England sweeps squash podium at Commonwealth Games
Three English athletes finished in the top three spots of the squash event the Commonwealth Games, completing a podium sweep.
But it was 30-year-old Nick Matthew who finished at the very top of the men’s singles event, defeating fellow Englishman James Willstrop 11-6 11-7 11-7 in the men’s final today, taking
home the gold medal in Delhi, India.
The number-two ranked Matthew has historically performed well against number-four ranked Willstrop, defeating his rival the past 13 matches, his latest loss coming way back in 2007. The
match, which lasted 66 minutes, featured two men from the Yorkshire county of England, with Matthew hailing from Sheffield and Willstrop, 27, from Pontefract. Matthew collapsed to the floor in delight after defeating his fellow countryman.
Matthew’s strategy of constantly pinning his opponent against the wall on his backhand proved to be effective as he easily won the first game. Willstrop, committing more unforced errors
than his opponent, only managed to save one of five game balls in the first.
Willstrop gave his opponent a tougher challenge in the second game, climbing within two points at 7-9 after pulling off a lovely drop shot. But Matthew showed his resiliency, finishing
out the game 11-7.
Willstrop obtained the early lead at 3-1 in the third game but two no-lets in Matthew’s favour eventually did him in. Matthew brought the final game back to parity and downed his opponent
on the first of his three match balls.
Matthew, who attained the number-one ranking in June 2010, has won two British Opens so far in his young career. At the age of 26, he became the youngest player to do so with his victory
in 2006. He won the event again in 2009.
The 6ft 4in Willstrop, who is tall for a squash player, has finished runner-up twice at the British Open. He established himself as Britain’s best junior player when he won the British
Junior Under-19 National Championship three times in a row from 1999 to 2002.
Earlier in the day, 27-year-old Peter Barker of London easily defeated Malaysian player Mohd Azlan Iskandar 11-5 11-4 11-2 to take bronze.
With British players finishing in the top three spots of men’s squash, the country increases its medal count to 76, including 19 golds. Australia is leading the way with 98 total medals,
47 of which are gold. While India’s total medal count is far behind England’s at 48, they have won 20 gold medals, one more than England.
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