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20-Apr, Final:
Boswell bags Berkshire crown ...
David Johnson reports, photos from Seth Packard
 A
packed house was treated to a wonderful display of squash and
sportsmanship this afternoon in the finals of the 2010 True North
Berkshire Open, as the tourney’s top two seeds, Alister Walker and
Stewart Boswell, squared off to decide the title. Neither had been
seriously threatened on their way to the final, and for those
following the tournament carefully, this match-up had been
anticipated since day one of the tournament. They were not to be
disappointed.
The contrast in styles was readily apparent from the first point on,
as the fluid, graceful, lithe movement of Alister matched up evenly
against the tall, lanky, angularity of Stewart: one player darting,
stretching and dodging around the court; and the other, holding the
T at all costs—stretching or volleying to cut the ball off—only
going to the back wall when Alister’s rails were as tight as
wallpaper (and they often were!) or if his cross court angle carried
the ball just out of reach.
And, the stroking? Superb for both—but quite different. Alister’s
supple wrist—his hand as loose as can be and still hold the racquet
(just with his fingers!), cradling and carving the ball like an
artist with his brush. And, Stewart—a strong grip, wielding the
racquet with the precision of a surgeon guiding his scalpel—the
racquet head a pendulum swinging identically through its path
time-after-time..
Game one to Stewart in overtime, 12-10. The play was back and forth;
an early 5-2 Boswell lead disappeared quickly to 5-5 and from that
point, the two traded back and forth points all the way to 12-10.
Game two was all Alister, with his movement now up-tempo and his
touch producing lovely, soft straight-drops and tantalizing lobs way
up there! It seemed as if he had found the answer to Stewart’s
position ball and precise ball control; the twisting and turning
taking its toll of Boswell’s ability to recover his balance quickly
enough to move for the next ball. An 11-2 wipe-out—in just a matter
of minutes!—looked to have turned the tide in Walker’s favor.
But, then?
Two relatively routine games—and the title!—to Boswell, 11-7, 11-4.
What was the difference? A subtle one of tempo and control to be
sure. Perhaps just a slight tinge of fatigue for Walker; and, for
certain crisp, beautifully weighted hitting down the rails for
Boswell—nearly every ball to perfect length or width. Each point
following a similar script: Boswell gradually pushing Walker farther
and farther out of position until a well-executed straight drop or
drive would put the finishing touch on the point. A chess master
closing carefully and calculatingly for mate by playing to a
succession of checks.
 Warm
and generous applause greeted both players as they emerged from the
court post-handshake, followed by: recognition of the Head Referee,
Brad Burke; the introduction of the True North Vice-President Rob
Abel and his appropriate sponsor remarks and thanks to Tournament
Director Zafi Levy; trophy and check presentations; and, heartfelt
thanks and articulate observations from each player.
The bottom line: Stewart Boswell over Alister Walker, 12-10, 2-11,
11-7, 11-4 in 62 minutes, for the 2010 True North Berkshire Open
title.
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 Berkshire
Open 2010
06-11 Apr, Williamstown, MA, Usa, $25k |
Round One
08 Apr, from 13.00 |
Quarters
09 Apr |
Semis
10 Apr |
Final
11 Apr |
[1] Alister Walker (Eng)
11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (39m)
Ryan Thompson (Nam) |
[1] Alister Walker
6/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/6 (50m)
[6] Gilly Lane |
[1] Alister Walker
12-10, 11-7, 11-2 (40m)
[4] Joey Barrington |
[1] Alister Walker
12-10, 2-11, 11-7, 11-4 (62)
[2] Stewart Boswell |
[6] Gilly Lane (Usa)
11-9, 11-4, 11-9 (44m)
[Q] Tom Pashley (Eng) |
[4] Joey Barrington (Eng)
11-4, 11-6, 11-9
Scott Arnold (Aus) |
[4] Joey Barrington
11-7, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7 (81m)
[7] Robbie Temple |
[7] Robbie Temple (Eng)
8-11 12-10 9-11 11-7 11-6 (73m)
[Q] Bradley Hindle (Mlt) |
[Q] Shawn Delierre (Can)
3/1 (55m)
[8] Jan Koukal (Cze) |
[Q] Shawn Delierre
9-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 (79m)
[3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez |
[Q] Shawn Delierre
11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (25m)
[2] Stewart Boswell |
[Q] Olivier Pett (Eng)
11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (38m)
[3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col) |
Zac Alexander (Aus)
11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (46m)
[5] Julien Balbo (Fra) |
[5] Julien Balbo
11/2, 11/6, 11/7 (30m)
[2] Stewart Boswell |
David Phillips (Can)
11-6, 11-6 rtd (16m)
[2] Stewart Boswell (Aus) |
07-Apr, Qualifying Finals:
Bradley Hindle bt
Tyler Hamilton
11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (35m)
Tom Pashley bt Lewis Walters
4-11, 11-4, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8 (75m)
Olivier Pett bt James Snell
11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 11-3 (55m)
Shawn Delierre bt Wade Johnstone
11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7 (58m)
06-Apr, Qualifying Round One:
Bradley Hindle bt Fred Reid
11-9 11-3 11-9
Tyler Hamilton bt Paul Mathieson
11-5 11-5 12-10
Tom Pashley bt Joseph Ehalen
11-3 11-3 11-5
Lewis Walters bt Graham Bassett
12-14 11-5 11-5 9-11 11-5
Olivier Pett bt Matt Serediak
11-9 11-4 11-5
James Snell bt Luke Forster
11-8 11-2 11-6
Shawn Delierre bt Neil Hitchens
9-11 11-7 11-9 11-9
Wade Johnstone bt Josh Cardwell
6-11 11-6 11-9 11-7
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19-Apr, Semis:
Top seeds make Berkshire final ...
David Johnson reports, photos from Seth Packard
The first game proved to be the decider as top seed Alister
Walker met fourth seed Joey Barrington in the first
semi-final encounter in the 2010 True North Berkshire Open.
Alister nursed a small lead to game ball at 10-8 only to have Joey
tie it up at 10-10, but two short rallies later, Alister had hit one
ball to great length and played another short that left Joey
standing flat-footed.
It was all the momentum Alister needed, and coupled with what seemed
to be a tweaked hamstring of Joey’s right leg, the match got away
from him quickly.
The second semi paired number two seed, Stewart Boswell,
against qualifier Shawn Delierre, but Shawn could not produce
another magical upset, or maybe it was just that Stewart was too
precise and too consistent in imposing his style on the match-up.
Stewart established his tactically sound strategy from the get-go
and then executed to perfection, pinning Sean deep in the corners
and then moving him up front with tight-to-the-wall drops. Left with
too few opportunities to get clean swings at balls and no license
from Head Referee, Brad Burke, to indulge in his tactically-based
let calling, Sean fell meekly in 25 minutes.
When asked if not be challenged in route to the finals might be a
problem in terms of sharpness and match toughness, Stewart
commented:
“It’s been great for my legs and my health to have had a relatively
easy path to the finals, but I’ll have to be ready to step it up
big-time in the next round against an opponent who soundly
trounced me the last time we played.”
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09-Apr, Quarters:
Delierre sails into semis ...
David Johnson reports, photos from Seth Packard
AIn a match-up of similar styles and tempo of play, the veteran of
this English duo, Joey Barrington, wore down his
younger-by-seven years opponent, Robbie Temple. After an hour
of squash the lads had only split the first two games—11-7 to Joey
and then 13-11 to Robbie—and with little to choose between them in
terms of style and tempo, it looked to be a long evening of hard
hitting and amazing court coverage.
Fitness never became an issue,
but court position and accuracy were, as Robbie let slide his
ability to maintain focus and discipline in sustaining a quality
level of play, dropping the final two stanzas: 11-6, 11-7. Match
time: 81 minutes.
 The second game was crucial, but
I stepped up my play in the third and fourth – I volleyed a lot
more. It was a brutal match, around an hour and forty minutes, and
Robbie is a great opponent; he’s got a great game and a great
future. I was very happy to make it through to the semis.
 I felt a little uncomfortable out there on the court – we had some tough
conditions with both the court and the ball that required some
adjustment. I tried to play safe by hitting length and avoiding
tins, but I don’t think I did a very good job. Joey was able to
handle the conditions and the pressure better.
 Shawn Delierre continued his
upset run in the 2010 Berkshire Open this evening by upending world
ranked #30, Miguel Angel Rodriquez, who was seeded #3 in this
year’s event. The word “let” took over a significant portion of the
play and clearly affected the rhythm and tempo of the Columbian, who
had won the first game 11-9, and was controlling play with creative
combos of mis-directs and nimble-footed quickness.
Then,
surprisingly, he lost his momentum and the next three games: 12-10,
11-8, 11-8. A fourth game lead of 5-0 seemed to put Rodriquez back
in his confident, deceptive first-game mode, but Shawn refused to
yield—and refused to be fooled!—and with error-free positional play
earned his way back into the match with a 10 point run which took
the heart out of Rodriquez’s retrieving. It was 79 minutes, but that
included a significant portion of verbal play, which unfortunately,
detracted the gallery from appreciating the true quality of Shawn’s
play.
 I am very happy
to have taken the win today. After the second game, there was a
point where I felt like I couldn’t pull it out, but I stayed in the
game and looked for weaknesses. I was able to take advantage of some
of his lows, and I rode that wave back into the match for the win.
 I had a very tough time today – there were so many lets called, and
the play stopped so often. Physically I felt fine for the entire
match, but it was very difficult to deal with that kind of game.
A packed house was thrilled to see
American-born, former UPenn star, Gilly Lane take the first
game at 6 from world-ranked #14 Alister Walker and then go to
8-8 in the second game before Alister squeezed another level of
length, court-position and touch out of his built-for-squash
physique to turn the match in his favor, winning going away: 11-8,
11-6, 11-6 in a well-played and entertaining 50 minute match.
Gilly
has been on a great run as he charges up the ranking list and this
tournament result will surely improve his confidence to play with
the best and his already career-high world standing of #52. As for
Alister, he delivered a breathtaking level of talent and athleticism
that demonstrated why he is clearly a player-to-watch on the world
stage.
 I had never played
Gilly before, so he was a bit of an unknown for me. He came out
strong, attacking a lot in the first two games, but after that first
part I was able to take control and finish the job.
 Alister’s very good on the volley and he has strong side-to-side
movement, and I tried hard to get the ball around him and get in
front. Towards the end he managed to slow down the pace – I think
part of it was that he just has more experience at this level.
For the second evening in a row,
Stewart Boswell closed out play at the 2010 True North Berkshire
Open with a commanding display of precision stroking and beautifully
weighted length, this time against world-ranked #55 Julien Balbo:
11-2, 11-6, 11-7 in a routine 30 minute match.
He remained almost
totally error-free—at least when it counted—kept Julien pinned to
the back wall and reminded all in attendance why he was once the #4
player in the world. Yet to be tested here on the glass walled
court, he will clearly be well-rested for tomorrow evening’s
semi-final encounter against upset-minded Shawn Delierre.
 The ball played so
fast, and I got some lucky breaks in the first part of the match,
and this helped me to build some momentum that carried me right
through to the finish.
 This is the second time I played Stewart; he beat me last time as
well. I know we started late tonight, but that issue was the same
for both of us. He was just too strong for me.
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08-Apr, Round One:
Delierre joins seeds in quarters
David Johnson reports:
A packed gallery of fans were ready to lend all their energy to
their adopted hometown hero Ryan Thompson’s effort to upend
theTrue North Berkshire Open’s top seed, Alister Walker, but
alas—despite an amazingly high level of play—Walker proved why he is
one of the very best players in the world. Ryan has spent the year
with the Williams College Men’s and Women’s Teams and has earned the
affection and gratitude of the squash community here for his
commitment to their collective improvement and his willingness to
spend hours on court with them—anytime. The crowd was appreciative
of Ryan’s efforts on court and equally impressed with the effortless
grace and racquet work of Walker . Match score was 11-7, 11-5, 11-5
in 39 minutes.
Gilly Lane, continuing to ride the wave of improving play and
results in his young career, made rather routine work of his English
opponent, Tom Pashley, in a 44 minute first-rounder here at
the True North Berkshire Open: 11-9, 11-4, 11-9. His control of the
court and the weight of his stroking proved too much for Pashley,
who was no doubt feeling the effects of two previous rounds of
qualifying.
On the surface, the score indicates a lopsided result. In actuality,
the play was considerably closer, highlighted by long rallies to
length and sold, defensive retrieving from both players. But,
perhaps showing his greater level of experience, Joey Barrington
won all of the long rallies and all of the key points in route to a
much-closer-than-the-score indicates three nil victory over Scott
Arnold: 11-4, 11-6, 11-9. The course of play can be best
summarized by the final two points from 9-9 in the third: a
debatable stroke called against Arnold to give Barrington a match
point and then a framed winner from the back ball that crawled—in
agonizing slow motion—just over the tin to end the match.
Robbie Temple, always a crowd favorite but sometimes his own
worst enemy, had to battle himself and an amazingly tough and
determined Bradley Hindle in an afternoon match here at the
True North Berkshire Open. Down 2-1 in games, Robbie had to pull his
emotions together and cut down on his errors to finally pull away
from a tiring Hindle, who no doubt was the feeling the effects of
two rounds of qualifying by the time he arrived at the fifth and
final. Score: 8-11 12-10 9-11 11-7 11-6 Match length: 73 minutes.
Shawn Delierre, who had already battled through two rounds of
qualifying, continued his strong play with a first round upset of
Jan Koukal, world ranked #63. Shawn’s whirlwind style and testy
temperament, which at one time had put him at #40 in the world,
proved too much for the less-energized, Czech-born Koukal who went
down in a close four-game struggle, 11-6 in the fourth in a 55
minute all-court battle.
Olivier Pett hung in there against one of the more talented
racquet-wizards on tour, Miguel Angel Rodriquez, but in the
end, the Columbian had too many shots and too much quickness up
front as he recorded a straight game victory: 11-8, 11-8, 11-6.
Rodriquez is wonderfully creative and very tough to read, with an
endless array of holds, feints and misdirects, which forced Pett
either into positions he could not recover from or into errors from
trying for too good a shot. Match time: 38 minutes.
Julien Balbo was too consistent and too strong for his
opponent, Zac Alexander, in the first match of the True North
Berkshire Open this afternoon, winning in a rather routine three
games: 11-9, 11-7, 11-5. Zac was equally as athletic as his older,
more experienced opponent, but unforced errors and inability to
survive the battle of court position proved his undoing in this 46
minute encounter.
The final pairing of the first round got off to a great start, and
with the first game score knotted at 4-4, it looked to be a great
match-up. But, unfortunately, David Phillips was forced to
retire with an ankle injury which he had been nursing along for the
past two weeks in the hope that it could be ready this evening. It
was not to be, and after a perfunctory showing in the second game,
he shook Stewart Boswell's hand to a warm reception
from the crowd to end a great evening of squash. Officially, the
final score was 11-6, 11-6, retired in 16 minutes.
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07-Apr-10, Qualifying Finals:
Fantastic night of squash at the
2010 Berkshire Squash Open
Zafi Levy reports:
As the McWil crew finished building the glass court a day early than
expected all four qualifying finals were be played all glass court
at Chandler Gym.
The first match of the night between Lewis Walters and Tom Pashley
provided an hour and a half of solid squash. Pashley looked strong
throughout the night despite excellent the performance of Walters.
Olivier Pett played fantastic squash to beat James Snell. Pett,
ranked 190 in the world often played a top 100 standard to dominate
the T throughout the match.
Bradley Hindle defeated Tyler Hamilton in three games. Hamilton, one
of the top young Canadians could not adjust to Hindle’s tight game.
Hindle is in top form and will be hard to beat.
Shawn Delierre won both his qualifying matches in close five games.
Tonight, Shawn beat a strong Wade Johnston in the match of the
night. Shawn gave up a two game lead only to secure the win in a
close fifth game. Shawn, forced out of action play for more than six
months due to a leg injury, is looking to extend his run at the
Berkshire Squash Open when he takes on Jan Koukal tomorrow night.
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