JEFF Bond has done it again with a division one victory in the Bathurst Masters Squash tournament on Sunday.
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The defending champion from Sydney once more made his trip west to the Bathurst Panthers courts to defeat Newcastle’s Tony Whackett three games to one in the decider. It was a fitting final as the two men showed why they earned the number one and two seeds for the competition.
Bond was full of praise for the quality of play his competitors put up, which caused him some anxious moments towards the start of the final and in the lead-up.
“It’s always a good challenge against Tony. We’ve been playing against each other for a long time. I know he’s picked his act up a bit so it was a tough match. He’s had a really good tournament so it was nice to get there,” he said.
“I had a push this morning from Kevin Geyer, the local Bathurst player. He hit the ball really well. Tony beat him yesterday in four and almost walked over him in the fourth, but this time it was all the way. I was happy to see him playing that way and so was he.”
Bond raced away in the opening game of the final to take it 9-1 on points, but Whackett recovered when he levelled the games with a 9-5 score line in the second.
The momentum swung again as Bond bounced back in style to keep Whackett scoreless in the third game. The two tiring players put on some entertaining points in the final set, but Whackett missed several shots below the tin to let Bond get away to 9-3 and with it the win.
Whackett was very happy to see how much his game has lifted recently and was glad to walk away with the runner-up prize.
“I had a good weekend. I thought I played really well but Jeff just played really tight today. He put a lot of pressure on me and I just made the mistakes,” he said.
“I think I’m playing better than I was before and I’m happy with how I played through the weekend.”
Bond will return to the city in September to defend the Australian Masters.
“That’s the plan. Get here with a bit more matches and fitness under the belt and hopefully take it again. It’ll be a tough one,” he said. “Masters tournaments are always a lot of fun. Dave [Fuller, tournament organiser] and his parents always put in a huge effort. If it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t have half the amount of people here.”