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  British
Open
Masters 2011
Day FOUR, Sat 11th |
Semi-final Saturday
There was plenty of drama at Nottingham Squash Club on
'Super Saturday' at the Masters, with ten of the semi-finals
going the full distance and the last match going on court a
full two hours later than scheduled. Read on for the gory
details ...
Also see:
Pearse reports
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Saturday Results
Full Draws &
Sunday Schedule |
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Top seeds start the
ball rolling
No sweat for the three top seeds first on court as John
Woodliffe, Senga Macfie and Keith Jones
all recorded fairly swift 3/0 wins to reach their respective
finals (and victory in the final of the O65 plate for Tommy
Elves) ...
Evans & Woody cruise, Brown comes
back
 Jon
Evans continued his giant-killing run in the M50 as he
took out 3/4 seed Ian Bradburn 9/7, 9/5, 9/1 in just 22
minutes to reach his first major Masters final.
"I had a target of getting revenge on three Englishmen who
beat me in the Nationals and the Home Internationals,"
declared the Welsh Wizard, "and Ian was the third of them so
it feels really good to win this one.
Top seed Mark Woodliffe looked in fine form as he
beat James Ockwell 9/2, 9/2, 9/4 in the other semi-final.
"I've never played Mark," admitted Evans, "but he looks
pretty good! I'm pleased to be in the final, I've got
nothing to lose, just my dignity ..."
Meanwhile Jersey's Allen Brown was taking longer than
both of those matches combined to complete a remarkable
comeback in his O60 semi-final against Channel Island
rival Larry Groves.
 Guernsey
man Groves went two games up, and at 8/6 in the third had
two match balls, but Brown dug in, and completed his
comeback 7/9, 8/10, 10/8, 9/7, 9/5 in 74 minutes.
"I just had to hang in and try to make it last as long as I
could," admitted the relived finalist, "but I didn't think I
was going to win that!
"Larry and I have played about 100 times and it's always
long and close. That was a really enjoyable match,
commiserations to Larry he really deserved to win it, but
that's squash.
"I've never played Keith [Jones] before so I'm looking
forward to that ... after a quiet night and a few beers of
course ..."
First top seeds fall
 Two
top seeds fell in quick succession as Mandy Akin came
from a game down to beat Heather Tweedle to reach the W45
final, and Peter Gunter won a gruelling four-game
65-minute match to oust M45 top seed Yawar Abbas.
"I remember playing Yawar twice," recalled the winner, "once
in our twenties and once in our forties - he won both so it
was nice to get a first win, but it was really tough."
Gunter lost in the British Open O35 final in 2000 and has
featured in a few semi-finals since, so is looking forward
to another final. "I'm on first, at 10.30, so I'd better get
an early night!"
He'll play second seed Eamonn Price, who had an
equally tough match with Murray Scott. After the first two
games were shared, both had game balls in the third but
crucially Price took it 10/9, then went on to take the
fourth 10/8.
Reminded of his 110 minute-plus encounter with Gunter at the
Nationals in February, Price eschewed the normal finalist
quote to say "I'm really not looking forward to that ... at
all!"
One who survived was Peter Alexander, the M55 British
national champion coming from 2/1 down to beat Duleep
Adihetty. He'll play second seed Mark Cowley in the
final after the world champion won in straight games.
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Ken can't hold on
this time
 Having
almost blown a 2-0 lead yesterday, Ken Johnson did the job
properly today as the Northumbrian not only saw his two game
advantage against O65 to seed Rodney Boswell
disappear, the Manchester man took the decider 9/7.
'Rodders' will play O65 newcomer Martin Pearse in the
final after the Masters' Chairman ended the giant-killing
run of Dave Hardern 3-1.
Clash of styles in O75
 You
couldn't wish for a greater clash of styles than in the M75
semi between Lance Kinder and Keith Allcock. Second
seed Kinder is all touch - drops, lobs, boasts and delicate
caresses of the ball. Allcock's game is out and out power
and raw aggression, hammering the serve in, chasing down
everything like a lunatic and hammering it back hard and
low.
Today power won the day as Allcock progressed to the final,
where he'll meet another touch player in John Woodliffe,
the top seed who recovered from a game down to beat Malcolm
Gilham. Don't miss that one ...
Rina stays another day
as the five-setters roll on ...
After taking out the W45 second seed in five games
yesterday, Rina Einy still had enough energy to
outlast 3/4 seed Linda Winder 9/10, 10/8, 9/5, 8/10, 9/2 to
become one of that rare breed, an unseeded finalist.
"I'm very excited," she declared, "it was a very nice game
to play, touch and go all the way but I'm delighted to win
even if it means I have to change my flight back to
Belgium!"
She'll meet Mandy Akin for the title. "I've played Mandy
three times, lost one three-nil and lost the other two after
being 2-0 down so I hope I can at least get to one-all
tomorrow ..."
 That
was just one of a series of 3-2 thrillers, with Jacky
Gardner (W50) saving match balls to beat Tammy Bennett
10/8 in the fifth in 62 minutes, Jane Law (W55)
edging past Sue Meadows after 52 minutes, Andrew Cross
and Graeme Stewart both going the distance to reach
the M40 final, not to mention the aforementioned Alexander,
Brown, Boswell, Santamaria and Einy making it nine
five-setters in all.
And then there was Ben Ford, top seed in the M35 who
was also taken the full distance before beating a finally
tiring Richard Davies 11/9, 14/12, 7/11, 7/11, 11/6 in a
round 70 minutes.
"I knew it was going to be a heard match when I got out of
bed this morning," shared Ford, "so I needed that second
game, at one-all it might have been a different story."
 Ford
thus reaches his first major Masters final. Ford
added. "I injured myself in the semis at the Nationals
earlier in the year so it's good to make the final this
time," Ford added. "The target has to be to win one of the
major titles now that I qualify, and tomorrow is as good a
day as any to do it."
Ford's opponent will be second seed Steve Richardson.
At the other end of the scale, Senga Macfie's quest
for an O35 and O40 double - a feat she achieved in February
at the Nationals - is well on course as she won both
semi-finals at a canter, dropping just eight points in her
six games today. |
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