LEAMINGTON Royals booked their place in the grand final of the inaugural Optasia Squash Super League (SSL).
The Royals needed to win just one of four matches in their last pool stage fixture against St George’s Hill Knights at at Leamington Lawn Tennis and Squash Club.
And debutant Saran Nghiem took Leamington over the line with the Royals to play Chichester Centurions in the grand final
Victory for Satomi Watanabe ensured the Royals had two winners on the night with Joel Makin and Indie Flint victorious for the Knights.
The teams claimed two wins apiece and tied on five individual games meaning the number of points won settled the tie.
And the Royals won 91 points to the Knights 87 to claim the winning bonus point which saw them top the Super League table.
Leamington also finished the pool stage unbeaten with four wins and two draws from six matches.
In the first match of the night, Flint overcame Leamington’s Sam Cross in a three-game clash.
Cross recovered from a game down and 5-2 behind to take the match to a decider.
However, Flint came from three points down to win 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 in 36 minutes.
Debutant Nghiem then took to the court and claimed a straight games victory against compatriot Asia Harris.
A thumping cross-court winner sealed victory for Nghiem who romped to an 11-5, 11-3 success in just 15 minutes.
And Watanabe then won a thrilling game against Jasmine Hutton, 10-11, 11-7, 11-10, which featured two sudden-death tie-breaks.
British national champion Makin beat French number one Victor Crouin 11-9, 11-5 in the final game of the evening.
The grand final between Leamington and Chichester takes place on Friday, June 20.
