England’s Simon Herbert and Georgina Kennedy have been crowned the 2026 British National Squash Champions after claiming respective victories over Sam Todd and Jasmine Hutton on finals day at St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club in Weybridge.
World No.56 Herbert secured the first British Nationals title of his career with a gutsy 11-9, 12-10, 13-11 victory over No.4 seed Todd, while British No.1 Kennedy claimed her second British Nationals crown with a 13-11, 11-7, 2-11, 11-6 triumph over No.2 seed Hutton.
For Herbert, the victory capped off a remarkable week of squash in which he dropped just a single game. Coming into this week, the 24-year-old had never won a main draw match at the British Nationals, but after victories over Ismail Khalil, Curtis Malik, Perry Malik and Todd, his name now joins an illustrious list of former champions.
Herbert continued to show his sublime attacking play throughout today’s title decider, holding the edge in the opening two games with his consistent pressure in the front two corners.
Todd responded in the third with more frequent use of height on the front wall, but saw two game balls slip through his grasp. Herbert capitalised on this brief window of opportunity to win the subsequent tie-break and move through to victory after 50 minutes of play.
After the match, Herbert said: “It was an incredible performance. I was so much more consistent than usual. I’m never normally standing here doing the speech. All credit to Sam; he gave me a really tough time, especially in those second and third games. It just all came together this week.
“I just played as though it wasn’t Sam and it was just a normal match. I’m normally quite nervous, but I just tried to be as relaxed as possible.
“A massive thank you to everyone who came and all those who are supporting me at home today. Especially Rob [Owen]; he’s probably grimacing at some of the tins I’m hitting, but ultimately he instils a very hard mentality in me.”
World No.8 Kennedy, meanwhile, added a second British Nationals title to her resume, holding off World No.12 Hutton in a high-quality four-game encounter.
The top seed edged a back-and-forth opening game 13-11 after Hutton had fought back from 10-7 down, before taking the second 11-7 to move within one game of the title.
Two-time champion Hutton, though, refused to go down without a fight, flying through a one-sided third game with a flurry of attacking play. However, a change of ball request at the start of the fourth allowed Kennedy to re-establish her dominance in the contest, with her consistently accurate hitting helping her through to lift the trophy after 53 minutes of play.
“Jaz and I always go back-and-forth when we play,” Kennedy said after the match. “It shows how good and disruptive she is, because I felt I had a really good summer. I’ve felt really confident with my hitting and what I’m trying to do out there, but even though I won the first two games, I did not feel comfortable out there at all.
“I didn’t feel like I was in control, and that’s a testament to her ability. The change of ball really helped me at the end of the third game, but that was such a tough match.”
Men’s Final: [5] Simon Herbert (ENG) bt [4] Sam Todd (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 12-10, 13-11 (50m)
Women’s Final: [1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt [2] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 11-7, 2-11, 11-6 (54m)
