Matthew wins PSA Masters, Duncalf pockets WISPA crown

New Delhi: In a repeat of the Commonwealth Games and World Open final, top seed England`s Nick Matthew dished out a clinical performance to beat rival James Willstrop and win the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters squash event on Sunday.

Matthew, whose success in the previous round ensured that he would start next year as the world number one, defeated the second seeded Willstrop in an all-English final 11-7 11-8 11-7 in around 45 minutes at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. It was at the same venue that the pair battled for the Commonwealth Games gold medal in October - and last week Matthew repeated his feat against his fellow Yorkshireman in the World Open final in Saudi Arabia to become the country`s first winner of the sport`s ultimate title. For the climax of the USD 1,92,500 PSA Masters, the tenth and final Super Series championship of the year, England`s squash rivals had lined up for their third major international finals in three months. Matthew, the 30-year-old from Sheffield, engaged his opponent from Yorkshire in long rallies and dead drop winners to produce a flawless performance in front of a capacity crowd present at the centre court. Matthew won the winner`s cheque of USD 29,093 while Willstrop had to be contend with USD 19,118 for finishing runner-up. "I am very pleased to win the final tour event of the year and signing off the year with a title win. It`s never easy when Willstrop is your opponent. It`s my second win in Delhi after the Commonwealth Games and I just want to enjoy the success," said Matthew."It`s been a great tournament for me. I trained hard to achieve success. It`s the second biggest event in the world in terms of prize money and I throughly enjoyed my stay out here. "It`s been a long and hectic year for me. I just want to relax now and enjoy Christmas with my family and friends," said the veteran player. It was Matthew`s 17th win in 25 matches against Willstrop, whom he has not lost to since December 2007. His fluent movement was as good as ever, while his ability to finish off rallies was more varied and well- disguised than at any time in his career. Willstrop played a beautiful first game, more accurate and carefully paced but after losing it in around 20 minutes, he grew impatient in the second and even received a warning from the referee to be polite on the court. "Please take it easy Mr Willstrop," the referee told Willstrop when the scoreline read 8-5 in Matthew`s favour. With two games down, Willstrop ran out of energy and surrendered meekly to his more experienced opponent in the third game. On the other hand, Matthew preserved his energy for the right occassions and increased the pace of his game when it mattered most.Meanwhile, in the women`s event, world number two Jenny Duncalf of England lived upto her billing by defeating second seed Australia`s Kasey Brown in straight games to win the WISPA Masters title. The top seed came out with a stupendous performance to end the challenge of the seventh ranked Brown 11-5 11-5 11-4 in 34 minutes and win the USD 36,500 Championship. Brown, who made the final after defeating Annie Au of Hong Kong in a gruelling five-setter in the semifinal, was not in her elements and rounded off the year on a disappointing note. "It was good to win the final in straight games and I am very pleased with my performance. You have to play well against Kasey to produce this sort of result," said the 28-year-old Duncalf. Brown admitted that she was not upto the task. "I was not happy with my movement as I slipped in the first rally of the game. Jenny moved very well and engaged me in long rallies. I will say it was not 100 per cent effort from my side," Brown said. PTI