Last night, 5th March, David Ross Sports Village hosted, top of the northern division, Warwick University and Kenilworth; in 5 matches of Premier Squash against University of Nottingham Premier Squash League team.
Nottingham had already played WarKen’s away where they suffered from a 4-1 loss. Nottingham were aware it was going to be a difficult match as WarKens had only lost one fixture this season and had out forward a quality line up including GB number one, Sarah- Jane Perry, and rising star, Iker Pajares.
Northern Division leaders Warkens took the opening three matches away at David Ross Sports Village, running out 4-1 creating a 24-point lead and just points away from their first appearance in the semi-finals.
First up on court was a closely matched fixture between Nottingham’s, Lewis Walters, and Warkens, Nick Wall. The first game was highly competitive which set the scene for the rest of the match. Walters took the first game for Nottingham 11-9 but Wall came back, playing some quality squash to claim the final two games and therefore the match 3-11, 14-16
Second on court for Nottingham was, UoN Scholar, Coline Aumard against WarKen’s Sarah-Jane Perry. Current number 6 in the world, Sarah- Jane Perry took the first game, after facing a high amount of challenge from Nottingham’s Coline Aumard. Coline continued to challenge Perry into the second game, confidently winning the game 11-4. It was all to play for in the final game but Perry’s experience at the fast pace secured WarKens second point for the evening, as she won the final game and therefore match, 4-11.
Post-Match, Coline Aumard said, "It's always a great opportunity to play against someone in the top 10, so I put in 100% and enjoyed my squash!"
Next up for Nottingham was Adam Auckland, returning from 6 months away from the game due to injury. He was up against Daniel Mekbib who had travelled from the Czech Republic for the fixture, the pair had played against each other a number of times in juniors when representing their respective countries. The first game was highly competitive but Mekbib took the game, 9-11. Mekbib continued to dominate in the second game to take the match point after an 11-6 game. This made the overall score 0-3 to WarKens, confirming their overall win for the evening.
Adam commenting on his competitor said “He’s been playing some great squash recently, so it was great to be on court with him after the 6 months off. I haven’t been playing as fast as that in training and the fact I kept up and came off feeling strong, has increased my confidence in my recovery from injury.”
Richie Fallows was next on court for the penultimate match, after a successful PSL record in the 18/19 season he was keen to get a win for the team against opponent Mahesh Mangaonkar. Fallows won the first game 11-6 and continued to bring his enthusiasm into the second game to win, 11-9 and collect the first point of the evening for Nottingham.
Commenting on the match, Fallows said, "It was a good game, I really enjoyed it. I haven't done loads this week because of jet lag but it made me feel great on court after a little break!"
Closing the evening in Nottingham was former world number 1. Nick Matthew against Iker Pajares for WarKens. The match was competitive but Iker Panjares won the match in two games 6-11 and 4-11.
The competitive evening ended with WarKens winning 4-1 creating a 24-point lead and just a few points away from their first appearance in the semi-finals.
You can watch the whole evening back, from our live stream.
For more information on Premier Squash League click here.
Next home fixture for University of Nottingham is March 19th against University of Birmingham Lions at Nottingham Squash Rackets Club, tickets are available from David Ross Sports Village Reception.
Posted on Wednesday 6th March 2019