NASH Cup 2015 – Day 6 Recap
Declan James is 2015 NASH Cup Champion
Nash Cup Men’s Final 19 September
It’s been an incredible week at London Squash & Fitness Club. The amateur draws were played to a conclusion and everybody was ready for a spectacular men’s final! Both Players have been in top form this week and the club was packed for the match .Jay Nash whipped up the crowd with his special challenge match. This includes top players in London playing with the tour pro’s having to complete nearly 50 crazy challenges during the rallies …examples included drinking beer while playing the rally (and not spilling any!), playing shots off the grip; touching all 4 walls; etc ….One highlight of the evening – after the match, and when the beer pong tournament was in full swing, was Abdullah agreeing to let one of the pro ladies give him a shave!! He came down from the tournament SMOOTH !!!!:))
Declan James beats Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi 11-9,13-11,11-7(55mins)
Reporting Nicola Crich
At the start its quite surprising that Declan isn’t using his immense reach to his advantage. By not looking for the volley at every moment he allows Abdulla to gain control of the game 9-7, but suddenly Declan wakes up to this and storms through to take the game 11-9. Will he remember this for the next game??? Abdulla is making way too many errors. He’s shooting for the nick at inopportune moments! The game is obvious, when Abdulla can move Declan off the T he wins, when Declan volleys and holds the T he wins!! We have a cat and mouse 2nd game, going point for point until eventually Declan pulls out the game 13-11 on his 3rd game ball. At 2-0 its going to be a huge task for Abdulla to mount a comeback. It has to be noted how efficient and smooth the movement is from Abdulla. In the 3rd game Declan is in control and is looking like a 3-0. At 6-4 Abdulla dives and slides across his hand going for the ball in vain .This results in a timely blood injury timeout. Who will it favour? Declan!! He shoots to 10-4! All credit to Abdulla. He keeps fighting for every ball, back to 10-7 when Declan closes out his 2nd PSA victory in 10days! We have a new champion. Was great to see athletes of this level and was an amazing final!
Abdullah: It was great to be in the final. I was actually pretty nervous, it’s the biggest Final of my career so far. Declan played amazing, he volleyed so much and controlled the T. He retrieved everything I threw at him – so all credit to him. It’s been a great week, I’m going in the right direction and it’s a great start to the season.
Declan: Last week was my biggest win ever in a 10k, and 1 week later I surpassed it! It’s been a great 2weeks, the best in my career so far! After two 90mins matches I was pretty tired this morning. But my practice went great this afternoon, so I was ready to go. My game plan was so important tonight, I had to volley and close out his angles by keeping it very straight. If I gave Abdullah angles then he is unbeatable for me! When I stuck to my plan I was winning, when I didn’t then he was winning!!!! It’s been a perfect start to the season and the last 2 weeks should help me rise into the mid 40’s world ranking and I can start to look to the top 30. I really want to build on this momentum. I love the Nash Cup, have played for a few years never progressing past the quarters; and now I’m the winner. The club and members here are amazing and look after us soooooo well. Great week and great tournament.