UniSport Guildford v Exeter Diamonds - Tue 4th Nov

Preview from Ian Robinson as Guildford take on the high-flying newcomers ...

UniSport Guildford v Exeter Diamonds
Gilly Lane v Jonathon Kemp
Stacey Ross v Mohamed El Shorbagy
Steve Meads v Rob Sutherland
Jamie Mathews v Peter Creed
Alison Waters v Tory Temple-Murray

We welcome new boys to PSL, Exeter Diamonds for our second home match of the PSL season. Driven on by the motivational win against south coast rivals PNH Properties Chichester, UniSport Guildford entertain their guests in good spirits and no little optimism. Exeter Diamonds are setting a fast pace at the top of the league table so far this season and this will be a very challenging night for the UniSport Guildford team.

Jesse Engelbrecht is on PSA absence with tournament duty in Canada, so the team is led for the first time by American Gilly Lane making his debut in UniSport colours. Gilly has spent time in Guildford training in the past and is no stranger to local members. He has driven his world ranking up to number 86 and is making a impressive impact on the PSA scene. Englishman Jonathon Kemp is the opposition at number 1 string for Exeter Diamonds, he has a world ranking of 31. The odds here are stacked against UniSport Guildford, but it will be a good measure of how much progress Gilly has made.

There is a mouth-watering match at number 2 string with local hero Stacey Ross matched against Mohamed El Shorbagy. The Egyptian is World Junior Champion and is making his debut for Exeter Diamonds and is on fire at the moment. He recently won through to the quarter finals of the World Open where he finally succumbed to the World number 1, Amr Shabana. Stacey Ross always enjoys his encounter with the Egyptian but it will be interested to find out how the two players match up now. The fear is that Shorbagy may well have put some distance between the two of them and it make take a super human effort for Ross to make much headway.

In the middle order the evergreen Steve Meads may well have too much experience for Rob Sutherland and Jamie Mathews is given a second opportunity to show his mettle after a good debut performance against Chichester. Alison Waters has the opportunity to take a look at the next generation of English squash players in Tory Temple-Murray, but should know too much to dent the Guildford players increasing unbeaten record.

We look forward to a great evening of squash.

Ian Robinson