|
|
|
• |
|
Thursday 7th April: |
|
|
|
[6] Jonathon Power (Can) bt [1] Thierry Lincou (Fra) 9/11, 11/7, 11/6, 9/11, 11/8 (96m) 
|
"I got myself into a « let game », and I don’t
understand how that happened. That is the game he dwells on, he loves
breaking the rhythm…
 MATTHEW
THAT CLOSE,JOHN SOLID… Framboise reports ... This was another looooong encounter, 97 minutes for 96 for Lincou/Power. A match that I was, in my eyes anyway, quite significant on the levels.  One.
Nick Matthew is getting dangerously close to reaching the top four.
His determination today, his retrieving abilities, his fighting spirit and
focus, not to mention how great his volleying is are all signs of his
imminent landing at the very top of the game.Two. John White is back at his best. Of course, he will lose some, win some. But the brain is connected, the fitness is back (did a week touring with James and Malcolm Willstrop in Canada have anything to do with it??), the length is in place, and the genius can explode and firework us away. I’m not sure exactly why Nick got a conduct warning, for “delaying the game”. Very calmly, very politely, he was trying to say something to the ref. He was not arguing. He was not shouting. And the ref wouldn’t let him finish his sentence. Not sure if that’s the correct procedure, especially as it was only the second decision of the match. Was the ref trying to make an impression? It didn’t impress me… Maybe it did Nick though… The match started at a rather slow pace to gradually increase to a seesaw battle, and with rallies that would go on and on, both men being patient, no cutting the shots, no trying to get a cheap point, working harder and harder, waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. It’s enough to look at the timing of each game to see how hard they worked: 18 minutes in the first, then 21m, 17m, 13m and 16m. Each game was so close, John finding his rhythm and length from the second, very few unforced errors (2 in the first, 2 in the second, none in the third, 3 in the fourth, 2 in the fifth), great attacks and retrieving. Same for Nick, very few unforced errors (none in the first, 4 in the second, 2 in the third, 2 in the fourth, 1 in the fifth), hanging in there when John was attacking, retrieving so many “lost” points, running probably twice as far as John did… The fifth was nail biting stuff. 4/4. 5/5. 6/6. 7/7. John gets “the lead” by 2 points. 9/7. John’s shot is called not up, he contests it, but the decision stands, 9/8. Nick asks for two lets, and finally, thanks to an exquisite forehand drop shot, John eventually gets a rally where Nick made some breathtaking retrieving, match ball 10/8. One will be enough, a last backhand volley, and John gets to play the semi-final… It was a close encounter… Some great rallies, a few lets that did slow down the pace asked by Nick, but really nothing bad, no arguments, no injuries, no blood, and a good solid match that entertain the crowd… And me…
|
[12] John White (Sco) bt [7] Nick Matthew (Eng) 9/11, 11/10(2-0), 11/9, 8/11, 11/8 (97m)
|
"John played the last three rallies of the games better than I did…
"When
you get down, so down in the rankings, and you want to get up there again,
you’ve just got to dig in, and have a look at what took you up there in
the first place, the hard work, the hours and hours of training, etc, and
get back to the basics… Also, winning Chicago a few weeks ago, and Canary
Wharf gave me a lot of my confidence back, mentally and physically.
Because if you want to get up there, you’ve got to beat them all.
"It
was the first time I think I've played Nick in a PSA event, and you can
play a lot of practice, but it’s always different in a tournament. In the
beginning, I was a bit scrappy, probably due to the fact that he was
volleying everything, putting me under a lot of pressure. Also, my cross
courts were constantly hitting the side wall, giving him too much space,
too much angle.
Robert
Edwards: "So does Suzy still keep an eye on the ranking points?"
|
|
|
PETER MAGNIFICENT, JAMES COURAGEOUS A very tired James Willstrop, but up for the battle, who gave it all in the second, and didn't have much left after that… A strong, calm and in control Peter Nicol who never gave his opponent much room to find his marks… A fantastic second game, where James was up 6/3, then went down 9/7, then 10/8, saved three game balls, forced a tie-break, saved another game ball to finally win the game 13/11. All that with breathtaking rallies, both guys attacking like lunatics, and James in particular retrieving shots that I honestly never would have believed anybody could get. And then nothing left in the tank for the 21 year old. The Boss feels good, he knows he is not as fit as he used to be, but he attacks more than he used to… And the spirit, the hunger are still here… He wants his 50th title bad… A Bermuda Trophy would look darn good on his mantelpiece…
|
[3] Peter Nicol (Eng) bt |
"It was a good match, but it was obvious from
the start that James was very tired from his match yesterday against
Anthony. It doesn’t matter how fit you are, after a match of that
intensity, you are going to struggle with it.
| DARWISH
IMPRESSIVE… I found myself smiling as Karim Darwish took the first game with brio against the “Controller”, as Mr Robert Edwards has nicknamed Lee Beachill, as behind the scenes, the only comments I could hear before the match were “oh that’s going to be an easy game, another easy win for Beach”…  Well,
sorry guys, but I did saw Karim play in Kuwait, and I saw how he pushed
Thierry in four… I knew that the Egyptian didn’t come in this game to go
through the motions… He thought he had a chance to win, and he certainly
proved that he was no laughing matter.Lee also was expecting a lot from Karim, he knew how dangerous he could be, but was still surprised by his intensity. As usual, Lee adapted perfectly to the challenge, it took him a game and an half to react, but after that, the Englishman was as imperial as ever. A little lapse of concentration in the fourth that helped Karim to find his, and come back from 9/4 to 9/9… Nevertheless, Darwish should be proud of his performance today. He was quick, sharp, fit, precise, patient… He probably deserved a fifth game… But the last two shots that Lee played were just exquisite, and there was nothing that Karim could do about them |
[2] Lee Beachill (Eng) bt
|
|
|
 |
"I
followed Karim’s first two rounds results, and I was expecting a hard match, but
still, I was surprised by the quality of his squash in the first game. I
really struggled, my length was not where it should be. |
• |