2002 British Nationals

February 22 - The British Nationals [men's draw] [womens draw]

OFF COURT HAPPENINGS
Chaos within the administrative structure of the England Squash (formerly the SRA) has upstaged the on-court activity at the British Nationals Quarter-Finals today in Manchester.

Normally, administrative upheavals in the sport's administration would not be major news, but with the England Squash hosting the British Open, the most important title in Squash, in June, and with roughly half of the top twenty players hailing from England, this upheaval becomes significant.

SquashPlayer reports a story this evening suggesting that Sport England, effectively the UK governing body for sports, forced a replacement of the management of England Squash. This move was reportedly based on several months of close monitoring of the workings of England Squash. Because much of the funding for England Squash comes from the government, this gives Sport England effective control which they apparently exerted by forcing resignation of the existing management board of England Squash.

This puts into doubt initiatives ranging from their so called "World Class Performance Program" (which enticed Peter Nicol to change National allegiance) and the upcoming British Open plans for June.

AND ON COURT
Meanwhile, on court the only excitement was provided on the women's side where Vicky Botwright took a two game to zero lead over Fiona Geaves before wilting under Geaves steady pressure in a sixty minute battle. Highly favored Peter Nicol, Nick Talyor, and Linda Charman-Smith all won easily.

Results, second half of the quarterfinals:

Mens:
[1] Peter Nicol (Yorks) bt [10] Peter Genever (Sussex) 15/8, 15/5, 15/11 46m
[9] Nick Taylor (Lancs) bt [13] Nick Matthew (Yorks) 15/10, 15/6, 15/7 41m

Women's Quarter-Finals (bottom half)
[3] Fiona Geaves (Glos) bt [7] Vicky Botwright (Lancs) 7/9, 7/9, 9/3, 9/5, 9/1 60m
[2] Linda Charman-Smith (Sussex) bt Jenny Tranfield (Yorks) 9/0, 9/2, 9/0 24m