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JBM Patrol Madison Spring Classic 2016
07-10 Apr, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, $10k |
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10-Apr, Final:
[5] Angus Gillams (Eng) 3-1 [4] Martin Knight (Nzl)
12/10, 11/9, 5/11, 11/8
Gillams stays undefeated in Madison
Damon Bourne reports
In a hard-fought final, Angus Gillams was able to take first
blood by squeezing the first game 12-10. Rallies were long and
arduous and it could have gone either way. Second game was the
same with Gillams able to hold his nerve at the crucial points
to take a solid 2-0 lead.
 Marty
fought back hard in the third though to take a commanding lead
that he never relinquished, taking it 11-5.
The crowd, which was solidly behind Knight throughout the match
(probably because of his epic win the night before with Danish
Khan) couldn't will him to victory though as Angus just proved
too strong and too consistent for Knight to get an advantage.
Gillams pushed through to win 11-8 and was met with warm
applause and appreciation for his well earned victory - his
third PSA title and a second in a row in Madison.
In his speech to the crowd afterwords, Gillams dedicated his win
to his good friend Harry Faulkner who died of a heart attack at
the age of 18 while playing squash in 2013.
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Madison Spring Classic 2016
07-10 Apr, Madison, USA, $10k |
Round One
07 Apr |
Quarters
08 Apr |
Semis
09 Apr |
Final
10 Apr |
[1] Karim Ali Fathi (Egy)
7/11, 11/5, 11/5, 11/4
Cameron Stafford (Cay) |
[1] Karim Ali Fathi
12/10, 11/6, 11/9
[5] Angus Gillams |
[5] Angus Gillams 10/12, 11/9, 11/6,
11/4
[6] Jan Van Den Herrewegen |
3rd PSA title for Angus
[5] Angus Gillams
12/10, 11/9, 5/11, 11/8
[4] Martin Knight |
[5] Angus Gillams (Eng)
10/12, 11/2, 11/4, 11/6
Jaakko Vähämaa (Fin) |
[6] Jan Van Den Herrewegen (Bel)
11/5, 11/7, 11/8
[wc] Jonas Knigge Laursen (Den) |
[6] Jan Van Den Herrewegen
9/11, 11/7, 12/10, 4/11, 11/4
[3] Peter Creed |
Charlie Johnson (Eng)
11/1, 11/7, 11/4
[3] Peter Creed (Wal) |
Reuben Phillips (Eng)
11/2, 11/4, 11/6
[4] Martin Knight (Nzl) |
[4] Martin Knight
11/2, 11/3, 11/3
Anthony Graham |
[4] Martin Knight
11/8, 12/10, 9/11, 11/13, 11/6 (110m)
[2] Danish Atlas Khan |
Anthony Graham (Eng)
11/4, 11/5, 11/3
[7] Josue Enriquez (Gua) |
Sunil Seth (Guy)
11/7, 12/10, 9/11, 1/5 rtd
[8] Thoboki Mohohlo (Rsa) |
[8] Thoboki Mohohlo
11/6, 11/8, 10/12, 6/11, 11/7
[2] Danish Atlas Khan |
Ben Coates (Eng)
11/5, 11/2, 11/6
[2] Danish Atlas Khan (Pak) |
09-Apr,
Semis:
Knight and Gillams win Madison
Marathons
Damon Bourne reports
... and I thought I was going to get home early for dinner
tonight.
Martin Knight 3-2 Danish Atlas Khan
This was the probably the highest quality match ever played at
Madison Squash Workshop. And the longest. The stands were packed
for this and the crowd was captivated by the amazing agility and
speed of both our semi finalists.
 In
a very fair match between two players who showed a lot of
respect for each other throughout, Martin Knight, the oldest
competitor in the draw, showed that he can still move well and
absorb an enormous amount of pressure.
I sat next to one of the other pros and heard the comment, "he's
way too old to be moving like that."
 Just
as last night, Danish showed he can read the game very well, but
he threw in too many errors to stay with the consistent Kiwi.
That said, Martin had match ball in the 4th, and with an opening
to the front right, and pushed the ball right into the tin, then
managed to lose the game after consistent play from Khan kept
him in it.
Fifth game, Martin just dug in and finished the match with an
ungettable ball down the left wall. Classy match by both
players.
Angus Gillams 3-1 Jan Van Den Herrerwegen
 This
match was a bit of a contrast compared to the first. Whereas the
first was filled with attacks, drops, counter drops, and
sky-high lobs, this one was a bit of a grind.
Long, long hard-hitting rallies, lots of discussion with ref,
dodgey movement patterns (oh to have video review at small
events!), and a couple of blood injury breaks.
Gillams just simply wore down the amiable Belgian.
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photos by
Tom Mcinvaille
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08-Apr,Quarters:
Seeds suffer in
Madison quarters
Damon Bourne reports
Well that was interesting.
Seedings indicate who "should" win a match on paper. In Spring,
we are supposed to have warming temperatures and spring flowers.
It snowed today, and the seedings took a beating here Madison,
Wisconsin.
Martin Knight 3-0 Anthony Graham
 The
night started out going according to play with Martin Knight
simply absorbing everything that Anthony Graham could throw at
him. Graham looked to be controlling rally after rally, but
managed to lose move of them.
Not much to say here. Martin was moving beautifully and Anthony
couldn't find a solution.
Danish Atlas Khan 3-2 Thoboki Mohohlo
 The
impressively quick Pakistani looked to be rolling this match,
but then the amiable South African started to fight back and we
had ourselves a real tussle. As the match progressed and got
tighter, there was some questionable movement patterns and
following discussions with the referee, but Khan prevailed much
to the delight of the Pakistani hopeful in the crowd.
Afterwards, Mohohlo said that Danish reads the game
exceptionally well and he found it difficult to keep the ball
away from him.
Angus Gillams 3-0 Karim Ali Fathi
 So
this is where the seedings started to fall apart... Interesting
match as both players exude confidence beyond their years.
Fathi, who won here in 2013 has been playing well lately and was
moving well.
 Gillams,
who won here in 2015, also moves very well and ground out the
first game with some gifts off the Egyptian's racquet. Fathi
tried to force a bit more in the second and third, but gave up
errors at crucial times.
Fathi, gracious in defeat, said "He was better today. I need to
accept it and move on."
Jan Van Den Herrewegen 3-2 Pater Creed
 In
an entertaining, and sometimes chippy match, The strong young
Belgian Jan Van Den Herrewegan beat third seed Peter Creed.
Things seemed pretty even in the first but Creed ended up on top
and came off the court with some confidence.
 Next
thing you know though, VDHW, worked his way back by winning the
second and squeezing out the third. Creed pushed back hard and
wore the Belgian down in the fourth.
At times in the fifth the very large crowd gathered behind the
court were wondering how Jan was still walking after the amount
of work Creed was forcing him to do. In the decider Creed was on
the working end of more rallies than he would have liked and
couldn't pull it back.
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photos by
Tom Mcinvaille
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Round One photos from Tom Mcinvaille |
Squash Workshop gears up ...
Preview from Damon Bourne
The 2016 JBM Patrol Spring Classic will take place April 7th
through 10th at Madison's famed Squash Workshop! In
addition to our wildly popular amateur tournament, we will have
a PSA World Tour event featuring 16 players from around the
world.
2013 Madison Open winner, Egypt's World #43 Karim Ali Fathi,
is our top seed and will take on Cameron Stafford of the
Cayman Islands in the first round.
Last fall's Madison Open Winner, Angus Gillams, starts
his campaign against Jaakko Vähämaa of Finland. If the
seedings hold, Gillams will take on Fathi in a mouth-watering
quarter-final.
Madison favorite Peter Creed goes up against Charlie
Johnson of England, who only last week destroyed the seedings in
Sacramento to make it to a final unseeded.
Two past Madison Open players Martin Knight and Reuben
Philips have an opening round tussle. Reuben was our #2 seed
last time he was here, but he'll be playing the underdog role
against the very experienced New Zealander.
Englishman Anthony Graham plays Guatemalan Josue
Enriquez, and Danish Khan of Pakistan has a
quarterfinal date with South Africa's Thoboki Mohohlo if
seedings hold true.
Home-town favourite Jonas Knigge Laursen takes on Jan
Van Den Herrewegen, in a Northern European battle for the
longest, most unpronouncable name. (Hmmm, Jaakko probably wins
this battle.) Laursen, a tour veteran has recently renewed his
PSA career and is training very hard to get back up to tour
speed. Let's cheer our head pro on!
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