LEAMINGTON Royals play Chichester Centurions in the grand final of the inaugural Optasia Squash Super League (SSL) season at Winchester Racquets and Fitness on Friday night.
The Royals remain the only unbeaten team in the SSL with four wins and two draws from their six pool matches.
A winning draw against St George’s Hill Knights secured Leamington’s place in the final and also top spot in the SSL standings on games won.
And the Royals have sold out their ticket allocation for the grand final in Winchester.
The grand final comprises of five matches with men’s and women’s under-25 games to take place along with club hero and men’s and women’s professional games.
And Ben Smith, world number 85, is first on court for Leamington in the men’s under-25 game against Chichester’s 171st ranked Noah Meredith.
In the women’s under-25 game, Leamington’s Olivia Besant will look to defy her 151st ranking position when she takes on 43rd ranked Torrie Malik.
The club hero game sees Leamington favourite and Wales international Owain Taylor, ranked 107th, take on former professional player Oli Pett who previously had a career-high ranking of 48th.
Following that, the professional women’s match pits Leamington’s world number seven and Japanese number one Satomi Watanabe against 15th in the world Salma Hany from Egypt.
The men’s professional match will close the grand final as Leamington’s 29th ranked Declan James faces off against 31st ranked Curtis Malik.
England’s number four ranked player James and fifth ranked player Malik both won European team gold together on the international stage.
Royals team manager and head coach, Jason Pike said: “Our main aim when recruiting was to acquire young, ambitious players, with a focus on local talent at the under-25 level, who would be excited to be involved in this new league and with a realistic chance of competing for medals at the LA Olympic Games in 2028.
“Not only have they all played extremely well in their matches, but they have also been amazing with the adults and juniors in the pre-match clinics. The opportunity for club members to get on court with some of the best players in the world has been a huge success story and truly inspirational.
“The atmosphere at home games has been absolutely incredible, with the home crowd really getting behind the Royals’ players and the camaraderie between the players and all the juniors on the front row has been a real highlight.
“At the end of the day, we entered the SSL to take part and have some fun and put Leamington on the map – we’ve done that; it didn’t cross our minds that we would get to finals night – we didn’t even budget for that – so win or lose, we’ve had a ball and the Royals’ fans will be out in force on Friday night.
“As always, none of this would have been possible without our sponsors, Napton Cidery and Arrow Precision Engineering, who are both associated with the club, and who have agreed to support this opportunity and help bring world class squash to our doorstep. A massive thanks to them for their continued support.”
