Evans above! Brother and sister Emyr and Tesni emerged winners for Welsh Wizards on a tough night against Warwick/Kenilworth at the Wales National Sports Centre in Cardiff.

Emyr defeated World number 33 Daniel Mekbib, from the Czech Republic, 11-7, 14-12, while sister Tesni won 11-7, 10-12, 14-12 against Sarah-Jane Perry.

English player Perry is ranked number eight in the World, one place ahead of Evans, but the Cardiff-born British champion swept to victory.

Unfortunately, Wizards were outgunned by University of Warwick/Kenilworth, who emerged 3-2 winners.

The match was a thriller. The first four matches were shared as Warwick’s Enora Villard, making her debut, and Nick Wall won for WarKens.

Evans siblings Tesni and Emyr led the Wizards fightback and set up a decider before WarKens’ Raphael Kandra beat Rhiwbina SRC’s Peter Creed to give the visitors their win.

RAC, WarKens and Coolhurst are all on three wins with just four points separating them.

Wizards v Warwick, match results (Wizards first):

Peter Creed 0-2 Raphael Kandra 13-15, 7-11

Emyr Evans 2-0 Daniel Mekbib 11-7, 14-12

James Peach 0-2 Nick Wall 9-11, 5-11

Tesni Evans 2-1 Sarah-Jane Perry 11-7, 10-12, 14-12

Anna Kimberley 1-2 Enora Villard 6-11, 11-6, 5-11

The Karakal Premier Squash League resumed after the Christmas break with four matches and the outcome was to make it exceedingly tight at the top of both South and North divisions.

Pontefract hosted University of Birmingham Lions in a repeat of last season’s divisional decider and once again the Yorkshire outfit triumphed. 

The women’s matches were shared, but Sam Todd, just a day after collecting his third British Junior Open title, put Pontefract in the lead and the win was sealed by Patrick Rooney before Wales number one Joel Makin reduced the deficit for the Lions.

University of Nottingham hosted Northumberland Club/Newcastle University at the Park Club.The visitors took the opening match courtesy of Sam Ward before the home side took the lead with wins from Millie Tomlinson and Richie Fallows. 

Former World number ones and World champions Nick Matthew and Karim Abdel Gawad were next on for Nottingham at one and two and both won to secure a home win.

Nottingham are level on 45 points with Pontefract, who stay top courtesy of more wins.

In the Southern Division defending champions RAC entertained Team Coolhurst, and took a 2-0 lead thanks to wins from Alice Green and Alison Waters. Coolhurst’s men were not to be denied though as Angus Gillams and Rui Soares levelled the match, leaving it to Nathan Lake to secure a win for the away team when he beat Ben Coleman.

Karakal Premier Squash League

Northern Division

PONTEFRACT 3-2 BIRMINGHAM LIONS (9-4)

Laurens Jan Anjema 0-2 Joel Makin    10-12, 4-11

Patrick Rooney 2-0 Jan Van Den Herrewegen    11-7, 11-8

Sam Todd 2-0 Stuart Macgregor    11-7, 11-8

Sarah Campion 2-0 Alicia Mead    11-9, 11-6

Katie Smith 0-2 Keira Marshall    3-11, 6-11

NOTTINGHAM 4-1 NEWCASTLE (11-2)

Karim Abdel Gawad 2-0 Tom Ford    11-8, 13-11

Nick Matthew 2-0 Connor Sheen    11-8, 11-4

Richie Fallows 2-0 Owain Taylor    11-8, 11-9

Millie Tomlinson 2-0 Fiona Moverley    11-5, 11-8

Grace Clark 0-2 Sam Ward    8-11, 4-11

Southern Division

RAC 2-3 COOLHURST (6-9)

Ben Coleman 1-2 Nathan Lake    11-5, 8-11, 5-11

Ollie Pett 1-2 Rui Soares    5-11, 11-4, 3-11

Simon White 0-2 Angus Gillams    1-11, 6-11

Alison Waters 2-0 Kace Bartley    11-6, 11-9

Alice Green 2-0 Margot Prow    11-8, 12-10

Tickets for Welsh Wizards next home fixture: Welsh Wizards website – www.welshwizards.com

 

Remaining Premier Squash League fixtures

Round seven

Dates to be arranged

St George’s v Welsh Wizards

Round eight

Wizards – no game

Round nine

Coolhurst v Welsh Wizards

Round 10

Dates to be arranged

Welsh Wizards v RAC

Semi-finals and final to be arranged