Tournament proves to be a real Classic at Northern
Fuller triumphs as Gosforth event attracts big field
SECOND seed Mark Fuller had to dig deep to clinch an epic Gosforth Classic title at Northern in what was arguably the highest-standard match ever staged at the club.
The 2017 version of the Classic proved to be just that, with bumper crowds ignoring the considerable pull of the Manchester World Championships to watch and support a starstudded field.
With the two best players - 32-year-old Fuller and top seed Joe Green, the losing finalist, both coming from the world’s top 150 - and 10 PSA-ranked professional players, this was the strongest line-up yet for the $1300 closed satellite event, an official tournament sponsored by Newcastle financial advice company Lowes Financial.
At the start of a gripping final, Fuller went 1-0 then 2-1 down to Green, much the higherranked player at 114 who was bringing his trademark lung-busting athleticism to Court One.
Green, who had not dropped a game on the way to the final, was just two days back in the UK after reaching the semi-finals of the $10K Florida Open - and he had achieved a career highlight after winning the Barbados Open the previous year.
In short, he was a clear favourite and started strongly, taking the first game 11-9. However, Fuller ground out the second with patient squash before Green ran away with the third following a disputed decision which left his older opponent seething.
Fuller re-grouped, though, and, following very tight squash in the fourth - keeping his left-handed opponent on the backhand for long periods, then choosing when to use a trademark disguised low crosscourt drop - he clinched it to force a decider.
Green and Fuller went toe-to-toe in a mammoth fifth.
With both finally showing signs of tiredness, Green found reserves to up the pace and win three points in a row from 8-4 down.
However, he just clipped the top of the tin with an outlandish attacking boast at 7-8 down, following an exhausting and crucial rally, with his opponent looking stranded.
That mistake gave Fuller a huge lift and, from 9-7 up, he hung on to lift the title.
There were epic clashes at all levels and all rounds, with B and C graded events being staged underneath the main tournament and the best local lads taking on the professionals in the A event. Sixteen-year-old Max Forster was undoubtedly the star performer from the North East contingent.
He pulled off a shock 3-1 win over county champion Liam Gutcher - then took his brand of fearless attacking squash in against world No 314 Phil Nightingale in the second round.
Nightingale was pitch perfect from 1-0 down and seemed in control at 2-1 up.
However, the match was about to take a significant turn, the unfazed Forster (pictured right) going for the kill and producing an impressive array of attacking shots to leave his opponent twisting, turning and flailing as the young maestro ran out a deserved 3-2 winner.
Forster was the only Northumbria player to reach the quarter-finals in what was a breakthrough senior tournament for the former British Junior Open winner.
Cai Younger beat Cumbria’s Keane Appleton 3-0 before losing his second-round match to world 336 Seigo Masuda.
Younger’s Northern club-mate and tournament assistant Michael Mattimore also reached the second round and impressed all the way in losing a tight 3-0 to No 4 seed and England Under-19 player Harry Falconer.
Former World No 27 and US Open finalist Paul Lord also reached the second round after beating Tynemouth’s evergreen Jon Evans in the first round.
Lord, of Westoe, found the attacking range of 21-year-old Yorkshireman James Peach, the No 3 seed and world No 300, too much in the second round.
In the A Plate, Northern No 1 Gutcher refocussed after his first-round loss in the main draw to go on and lift the title.
Newcastle University’s Michael McKay did nothing wrong in the final but Gutcher’s highpaced game eventually forced the errors and the home favourite ran out a 3-0 winner.
The home club also produced the B winner in 15-year-old Andrew Shipley, who was finding nicks and kills from everywhere in a onesided final against close rival Harry Little (Northumberland Club).
Little had the consolation of playing in one of the matches of the tournament in the semifinals, an hour-long clash of the titans in which he triumphed 3-2 over Sedgefield’s Dan Toas (11-13, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 14-12).
Northern junior Matthew Thompson won a tight 3-0 to lift the B Plate, while in the C event Paul Bell took the honours with a gritty 3-1 victory over his former Newbiggin clubmate John Armstrong.
In the C Plate, the attacking range of Amy Rowell (Tynemouth) proved to be too much for Northern’s fast-improving junior Ewan Strathdee.
Newbiggin’s Andy Black timed his pre-tournament training to perfection.
He had to dig deep to see off a strong challenge from Northern junior Kieran Mahoney in the C event’s second round - 10-12, 11-6, 14-16, 11-6, 11-8.
The opening night’s nail-biter was a battle between two experienced players on the North East circuit - Ashington’s Ron Freeman and Chester-le-Street’s Paul Collinson.
Freeman found himself 2-1 down with Collinson playing excellent squash - but he fought back to sneak the last two 11-9, 11-9 after a few tight decisions from the marker and a competitive attitude all round.
Thanks go out to the tournament sponsors main sponsor Lowes Financial but also CWS Double Glazing Repairs, Ashdown Care, Sabre and Northumbria Squash.
Organiser Cai Younger said: “This event is becoming firmly established on the North East squash calendar.
“Fans came from all over the region to create a great atmosphere, which the players really appreciated.”