opinion doesn’t make you an expert! However these boys are true athletes and it is incredible to see them play squash at such a a mind-blowing level. Good luck to DJ tomorrow.
LADIES FINAL Maria Toorpakai Wazir beats Millie Tomlinson 8-11,11-8,11-13,11-8,11-9(68mins)
Reporting Jeff Tudhope
And it is down to this. Wazir (Pakistan) vs Tomlinson (England) for all the marbles …at least for all the marbles available in the 2015 Nash Cup. Wazir is looking to avenge a 4 game loss to Tomlinson at the Liberty Bell Open in January 2015. There will be magic (not Egyptian*) tonight!
Games 1&2 The match starts with a torrid pace and Tomlinson comes out ahead early. Maria grows frustrated with her performance and is unable to overcome mistakes. The first game goes to Tomlinson but it is close and this match can still be won by either of these tenacious ladies.
An arduous first game seems to have taken nothing from these two ladies as game 2 starts out with more fast paced action. Maria seems to have fixed her mistakes and she controls the entire game and evens the match at a game apiece. Wow, what a battle!
Game 3 is a bit closer. Tomlinson seems to have the better length and movement. Millie is hitting it consistently to the back corners and wins a close 3rd game to take the lead. The crowd is enthralled.
In game 4 Maria is firing back with an enthusiasm not yet seen in the match. Millie is looking perplexed and can’t overcome Maria’s pace, losing the 4th game. We are going to 5 folks!
Maria came out on fire in game 5 and stretched to an early 5-2 lead, but Millie isn’t done and in a blink it’s 5-4. A couple of controversial calls gives Millie the 5-6 lead. However Maria “ain’t havin’ dat” and before we know it the game is 6 all. Many lets later it’s still 6 all. Finally a rally ends in a point and Maria takes a 9-7 advantage, but Millie closes it to 9-8 on a stroke. Now 9-all when Maria tins her serve return! And now a 10-9 match ball for Maria after a stoke. Oddly this 5th game has become more about strokes and lets than shots. Maria serves match ball and an out ball by Millie on the serve return awards Maria the championship!
Maria: What a final, this is what the fine people of London, Ontario, Canada paid to see! What can you say about the match tonight?
“It was a great match, and she is a great player and a friend. On court it looks like It is a battle but we are friends off court and that is the way that sports should be.”
What do you feel tonight did for your overall mission as a squash player?
“The main thing is to represent my country of Pakistan and Waziristan and to show that even though we have terrorism and other problems in our country there are good people out there who can play sport and do well in other ways. There can be problems between east and west and we all know about them, but we can fix these problems. I feel that Toronto and Canada is a family to me, and now I feel like Pakistan and Canada are my two motherlands.
(* Our 2014 Champion was Kanzy Emad El Defrawy of Egypt)
Abdullah Mohd Al Tamini beats Kristian Frost Olesen 5-11,11-9,11-3,11-4 (45mins)
Reporter Jasan Boparai
After losing the 1st game, Abdulla opened up his bag of tricks; frustrating Kristian going on to win the next three games. Both players played superb squash; varying the pace of the game from hard hitting volleys, to well controlled drop shots. Most of the rallies were a treat to watch and both players played a very spirited fair match.