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Madison Open 2015
12-15 Nov, Madison, USA, $5k |
15-Nov, Final:
Gillams wins all-English final in Madison
Report by cub reporter, Ahmed
Afifi
Photos by Tom McInvaille
Anthony Graham came to Madison in 2009 for his first PSA event ever
and has been back 3 more times. This is his first time making to the
final though. Angus Gillam’s sixth PSA final.
 The
unfortunate news for him is that he has lost the previous 5 times.
The Madison crowd is looking for a fun game from these two young
English players, and the bleachers are packed despite the match
overlapping the Green Bay Packers game!
Both players started the game well, varying the pace and using all
angles of the court. In spite of the many drops and hard low shots,
there were no unforced error till Angus was up 6/4. Anthony then
made two unforced errors in a row, which ended up being too costly
for him and he lost the game 11/5.
In the second, an unforced error by Angus, followed by a nice flick
by Anthony, and Anthony is up 2/0. A humongous rally follows, with
unbelievable retrieving by Angus, and it is Anthony up 3/0. He is
trying to be more attacking with his shots, and Angus is doing a lot
of retrieving.
 Either
Angus will run out of gas, or Anthony will pay for his unforced
errors. Either way, this is fun to watch! Anthony is leading, but
gets into an argument with the referee. In the middle of a long
rally and as he is running to the back of the court to retrieve
Angus’s lob, he is looking at the referee instead of the ball. That
never works well. At 8/9 down he has a stroke called against him for
his watch falling off in the middle of the point. He goes on to lose
a game he really should have won.
Not sure exactly why, but Anthony seemed to lose interest in the
game, and Angus won the third11/0. The crowd would have loved to see
more squash, particularly as Anthony has showed he has a fantastic
armamentarium of flicks and drops, and constantly was able to
anticipate Angus’s shots. As Angus noted in the post-match
interview, he had to change his game to adapt to Anthony’s attacking
squash.
 It
was a great match--even the 11/0 third game was entertaining!
Thanks to Angus , Anthony, and all the players for a great
tournament, and a huge thanks to Damon Bourne and Jonas Laursen for
a great tournament.
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  Madison
Open 2015
12-15 Nov, Madison, USA, $5k |
Round One
112 Nov |
Quarters
13 Nov |
Semis
14 Nov |
Final
15 Nov |
[1] Angus Gillams (Eng)
bye |
[1] Angus Gillams
11-9, 11-8, 11-4
[6] Jon Geekie |
[1] Angus Gillams
11-7, 11-5, 8-11,
11-8
Syed Hamzah Bukhari |
[1] Angus Gillams
11-5, 11-8,
11-0
[5] Anthony Graham
 |
[6] Jon Geekie (Sco)
11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 11-8
Ben Coates (Eng) |
[8] Italo Bonatii (Gua)
11-7, 7-11, 11-2, 11-3
Adnan Gul (Pak) |
[8] Italo Bonatii
11-8, 11-7, 1
Syed Hamzah Bukhari |
[4] Alex Noakes (Eng)
11-9, 12-10, 11-4
Syed Hamzah Bukhari (Pak) |
Juan Gomez Dominguez (Mex)
11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 11-13, 15-13
[3] Cameron Stafford (Cay) |
[3] Cameron Stafford
10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9
Emyr Evans |
Emyr Evans
12-10, 11-7, 11-9
[5] Anthony Graham |
Emyr Evans (Wal)
9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-3
[7] Mauricio Sedano (Gua) |
Bryan Custo (Mex)
11-5, 11-6, 11-7
[5] Anthony Graham (Eng) |
[5] Anthony Graham
12-10, 11-7, 11-2
[2] Reuben Phillips |
Belal Nawar (Egy)
11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 18-16
[2] Reuben Phillips (Eng) |
14-Nov, Semis:
All-English final in Madison
Report by Damon Bourne
The first semi-final, Anthony Graham v Amyr Evans, got a little
testy with some discussions with the referee. Both players not
getting the calls they wanted. Some fishing by both players didn't
help the situation, but Graham was able to keep focused enough while
not playing his best squash of the tournament to take the win in
three tightly contested games.
The highly anticipated late match featured Angus Gillams' raw
athleticism versus Hamzah Bukhari's elastic movement and clever shot
making. Some animated discussions with the ref due to some traffic
issues on the right side of court made for a tense environment, but
the match was hard fought by both players with very entertaining
all-court rallies.
Towards the end of the third, Bukhari had to stop for a three-minute
injury break to deal with a slightly rolled ankle, but he played on
and managed to squeak it out 11-8 to extend the match.
Both players were a bit tentative at the beginning of the 4th, but
Gillams got on a small roll and rattled off 4 points in a row to
pull ahead 5-3. The 22 year-old from Lahore was not finished yet and
ran off 4 points of his own to go ahead 7-5. Two more to Gillams.
One to Bukhari. Then Gillams hunkered down and closed out the
Pakistani 11-8 after a few more decisions and some frenetic playing.
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13-Nov, Quarters
Upsets abound in Madison Quarters
Anthony Graham 3-0 Reuben Phillips
Report by Eric A. Drier
The first game was full of longer rallies on the conservative side
with each player establishing their length.
Opportunities to attack were generated by tight shots resulting in
squeezed replies into the mid court. Graham just got the better of
these exchanges and took a hard fought 1st game 12-10. The second
game was full of more attacking squash and the front left corner was
the focus. Again Graham prevailed at 11-7. The third game saw
Phillips seem to tire a bit and Graham pressed his advantage to 11-2
and a 3-0 win.
Emyr Evans 3-1 Cameron Stafford
Report by Damon Bourne
Interesting first game with the big man from the Cayman Islands,
Cameron Stafford squeaking it out 12-10 using creative flicks and
holds that Emyr Evans could just not able to keep up with. That
said, at the end of the game, somehow Stafford looked a bit worse
for wear. Next game 11-3 to the quiet, patient Welshman who applied
consistent pressure and kept the errors to a minimum. More of the
same the next two games and Evans takes the win 11-6, 11-9.
Angus Gillams 3-0 Jon Geekie
Report by Damon Bourne
Battle of the Lefties. A lot of action on the right side of court 4
tonight with these two left handers. Not much to say, but Gillams
simply wore down his opponent with incredible retrieving and
consistent pressure to the back right corner. Geekie seemed to get
more and more frustrated after seeming to be control of rally after
rally, only to end up on the losing end. At 7-4 in the second all
seemed to be going his way, but Gillams kept pressing and tied and
past Geekie at 8 and never looked back. That game seemed to get
under Geekie's skin and he couldn't get a foothold in the 3rd going
down 11-4
Syed Hamzah Bukhari 3-0 Italo Bonatti
Report by Damon Bourne
Entertaining match from the catlike Hamzah Bukhari. Incredible
retrieving and creative shot making kept the Guatemalan on the
losing end of this battle. The final game, was played in front of a
packed gallery as the other late match was finished and a determined
Bonatti fought incredibly hard to come back from a 5-9 deficit to
tie it at 9 all before running out of steam.
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