NASH CUP DAY 6 – FINALS DAY:
ILLINGWORTH AVENGES THE BATTLE OF 1812!

Finals day was eagerly awaited and this year’s Nash Cup has been one of the most exciting and most competitive.

We opened the evening with a women’s exhibition. Sam Cornett and Steph Edmison, two of Canada’s top female squash players, entertained the crowd to a great exhibition! Sam sneaked home!

What the crowd did not know until after the men’s final was that next year’s Nash Cup will be both a PSA and a WSA event.  We asked Sam and Steph for their reaction to this:

Sam Cornett:

“This is huge for London Squash to put on a WSA event. There are only 4 on Canada at the moment (2 in Montreal, one in Winnipeg and one in Toronto). Looking at the way the Nash Cup PSA event has grown over the past 5 years, there is every chance that Jay Nash will grow the WSA event into something special as well. London Squash is renowned for its friendly atmosphere and hospitality and keen members”.

Steph Edmison:

“As Sam said, this will be massive for the women. The NSA (National Squash Academy in Toronto) has been such a positive addition to Canadian squash and if we can get more WSA events around the country it will definitely help with the competitive development of our female competitive players.”

Before the final, I had a chance to chat to the players and get their thoughts on their upcoming final.

JULIAN ILLINGWORTH:

OLIVER PETT:

“I am feeling good – it is obviously going to be tough and I am going to have to play my best if I am to have a chance of winning, and am relishing the opportunity. I have never played him before. Seen a lot of him this week so have an idea of how he plays. I plan on trying to restrict him at the back of the court and force him into opening it up. I will need to vary the pace too. As I said, I am going to have to be at the top of my game if I am going to have a chance of winning.”

JULIAN ILLINGWORTH (USA) beat OLIVER PETT (ENG) 6-11; 11-9; 11-6; 11-6 (59 mins)

Oli came out of the blocks sharp, purposeful and looking like a horse destined to win the race. He raced to a 3-0 lead without doing anything special. Julian got himself on the score board thanks to an error. Oli controlled most of the game and forced Julian into some unforced errors and won 11-6. Yann Perrin had Julian an odds on favourite at the start of the match but changed his mind after the first and made Oli odds on favourite).

Yann’s change of heart looked good as Oli raced into a 6-2 lead, courtesy of good attacking squash and unforced errors from Julian. The game was about to change, as was Yann Perrin’s mind! Julian seemed to have found his rhythm, his length and above all his confidence. Oli was still attacking but it was filled with errors. From such a promising start, Oli went on to lose the game 11-9.

Yann certainly changed his mind and said Julian was definitely odds on favourite now. Noting against Julian, but I still thought Oli could pull it off!

At the start of the 3^rd game it was clear Julian was back! The first 4 points were shared, and then Julian started to pull away. He was playing error free squash, keeping the ball tight and forcing Oli to take some risks – result was a 11-6 win for Julian.

The crowd was looking for a comeback – it looked possible up to 4 all but then Oli imploded and made error after error (some forced, some unforced) and before we knew it, it was 10-6 championship points. Julian is an experienced campaigner and made sure of his first match point to secure a victory, which at the start of the week, not many people would have put their money on…. Not even Yann Perrin!

Sam Cornett and Stephanie Edmison reporting on Julian Illingworth: 

Julian had a tough time getting to the finals this week.  “I felt fine going in”, he said, despite having a five-setter in the quarters (against Anthony Graham) and a four game semi-final against crowd favourite Andrew Schnell.  “I was cramping after the quarters, but was able to recover in time for the semis.”  When asked how the court played in the final, as we referred to him as ‘No-shot Illingworth’, he commented on how it was difficult to play any shots on the court throughout the tournament.

Julian is off to the US Open next. He is feeling fit and very glad to have had the opportunity to work out some of the kinks in his games before competing in such a large event.

The Nash Cup is the largest (size) trophy that Illingworth has won to date on the tour, and we wish him the best of luck this season. We look forward to having him back to defend his title next year!

Sam Cornett and Stephanie Edmison reporting on Oliver Pett:

It was clear that the bleachers were filled throughout the week for Oliver’s matches, as he was clearly able to bring forward a very… ‘attractive’ game. When asked how he was feeling going into the finals today, Oli said “I had great energy, and was feeling very confident. “I was frustrated by the loss given the confidence I had going in”

He had a strong start to the match, taking the first with gusto. He confessed, however, that nerves seemed to take a toll on him. This was especially evident in the fourth and final game, which he quoted as being “riddled with errors”, despite working hard to move Illingworth around the court.

Oliver’s next event is Santiago and we cannot wait to follow his results. We look forward to seeing him again next year.

Jay Nash ended the presentation ceremony by announcing that not only will we be having a WSA event next year, but also that we will be upping our “purse” to $15k next year!

What a great end to an unbelievable week.