Gregory Gaultier Wins 2014 British Open
French squash World No.1 Gregory Gaultier claimed the 2014 Allam British Open Squash Championship title, beating England’s World Champion and World No.2 Nick Matthew in an emphatic 3-0 performance at the KC Sports Arena in Hull today.
Gaultier, who became the first ever French winner of the prestigious ‘Wimbledon of Squash’ when he lifted the trophy in 2007, was in imperious form as he reeled off the 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 victory in just 45-minutes.
It was a sweet victory for the man from Aix En Provence who lost out to Matthew on their last three outings on the PSA World Tour, including a dramatic defeat in the final of the 2013 World Championship in Manchester last November.
“To win this title is an unbelievable feeling,” said Gaultier. “You dream of these moments when you are a child and you work so hard for them so to see them come true is amazing.
“I have played a lot of finals during my career and been the person who does not lift the trophy so I’m really happy to win this time.
“It’s been a great week and I feel like I have played well throughout the tournament – I came here with a lot of motivation and I was fresh and I’m really happy to win this famous trophy.”
Speaking after the match, Sheffield’s Matthew said: “I felt really good today so there were no excuses.
“Sometimes you just come up against people who were too good on the day and that was the case with Greg today.”
2014 Allam British Open – Final:
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [1] Nick Matthew (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 [45m]
Nicol David Reclaims British Open Crown
World number one Nicol David avenged her title loss last year by beating England’s defending champion Laura Massaro in today’s final of the Women’s Allam British Open Squash Championship to win the historic WSA World Series Platinum title at the Sports Arena in Hull for the fifth time since 2005.
World No2 Massaro took a tight first game 11-8 before the Malaysian stormed back to take the next three games 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 in 64 minutes to win the 74th WSA World Tour title of her career.
“To win the British Open means the world,” the delighted 30-year-old from Penang told the crowd: “Laura played a great match today and I really had to dig deep to win this title back.
“I was playing for my life out there. It felt great to come out on the winning end knowing that all the hard work that you put in does pay off.
“Dr Allam has brought the prestige back to the British Open and it’s been fantastic. Raising the prize money for the women has been tremendous for the tour. We need more people like Dr Allam involved in the sport,” concluded David.
The Malaysian’s coach Liz Irving, a former world No2 from Australia, summed up the significance of the win to her Twitter followers later: “I am so humbled by the integrity of Nicol. Her drive, her work ethic. She worked hard for this title! A real inspiration!”
Despite the loss, Massaro remained upbeat: “I can honestly say I gave it my all today, so overall I’m pretty pleased. I knew today would bring out Nicol’s best level, I hoped it would. You want to play players at the top of her game and my main goal was to play my best.
“I wanted to come off today knowing where I stand, whether I deserve to be anywhere near her in the rankings or not,” continued the 30-year-old from Preston. “I’m not far away at all, we were both at our best.
“I gave it everything that I had so I can’t be too disappointed with the result. Even though I’ve lost it will give me a lot of confidence going into the next tournament.
“It’s a goal to be number one in the world, but she’s a brilliant player. I’m going to have a little break next week as it’s my only chance before the Commonwealth Games. I’ve got a lot of doubles practise coming up and I’m really looking forward to the Games,” conclude the England No1.
Women’s Allam British Open, Hull, England
Final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [2] Laura Massaro (ENG) 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (64m)