LEAMNINGTON Royals began the defence of their Optasia Squash Super League (SSL) title with a comeback victory against St. Georges Hill Knights.
The Royals clinched victory on countback based on the number of individual points won across the four matches.
Leamington and St. George’s both won two of the four ties but the Royals won more individual points than their opponents to come away with an extra point and the victory.
The defending champions lost their opening two games as both Owain Taylor and Olivia Besant slipped to defeat.
Taylor suffered defeat in the club hero match as he went down 7-11, 11-9, 11-6 to the home side’s Charlie Lee.
Leamington’s club hero appeared on the brink of victory when he led 11-7, 9-5 in the second set only for Lee to fight back in a gruelling 50-minute encounter.
And Asia Harris then triumphed 11-9, 11-9 against Besant to leave the Royals on the brink of a first-ever SSL defeat.
The under-25s match proved a tight affair as Besant twice fell short in successive sets to lose in just 18 minutes.
However, Satomi Watanabe claimed an 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 victory against Alicia Mead in match three to keep the Royals in the contest.
The world number six and Japanese number one showed her class to win a three-set thriller in 31 minutes.
And Declan James beat Patrick Rooney 11-5, 11-7 in 28 minutes to restore parity.
James’s dominance ensured the Royals claimed overall victory by scoring more individual points than the Knights with the teams also tied on overall games won.
