Koukal takes another Prague title Tomas Forter reports
Today's
final between Jan Koukal and Ben Ford was quite onesided. Ben was
able to keep the pace with Kouki only in few first rallies. After
that it was obvious it is one match too far for him. Average length
of his three matches so far was very similar to the amount of time
Kouki spent on court in his three matches together. Ben tried to
slow the pace down and hit some shots but Kouki got everything back.
He was volleying a lot to keep the pace as high as possible and Ben
was simply not able to cope with it.
Jan: I am happy I won. I have to thank Ben´s opponent s from
previous rounds for tiring him down. I tried to use it as much as I
could and it worked well.
Ben: I was tired from the whole tournament but Jan played
really well. I saw him play a few times before and today was the
best I ever saw him play. He was moving well and taking the ball
very early. I was always one step off the pace.
Free Streaming There is going to be free live
streaming from two courts during the tournament on www.tvcom.cz
(there is a link Prince Prague Open on the right)
[5] Lukas Jelinek
11/5 6/11 11/5 8/11 11/6 63 [2] Ben Ford
Tomas Toth (Svk)
10/12 11/3 11/9 11/6 37m [2] Ben Ford (Eng)
Qualifying:
Finals: Daniel Mekbib bt Neeraj
Aggarwal 11/2 11/3
11/4
Jaroslav Cech bt Alexandre Benassi
11/8 11/4 11/9
Jakub Stupka bt Richard Birks
13/15 11/6 11/6 11/4
Lucas Vauzelle bt Zbynek Standera
11/5 11/9 8/11 6/11 11/6
Round One: Daniel Mekbib bt Jan Filounek
11/6 11/5 11/5
Alexandre Benassi bt Lukas Levinsky 11/2 11/3
11/6
Jaroslav Cech bt Patrik Schneider
11/5 11/4 11/6
Jakub Stupka bt Adam Kilian
11/7 11/8 9/11 13/11
Zbynek Standera bt Roman Svec
5/11 16/14 11/1 11/7
Top two make Prague
final Tomas Forter reports
There was a big crowd in Squashclub Strahov today as there is a
Czech national junior tournament in the club this weekend. Young
players were looking forward to see the profesionals play and they
were not dissapointed.
Jan Koukal – Petr Martin 11/5 11/1
11/4 22m
In the first semi Kouki was
dominating the rallies from the beginning. Petr was much slower than
he normally is. It was probably one match too far for him after
three tournaments in three weeks. Kouki used it very smartly. He was
controlling the T and forcing Petr deep into the corners. Petr was
not able to keep the pace with him and ended up making too many easy
mistakes. The match finished very quickly.
Jan: I am satisfied with my performance and result. I am glad
it was so quick. I will be fresh for the final tomorrow.
Petr: He was just too good for me today. I was trying to slow
the ball on the backhand to get more time but he was forcing me to
higher tempo which I couldn´t keep. Good luck to him in the final.
Ben
Ford – Rene Mijs 9/11 12/10 9/11 11/4 11/9 79m
Match started with a marathon rally
which lasted more than two minutes.
The rest of the longest match of the tournament was more or less
similar.
There were lots of long patient rallies when both players waited for
their openings. Both of them also had lapses of concentration when
they made easy mistakes during the match. There was not much between
them in first three games. Ben looked a bit more tired of the two as
he lost the third but he pushed hard to get a good lead which gave
him the fourth.
In the fifth Ben was again a bit better at the beginning. He led all
the time but Rene was always close behind denying Ben a comfortable
lead. Ben was only able to get three points lead with lovely
forehand nick to get to 8/5. After Rene made an easy mistake to 9/6
and got frustrated with himself it looked over for him. He did not
think so and fought back to 9/9. Last couple of rallies were very
long because none of the players wanted to make a mistake. Ben won
both of them with his better accuracy at the front. The last one on
a clinging backhand drop which Rene was not able to get off the
wall.
Ben: I was surprised I felt not as tired as I thought after
yesterday. I find the court quite difficult for me as it is
difficult to hit winners. Normally when I am tired I can get some
easy points with my shots but there are no easy points on this
court. The fifth game could have gone either way. I was tired by
then and probably experience worked for me again. Hello to my wife
and my daughter.
Rene: Of course a bit disappointed but overall I was happy
with the way I played today. I played Ben three times before and I
only won one game in those three matches. I would have loved to play
Jan in the final. Hopefully next year. Thanks to my pregnant
girlfriend Julie for travelling with me and supporting me.
Free Streaming There is going to be free live
streaming from two courts during the tournament on www.tvcom.cz
(there is a link Prince Prague Open on the right)
Daniel: I was happy with my first game, we played some good rallies
but he started to play faster after that and I had no chance. I was
a bit angry after losing the second 11/0. I wanted to do better in
the third but he was just too good.
Jaroslav Cech – Colin Ramasra 11/7 11/4 11/5 30 min.
Jaroslav: I started nervously but then I was able to play my game
and managed to win. Now I am off to work but I am looking forward to
tonight´s quarters against Petr Martin.
Colin: I just felt too tired from all the travel and I was not able
to play very well. I am really looking forward to go back home to
Carribean now.
Petr Martin – Stefan Brauneis 11/3 11/5 11/7 25 min.
Petr: I am glad I won quickly 3/0 and save the energy for next
rounds.
Stefan: I arrived late for my match so I had to go on court straight
from my car. I could not get used to the court. Petr took the ball
early and played well. Hopefully next time I can arrive earlier.
(Stefan arrived at 12:14 for his 12:00 match. Just one minute before
the match would have been called No show.)
Peter Kviecinsky - Marek Manik 11/9 11/4 4/11 12/14 11/6 90
min.
Peter: I won first two games quite easily. I felt well. In the third
game I lost my concentration and did some mistakes. I was down 0/6.
I tried to come back but Marek played well. In the fourth I tried to
play my game again. I was 10/9 up and I played stupid shot which
caused stroke against me and I lost the game 12/14. In the fifth I
tried to play faster but in the beginning of the game Marek played
really well. He let 5/1 but after that I hit 3 nicks in the row and
I found my shots and turned the game.
Marek: No comment.
Ben Ford – Tomas Toth 10/12 11/3 11/9 11/6 37 min.
Ben: The court took a bit to get used to it. After that I felt fine.
Tomas surprised me how well he played. I did not expect him to be
that good. I had to play better and better as the match progressed
to win.
Tomas: It was my first PSA tournament in this season. It is a good
result for me. I am glad I was able to win the first from 7/10 down.
In the second Ben played very accurately and I was not able to get
used to it. In the third I started to play more to the back. The
game was close but I lost it 11/9. In the middle of the last game I
ran out of steam and Ben controlled the rest of the match.
Lukas Jelinek – Jakub Stupka 11/6 6/11 11/3 8/11 11/6 45 min.
Lukas: My mistake was I played same shots from same positions all
the time and he read it very well and volleyed a lot and put me
under pressure. I knew he lacks a bit of fitness so I was confident
I can win the fifth but it was pretty tough.
Jakub: I played really well till 6/7 in the fifth but after that
Lukas proved he is a better player. Overall I am very happy with my
result here.
Ondrej Ertl – Issa Kamara 11/5 7/11 11/3 11/6 54 min.
Ondrej: It was tough match. Issa played well and he run very well.
Most
of the match I was controlling the rallies and putting pressure on
him. And when I did not make mistakes I was winning the rallies.
Issa: It was a tough match and I had a very slow start. He seemed
focus from the start and he knew exactly what he was up to. I tried
to come back with lot more consistency and focus but it was a bit
late.
Rene Mijs – Lucas Vauzelle 10/12 8/11 11/4 10/12 11/1 53 min.
Rene: Obviously I am very happy I won after being 2 matchballs down
at 8/10 in the fourth. I did not feel comfortable during the match.
I know what I did wrong mentally (I was not able to keep my focus
and right attitude during the match) and hopefully I can improve
this in my next match.
Free Streaming There is going to be free live
streaming from two courts during the tournament on www.tvcom.cz
(there is a link Prince Prague Open on the right).
Jan Koukal – Peter Kviecinsky 11/3 11/3 11/9 26 min.
Kouki was in total control for two games as Peter felt his marathon
match in first round but he fought well in the third. Hit a few good
shots, got to 9/6 but next five points in a row went Koukal´s way
and the top favourite for the titles was first to get into the
semis.
Jan: I was able to take advantage from his tiredness from the first
round. I am looking forward to my next match.
Peter: In the first two games I was too tired from my previous match
and he killed all my loose shots. In the third I found my game, he
made some easy mistakes, I was 9/6 up and tried to win the game but
after two long rallies Kouki was back in the game and he won it at
the end.
Petr Martin – Jaroslav Cech 11/6 11/9 11/7 31 min.
Both players were always close in the first half of the games but
Petr was stronger and was able to keep the pressure till the ends of
all three games to win in three.
Petr: I am really happy with my third semi this month. I was pretty
tired after two tournaments in two weeks but luckilly he was doing a
lot of mistakes. I just kept the ball in play and he did all the
work for me.
Jaroslav: Bit dissapointed with my performance. I couldn´t keep the
pace I set at beginnings of the games.
Rene Mijs – Ondrej Ertl 11/8 11/8 11/13 11/4 48 min.
Both players have a bit similar game. They both like to hit the ball
hard to the back and then drop it soft and tight to the front. Rene
was just a bit better at it in all the crucial moments.
Rene: Happy to win because last time i lost to him. I felt much
better than in my first match. I got more confident. The pace was
higher so I did not have much chance to think about what should
happen. I could have won in 3 as I was 10/8 up in the third but at
the end I was glad to finish it the way I played in fourth. I look
forward to the semis tomorrow.
Ondrej: I played good squash but I felt a bit sick from bad food and
lost my fitness in the second game. He was better than me at the
ends of the games.
Ben Ford - Lukas Jelinek 11/5 6/11 11/5 8/11 11/6 63 min.
The experience told at the end of the best match of the tournament
so far. Lukas was maybe the fitter of the two but Ben was more
accurate at the front and error free when it mattered. Both players
shared the first four games. Lukas led 4/3 in the fifth but then Ben
upped the pace, cut off the mistakes and won it 11/6 in 63 minutes.
Lukas: I think I played well. Much better than in the mening. It was
a pity I was always behind. In the fifth it was close till the
middle but he played two great rallies at 5/6 and I made one easy
mistake.
Ben: I am tired. I thought he would be tired from his earlier match
but he played really well. I started with fast pace, it worked but
then he somehow got faster. I played well but it was hard to play a
winning shot. Luckily he started to become tired in the fifth. Get
well soon to my father and my father in law.
Czechs progress in Prague qualifying Tomas Forter reports
Local Czech players almost made it a clean sweep in qualification
finals
in Prague tonight.
It all started very well for them. One of the top Czech juniors as
Daniel Mekbib beat surprisingly comfortably top seeded
Australian Neeraj Aggarwal 11/2 11/3 11/4. Daniel´s pace was a bit
too fast for Neeraj.
Jaroslav Cech caused another upset when he beat Alexandre
Benassi from Belgium in straight games 11/8 11/4 11/9. The important
first game was very close with Jaroslav getting the big points at
the end and it proved crucial for the rest of the match. After that
Jaroslav controlled the majority of rallies by taking the ball very
early. After quick second game Alexandre fought back in the third
but local player again was able to win important points at the end
of the game.
Jakub Stupka started very nervously against Richard Birks
from England but was able to come back to force the tie-break only
to lose it 13/15. After Jakub realized he could win he calmed down,
became more confident a won the next three games quite easily.
In the last match it looked like Czechs could make it 4 out of 4
when Zbynek Standera pulled back to 2/2 after being 0/2 down
against Lucas Vauzellefrom
France. But unfortunately for Zbynek Lucas got off to a great start
in the fifth, led 5/0 and although Zbynek tried hard to come back
Lucas controlled his lead till the end.
Free Streaming There is going to be free live
streaming from two courts during the tournament on www.tvcom.cz
(there is a link Prince Prague Open on the right).
Salut fram, bon voilà je me
qualifie en gagnant 3/2 j'ai fait un match...
Je suis completement malade, je sais pas trop ce que j'ai toujours
est-il que heureusement que j'avais la raquette aujourd'hui vraiment...
Je vais me faire une bonne nuit sommeil, bien manger demain matin et
advienne que pourra...En tout cas je ne lâcherais pour rien au monde...
Je te tiens au courant pour demain.
à plus bise
9th December 2009
voilà juste un petit coucou de prague où je suis dans les qualifs.
Le premier tour commence demain matin, je suis encore tout seul hehe
décidément...faut s'y faire...je te tiendrais au courant et si tu as
besoin des tableaux et tout tu as juste à demander et je t'envoie ça...
bise
