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27-Nov, Finals:
[1] Stewart Boswell
bt [2] Jonathan Kemp
11/3, 12/10, 11/5 (29m)
[1] Emma Beddoes
bt [5] Victoria Lust
11/7, 12/10, 11/8 (38m)
 Finals'
day at the Coronation London Open at the Cumberland club, and we had
the honour to have with us in the public the legendary former world
#2 Hiddy Jahan awaiting the clash between Emma Beddoes and
Victoria Lust in the women's final and between Stewart Boswell and
Jonathan Kemp in the men's.
BEDDOES, COMPACT, COMPOSED, COMPLETE
Emma Beddoes, the #1seed started slightly nervous but regrouped at
the middle of the first game to show who is the more mature player
between the two. Young and very promising Victoria Lust, the #5
seed, hits the ball very well, but rally-decisive shots such as lob
and drop have to be revisited to fulfil her rightly prospective
potentials.
Beddoes has a nice compact swing which makes it hard to her
opponents to read her shots, next to this she is very strong at
taking off the pace of her opponents' shot, in other words, she's
got a delicate drop that makes her win a lot's of rallies. All
credit to Lust, she almost picked up the second game, but again,
Beddoes attitude in important moments is clearly more relaxed and
that made her win the second game.
The third was still a close affair, but there was little chance to
see Lust coming back against such a complete a relaxed player that
Beddoes is.
BOSWELL JUST LETHAL
Stewart Boswell, the #1 seed, coming into the final, hasn't lost a
game and looked very fresh and hungry, almost like a hungry
on-the-rise young player.
But also his opponent, the #2 seed Jonathan Kemp looked very much in
form throughout the tournament. Expectation were therefore high, the
majority of the crowd expecting a five-setter, just as at their last
encounter on the PSA tour in 2006. Boswell, a former world #4, is so
clinical with the racket and such an intelligent mover, whereas Kemp
has so much pace and such intriguing racketskills.
Everything looked to be ready for a great clash of styles. It didn't
really happen, for the simple reason that Boswell outplayed Kemp
basically in the same way as he did with his previous opponents.
Kemp did nothing wrong, really, just there was no way to put Boswell
under any kind of pressure this time. Pro squash players I have
talked with after the match confirmed that they haven't seen Boswell
playing and mainly moving that well for quiet a while.
If we have a look at the results, it's pretty convincing: Boswell
has won all of his matches within or around 30 minutes (except
against Razik but that's normal), and he's many games to 2,3 and 4.
The gentleman was just overwhelming this late November in London.
 Overall
it was a great week of squash here at West-Hampstead in London. The
sponsors were happy to see the strongest ever draw at the London
Open and tournament director Zubair Jahan Kahn, a former
world #8, firmly belives that things just go the right track to make
the tournament grow even bigger. In any case, calender-wise, the
tournament is very well scheduled.
As Canary Wharf is played around early spring, for the London squash
enthusiast it's definitely great to have another quality squash
event in London half a year later around late autumn. We wish Zubair
and his team good luck for the further events
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 Coronation
London Open 2010
22-27 Nov, Cumberland Club, $20k |
Round One
24 Nov |
Quarters
25 Nov |
Semis
26 Nov |
Final
27 Nov |
[1] Stewart Boswell (Aus)
11/8, 11/7, 11/2 (35m)
Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) |
[1] Stewart Boswell
11/4, 12/10, 11/2 (30m)
[7] Arturo Salazar |
[1] Stewart Boswell
1/2, 11/4, 11/4 (47m)
[3] Shahier Razik |
[1] Stewart Boswell
11/3, 12/10, 11/5 (29m)
[2] Jonathan Kemp |
[7] Arturo Salazar (Mex)
11/9, 11/6, 11/4 (35m)
Mark Krajcsak (Hun) |
[3] Shahier Razik (Can)
17/15, 11/7, 11/8 (45m)
[Q] Bradley Hindle (Mlt) |
[3] Shahier Razik
12/10, 9/11, 11/4, 11/3 (45m)
[Q] Joe Lee |
[8] Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
11/5, 11/7, 11/1 (25m)
[Q] Joe Lee (Eng) |
[Q] Eddie Charlton (Eng)
12/10, 11/8, 11/1 (43m)
[6] Chris Ryder (Eng) |
[6] Chris Ryder
11/5, 11/9, 4/11, 9/11, 11/6 (84m)
[4] Miguel Angel Rodrigues |
[6] Chris Ryder
11/3, 8/11, 11/3, 12/10 (36m)
[2] Jonathan Kemp |
Ben Coleman (Eng)
11/3, 12/10, 11/9 (45m)
[4] Miguel Angel Rodrigues (Col) |
Yann Perrin (Fra)
11/8, 11/6, 13/15, 11/2 (73m)
[5] Joey Barrington (Eng) |
[5] Joey Barrington
11/7, 11/9, 11/6 (33m)
[2] Jonathan Kemp |
[Q] Kristian Frost Olesen (Den)
11/3, 5/11, 11/9, 11/7 (55m)
[2] Jonathan Kemp (Eng) |
23-Nov,
Qualifying Finals:
Bradley Hindle (Mlt) bt
Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/9, 9/11, 11/7, 11/6 (64m)
Joe Lee (Eng) bt Jens Schoor (Ger)
11/3, 11/6, 5/11, 11/4 (40m)
Kristian Frost Olesen (Den) bt Jaymie Haycocks (Eng)
11/9, 11/8, 11/13, 12/10 (83m)
Eddie Charlton (Eng) bt Robbie Temple (Eng)
11/6, 11/8, 11/4 (27m)
22 Nov,
Qualifying Round One:
Julien Balbo (Fra) bt Neil
Hitchens (Eng)
13/11, 13/11, 8/11, 11/9 (55m)
Bradley Hindle (Mlt) bt Adam Fuller (Eng)
11/3, 11/1, 11/2 (25m)
Joe Lee (Eng) bt Zubair Jahan Khan (Pak)
11/2, 11/2, 11/3 (27m)
Jens Schoor (Ger) bt Adil Maqbool (Pak)
11/9, 11/5, 11/8 (38m)
Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) bt Ben Ford (Eng)
11/9, 8/11, 11/8, 11/8 (63m)
Kristian Frost Olesen (Den) bt Lewis Walters (Eng)
11/13, 11/5, 11/5, 13/11 (69m)
Eddie Charlton (Eng) bt Obaid Jahan (Pak)
11/7, 11/8, 11/5 (35m)
Robbie Temple (Eng) bt Reuben Phillips (Eng)
11/5, 11/2, 12/10 (28m)
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Coronation London Open 2010
22-27 Nov, Cumberland Club, $20k |
Round One
24 Nov |
Quarters
25 Nov |
Semis
26 Nov |
Final
27 Nov |
[1] Emma Beddoes (Eng)
11/4, 11/3, 11/4 (25m)
[Q] Zephanie Curgenven (Eng) |
[1] Emma Beddoes
11/5, 11/6, 11/2 (25m)
[7] Lauren Selby |
[1] Emma Beddoes
11/5, 11/6, 11/4
[4] Nicolette Fernandes |
[1] Emma Beddoes
11/7, 12/10, 11/8 (38m)
[5] Victoria Lust |
[7] Lauren Selby (Eng)
11/6, 11/4, 6/11, 7/11, 11/6 (50m)
Leonie Holt (Eng) |
[4] Nicolette Fernandes (Guy)
11/8, 11/1, 11/9 (25m)
Olga Ertlova (Cze) |
[4] Nicolette Fernandes
11/3, 15/13, 8/11, 11/6 (55m)
[Q] Sarah-Jane Perry |
[6] Sarah Cardwell (Aus)
11/8, 11/5, 11/9 (33m)
[Q] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) |
[Q] Tesni Evans (Wal)
9/11, 11/7, 11/4, 11/8 (40m)
[8] Linda Hruzikova (Svk) |
[Q] Tesni Evans
13/11, 11/7, 10/12, 9/11, 11/3 (60m)
[Q] Laura Hill |
[Q] Laura Hill
11/6, 11/8, 11/8 (36m)
[5] Victoria Lust |
[Q] Laura Hill (Eng)
9/11, 11/5, 11/6, 11/9 (45m)
[3] Fiona Moverley (Eng) |
Gaby Schmol (Sui)
8/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/7 (42m)
[5] Victoria Lust (Eng) |
[5] Victoria Lust
11/9, 11/9, 11/2 (25m)
[2] Lauren Briggs |
Laura Pomportes (Fra)
11/9, 11/6, 11/6 (37m)
[2] Lauren Briggs (Eng) |
23-Nov,
Qualifying Finals:
Laura Hill (Eng) bt Melissa
Alves (Fra)
11/6, 11/4, 11/1 (14m)
Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) bt Cyrielle Peltier (Fra)
11/6, 10/12, 11/3, 11/9 (33m)
Zephanie Curgenven (Eng) bt Brogan Lane (Eng)
11/3, 8/11,11/8,11/2 (35m)
Tesni Evans (Wal) bt Faustine Gilles (Fra)
11/8, 11/6, 12/10 (30m)
22-Nov, Qualifying Round One:
Melissa Alves (Fra) bt
Sam Mueller (Eng)
11/5, 11/5, 12/10 (35m)
Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) bt Saara Valtola (Fin)
11/6, 11/5, 11/5 (30m)
Tesni Evans (Wal) bt Julia Lecoq (Fra)
11/5, 11/5, 11/13, 11/0 (37m)
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26-Nov:
Semi-Finals
TJ reports
Jonathan Kemp (bt) Chris Ryder (3-1)
 From the word go, Kemp was on fire: skilful deadly drop-volleys
on the stretch, trickle-boasts and flat kills from all part of the
court, 11:3 to Kemp. Ryder, intelligent player he is, regrouped and
tightened it up in the second to produce some spectacular winners
himself which allowed him to equalize. Third again was a quick
affair, Kemp again demonstrating both fine touch and hurricane type
pace, 11:3 again.
Fourth game went point by point with Kemp having
match-balls at 10:8. Ryder saved them both, just to serve at 10 all
and see Kemp's return fading and dying into the side-wall, 11:10,
third match-ball: Kemp serves into the back-wall nick and over it
was. The players had a good laugh afterwards with Kemp admitting
that he has never finished a match with two such lucky shots.
Stewart Boswell (bt) Shahier Razik (3-0)
 Expectations were high on this one: two very refined players, both
very clinical and patient and capable to hit the ball accurately for
hours. Well, Razik was slightly off today, his movement seamed to be
affected, it was not as fluid as it generally is and Boswell was
dictating a high pace wrong-footing the Canadian more than once in
every single rally.
And that's a big word as Razik is an excellent
'reader' of the game in general. Still, 47 minutes for such a
score-line (11:2,4,4) is a funny head-line for itself.
Victoria Lust (bt) Laura Hill (3-0)
Victoria Lust's pace is just so high and she is also moving well.
She is not lacking fighting spirit and determination either. Laura
Hill did very well to gain a good lead in the third, but it was not
be tonight, she was slightly slower compared to last night, but this
is understandable with the two plus matches she had to go through in
the qualifications.
Emma Beddoes (bt) Nicolette Fernandes (3-0)
 High paced match again, with Beddoes clearly having the edge in
terms of shot-selection and variation. Fernandes is a great
competitor and strong athlete, but at this level taking the pace off
your opponents shots is at least as important as being capable to
hit the ball hard, and this part of her game is to be improved yet.
Beddoes is looking very composed, she is yet to lose a game in this
tournament, but tomorrow in the final she will definitely have a
tough up-and-coming opponent in the person of Victoria Lust.
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25-Nov:
Quarter-Finals
TJ reports
Chris Ryder bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez 3:2 (84 min.)
Ryder played some precise 'scientific' squash in the first two
games, containing Rodriguez's speed and not allowing him any angles
to benefit from his racket-skills. After being 0:2 down, Rodriguez
fought back to 2:2 by raising the pace of his game which seamed to
be the right tactical choice against Ryder's accuracy. However,
Ryder has managed to adapt to it in the fifth and caused a
well-deserved upset in the first quarter-final match of the day.
Shahier Razik bt Joe Lee 3:1 (45 min.)
Razik, not like Bianchetti yesterday, was visibly aware of the
danger that up-and-coming Joe Lee presented to him. Lee has become
just such an intriguing player to watch, such a shot-maker from any
part of the court. But we all know what a tricky trap Shahier Razik
is: he makes you adapt to his rhythm, and if you try to avoid it by
raising the pace or by 'going for it', then he makes you commit the
errors. On top of that, he's got such fantastic balance, both
physically in his movement and mentally when being down; he just
stays so calm and relaxed all the time, no rush at all, even in
situation where the majority of the players would rush to hit a
winner, he is fine with making his opponent run and scrap the ball
off the side-wall again and again...To get back to the match: The
first two sets were split, both playing their games on very high
standard. In the third and fourth Lee probably got tired, maybe more
mentally than physically, and Razik closed it out comfortably 3:1 in
only 45 minutes ('only' for Razik's marathon standards)
Jonathan Kemp bt Joey Barrington 3:0 (33 min.)
Kemp was merciless. It's great to see the tall guy with the big pace
back in form. All credit to Barrington who still tried even though
having to carry some minor injury, but there was no way he could
have past by tonight the defending champion of the Coronation London
Open.
Stewart Boswell bt Arturo Salazar 3-0 (32 min.)
Salazar, last night, has outplayed with ease the Hungarian champion,
Mark Krajcsak. One could have thought he might have probably even
produce some tough resistance to Stewart Boswell. It was not to be.
The number one seed demonstrated some astonishing world-class squash
to eliminate the promising young Mexican's main weapon: his speed.
Boswell was just so accurate, so precise, he even raised his pace
compared to the kind of standard he generally is operating with;
there was so much variation in his game, Salazar just never really
knew where to expect the next shot. He still gave Boswell some hard
time in the second, but the world number nineteen regrouped to avoid
any superfluous 'questions' by outplaying Salazar 11:2 in the third.
Laura Hill bt Tesni Evans 3-2 (60 mins)
A big match for the two qualifiers who have made it both to the
quarter finals. Experienced Hill took the first two sets, young and
talented Evans did extremely well to get back to two all. But four
games today and three other matches in her legs from the previous
rounds were just a bit too much to resist to Hill's composure and
accuracy in the fifth.
Victoria Lust bt Lauren Briggs 3-0 (25 mins)
High standard match between the two British players, with the
younger Lust winning the deciding points in the first two games to
go 2:0 up in a surprisingly high-paced game. Third game was just a
formality, Briggs having broken down both mentally and physically.
Nicolette Fernandes bt Sarah-jane Perry 3-1 (55m)
What an exciting player Nicolette Fernandez is! Beating the ball so
hard and grabbing out tough balls from all the four corners of the
court at any time. Perry seamed to be outplayed in the first, but
got it more tight in the second to contain Fernandes' pace and was
definitely unlucky not to take that game. All credit to her, she
didn't give up mentally and took the third set with some good
variations. But fourth went again to Fernandes and it will be her
who the appreciating public of the Cumberland TLC might watch
playing again in the semis.
Emma Beddoes bt Lauren Selby 3-0 (25 mins)
Beddoes has just such a compact racket-preparation (almost
Darwish-like) which makes her shots disguised and Selby was
struggling a lot to get any 'reading' of her game. The number one
seed was just too strong for Daryl's sister tonight.
Semifinals action will start at 17.00 at The Cumberland TLC, 25
Alvanley Gardens, London NW6 1JD. Men and women will play on the
same court, therefore visitors might witness 4 world-class matches
for the price of one ticket. If you are into squash and in London,
it might be a program to be considered before going out for dinner
Friday night:
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24-Nov:
Men's Round One
TJ reports
Miguel Angel Rodriguez bt Ben Colemen 3-0
Rodriguez is such an addition to any PSA tournament:
out-of-this-world leg and hand-speed, great deception and total
commitment, a real pleasure to watch. Well, squash is a pretty
physical sport, so if you are able to add some style and even some
sense of humour to your solutions, then you are a great player in my
eyes. And Rodriguez, a bit like John White back in the times, is
able to offer this to the public. Let's don't omit the fact that
apart from the first game, young up-and-coming Ben Coleman did also
a very solid job, recovering tough balls and not afraid of
initiating with some quality backhand volley drops. He also seems to
have the right fighting spirit, not over-excited, but very
determined.
Chris Ryder bt Eddie Charlton 3-0
Ryder started very solid, but after 1-7 down Charlton put his cards
on the table and started to make one point after the other until
getting to 10:9 game ball. It was not to be as finally Ryder just
clinched the game 12:10. Second game was a tight affair again, both
score- and squash-wise, but it was again Ryder who demonstrated more
accuracy at the determinative stages of the game and won it 11:8.
That proved to be mentally too much for the up-and-coming Charlton -
who had a great win yesterday in the final round of the
qualifications - and the last game ended up being a just formality,
11:1 to Ryder.
Joe Lee bt David Bianchetti 3-0
That should have been a great win for Joe Lee, but it ended up being
a really easy one. Bianchetti, who's been a top 30 player for more
or less a decade, was just not present, neither physically, nor
mentally. Maybe was he under-estimating his young opponent? Maybe he
wasn't aware of the progress that Lee went through the last couple
of months? If the first two games were pretty easy for Lee, the last
one was pure execution. Lee executed Bianchetti 11:1, and Bianchetti
executed his racket in a pretty hilarious way after the last point.
Shahier Razik bt Bradley Hindle 3-0
Both players being from the classy old school of squash produced an
excellent, accurate and precise game. There was never much between
the two, and at gameball down Hindle produced the best drop shot of
the tournament so far. Razik, amazed himself, asked his opponent if
it was a mis-hit? Hindle's answer: "was meant to be a drop, maybe
not a such a great one, but still". A good 10 minutes later the game
went to Razik, 17:15. Hindle came back strong in the second, but at
4:7 down Razik made 7 points in a row to go up 2:0. Hindle seemed
pretty tired at this point, but all credit to him, as he maintained
his composure and made Razik work hard for his money.
Arturo Salazar bt Mark Krajcsak 3-0
These two have a similar game, elevated pace and rhythm, hard shots
into the back of the court, waiting for the loose ball to go short,
then recovering quickly and start again, as long as a trickle-boast
doesn't find the opponent wrong-footed (which doesn't happen often).
Today the young Mexican was just better in every part of the game, a
bit quicker, a bit more accurate and a bit more determined.
Stewart Boswell bt Mathieu Castagnet 3-0
Castagnet started the game with four outrageous winners. If you add
to this that last time they played the young French player
eventually beat the former world number 4, one could have thought
that Boswell was in trouble. Not this time though, as Boswell
regained his rightly famous composure and outplayed Castagnet in the
rest of the match.
Joey Barrington bt Yann Perrin 3-1
Not the prettiest game of the day, Barrington just steady enough,
and Perrin just committing slightly too many errors to make it a
pretty straight forward 3:1 to the Englishman.
Jonathan Kemp bt Kristian Frost 3-1
Kemp, the defending champion and number two seed, is definitely
still playing in a higher league than the young Danish player. But
still, all credit to the latter one, his mental dedication might
lack composure at times, but his physical commitment is absolutely
astonishing. He is a big bloke, but he still twists and turns, runs
and digs out impossible balls one after the other and sends them
back with some interest. If in the future he can adjust his slightly
too complicated back-swing and add some variation to his game, he
could become a very dangerous client to the top 50 players.
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23-Nov:
Men's Qualifying Finals
TJ reports
BRADLEY HINDLE bt JULIEN BALBO 3:1 (64 min)
Bradley Hindle played all the way down relaxed and precise, Julien
Balbo's initiations to go short didn't work very well, the drops
were not accurate enough and the volleys into nick tended to bounce
out.
In general Hindle seamed to read whatever Balbo was throwing at him,
and the French player got more and more frustrated as the match went
on
JOE LEE bt JENS SCHOOR 3:1 (40 min)
Joe Lee played superb squash, not afraid of going short with success
mainly on the backhand side and going a handful of times for the
volley nick when the opportunity arose.
Jens Schoor didn't do much wrong, in fact, he took the third game
with ease, but apparently Pete Genever just gave some wise advise to
his pupil who came out firing to win the fourth game and the match
in style.
Last time I saw Lee playing was in March at the Canary Wharf
qualifications, and it has to be said that the progress he's made
since on the attacking part of his game is very impressive.
KRISTIAN FROST bt JAYMIE HAYCOCKS 3:1 (83 min)
Not a pleasant encounter. Relatively one-sided first two games for
the Danish player, third game went to Haycocks in a tie-breaker, but
by this time, the tension between the two player started to go
beyond certain measures; there was constant arguing between
themselves and with the referee about the clearing of the ball and
at times one could have the impression that Olesen was pretty near
to risk a conduct stroke.
Fourth game looked like going again the Englishman's way, but Olesen,
after saving two game-balls ended up converting his first
match-ball.
EDDIE CHARLTON bt ROBBIE TEMPLE 3:0 (27 min)
Eddie Charlton made a superb demonstration of attacking squash
against Robbie Temple. Whatever he hit tonight, it was accurate:
tight and short drops, nice cross-court kill flicks with the wrist
and if in trouble great lobs and semi-lobs from his backhand side
that made Temple twist and turn a bit more than he would have wished
I guess.
Charlton has definitely the potential to do better than his current
ranking (PSA #93) would allow: he covers the court with ease, mixes
up his shots intelligently and finds the right balance between
attacking and defence. And he's a really nice lad too.
We look forward seeing him and the other three qualifiers in the
main draw on Wednesdsay. Main draw first round action, both women
and men, starts at 2 pm and will go on until around 10 pm at
Cumberland TLC, 25 Alvanley Gardens, London NW6 1JD.
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