National Championships: Nick Matthew overcomes Yorkshire rival James Willstrop to clinch eighth Nationals crown

Nick Matthew sealed a historic eighth triumph at the British National Championships after overcoming familiar foe James Willstrop in yesterday's final.
Nick Matthew - has won the British National Championships title a record eight times.Nick Matthew - has won the British National Championships title a record eight times.
Nick Matthew - has won the British National Championships title a record eight times.

It was the fifth time the Yorkshire pair had met in the final, with Sheffield-born Matthew extending his unbeaten record over Willstrop at the event following a 50-minute 11-2 6-11 11-3 11-3 triumph.

Matthew had made it through to the final after seeing off the challenge of Daryl Selby in straight games on Saturday.

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Willstrop, from Harrogate, had endured a tougher path to the final after taking 82 minutes to get the better of Chris Simpson in five games.

“It’s always tough to break James down,” said Matthew. “But the court was a bit deader than in previous days and he was maybe feeling (Saturday’s) five-setter by the end.

“The Nationals is a great event, always improving and it’s unbelievable and an absolute honour to have won it eight times.”

In the women’s final, Laura Massaro justified her top seeding to win a third title by defeating four-time champion Alison Waters.

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Massaro, who beat Wales’s Tesni Evans in straight games in Saturday’s semi-finals, repeated the scoreline at the National Squash Centre yesterday, taking even less time to defeat the No 2 seed in a comprehensive 11-2 11-5 11-4 win.

Waters had ended the hopes Harrogate’s Jenny Duncalf had of lifting the title for a third time, at the semi-finals stage on Saturday, seeing off a fierce comeback from the Yorkshirewoman to prevail 13-11 11-7 8-11 5-11 11-9 in just under an hour.