New Delhi: Top seed Englishman Nick Matthew held off team-mate James Willstrop to claim the men's singles squash title while World number one Malaysia's Nicol David added the only major title missing from her kitty, defeating Jenny Duncalf in the women's final at the Commonwealth Games here on Friday.
Matthew won a thrilling duel with his long-time rival second seed Willstrop 11-6 11-7 11-7 in 66 minutes while top seed and title favourite David edged past England's second seed Duncalf 11-3 11-5 11-7 in 40 minutes on an all-glass court at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
In the men's final, the squash was of the highest quality, with the crowd of over 200 regularly erupting at the end, or even in the middle of some of the spectacular, punishing rallies.
Matthew kept a tight grip on the first two games, and was always ahead, finishing both on his first game ball opportunities.
Second seed Willstrop, who looked tired at the end of the second game, took an early lead in the third, but more punishing rallies saw Matthew get back on level terms, and aided by some unforced errors from his opponent, moved from 6-all to 9-6.
Willstrop pulled one point back, but Matthew finished it off in style with two winners that saw him raise his arms in triumph.
Earlier, in the women's final, David finally managed to claim the gold in her fourth attempt, after competing in squash's maiden appearance in the Games in her home country in 1998 when just 15.
Her feat was all the more significant as she triumphed without dropping a game, just as she did in last month's World Open in Egypt.
The Englishwoman made a sound start, going 3-2 up in the first game, but the Malaysian's footwork and retrieving skills made the task a lot more difficult for Duncalf as David reeled off eigth points in a row with Duncalf committing a slew of unforced errors towards the end of the game.
The second was a similar story with David pulling clear after a competitive opening to take a commanding two-game lead.
A quick 3-0 start to the third for David looked ominous, but Duncalf dug in well and played her best squash, pulling it back to 3 all. But the Malaysian pulled away again, taking leads of 6-3 8-4 and reaching match ball at 10-7. That was converted first time on a stroke, and David had his gold.
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