Tue 6th May, Day ONE:

Men's Draw & Results     Women's Draw & Results

In the first day's play in Liverpool there were a couple of upsets in the men's event, notably Mark Fuller's defeat of Julien Balbo and Shaun Le Roux's marathon win over Ritwik Bhattacharya.

No shocks in the women's matches though, with all the seeds through on the first of three qualifying rounds.

BLASTING START…

Arrived last night at the brand new Jury’s Inn hotel, right next door to the Echo Arena where we’ll be playing the later rounds of the competition, took a lovely taxi ride to the famous Liverpool Cricket Club, where we are playing the qualifiers, first and second round of the men’s and qualifiers, first round for the ladies.

This club is a typical traditional English Club, with red velvet, loads and loads of little/not so little rooms, at different levels of stairs. Personally, I love it, it’s all what British Tradition is made off.

It doesn’t make our job too easy the fact that only one court has a glass back and seating, the rest being traditional courts with viewing only from the gallery. But hey, I’ll do my best today – Steve is on his way from home after the Europeans, and will be only available to work tomorrow – along with David Barry, official photographer for the event, to make you follow the event the best way possible.

Good luck everybody ...

Day One Roundup
from Howard Harding

Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt Eddie Charlton (Eng)
       12/10, 11/9, 11/9 (53m)

EDDIE, CLOSE, SO CLOSE …

Those two have a rather similar game, with Aaron maybe able to hit the ball just a bit harder, whereas Eddie is more accurate. But honestly, there was no way you would have been able to pick a winner throughout the whole encounter. Long rallies, tight drives, nice attacks from Aaron, lovely counter attacks and retrieving from Eddie.

Aaron taking the early lead, every game, sometimes rather comfortably, like in the third, 7/1, but with Eddie showing his strength of character by clawing back every time. Unfortunately, whereas as Aaron kept on attacking at crunch times, Eddie went a bit defensive, and got himself cornered.

But that was a very good start for what looks like a stunning day of squash …

"When I was down 7/1 and 8/3 in the third, I just relaxed and started playing better squash, but when I got myself to 9/9, I thought, well, now, I’m in a position to win the game, and started playing negative again. I think I put too much thought into it, and that was my biggest downfall…"

 

"It was one of those matches that you don’t think you are going to lose, but it was very close indeed, and he played very well.

"I didn’t know what to expect, and I was a bit nervous to start with. I had the lead in the 2nd and 3rd games, but I took the foot off, and he came back. It’s only at the end of each game I finally got on top of him.

"And I’m so happy to get that one 3/0…"

"Ben was more consistent than I was today, I played too fast, hitting hard with no real purpose, and he rightly took advantage of that. I wish I’d been more patient, more consistent but I’m only learning, I’ve been on the circuit for eight, nine months…"



"He looked a bit nervous and took an awful start. But he was making too many errors, where he shouldn’t have. He was doing most of the work, I just tried and kept the pace down as much as I could…"

Ben Ford (Eng) bt Siddarth Suchde (Ind)
    11/7, 5/11, 11/6, 11/6 (53m)

EXPERIENCE VERSUS SPEED…

’You’ve got to slow down the pace, as Siddharth likes to volley everything”, Ben Ford was told before his match. And cleverly, that’s what he did, helped by the fact that the Indian boy was far too nervous, and making far too many unforced errors.

In the second, the youngster started to get more control, but Ben soon slipped back into his game plan, and was able to close it out by frustrating his opponent, helped with a few decisions that went his way, and that took him to the finishing post…



Ah, and thanks Scott Handley, for watching that match for me…

Jon Harford (Eng) bt Steve Siveter (Eng)
     11/8, 11/9, 10/12, 11/7 (56m)

NOT A WALK
IN THE PARK

Nope, this one was tough as well, with Jon attacking at will, and Stephen retrieving everything he could or couldn’t put his racket on actually…

Like a spectator told me, “Jon was always the better player, but Steven played extremely well, and made it bloody hard, bloody hard indeed”…

"I know Stephen, I’ve played in the leagues up here a few times, he is a very good non professional player. We played a good length game, and still put the ball short, with not too many long and boring rallies.

"I’m lucky to win that one 3/1, he was 7/1 in the first, and the second was pretty tight too. Well, he was the local player, nothing to lose, me, top 8, a bit of pressure.. He played very well, it was tough the whole way…"

"That wasn’t expected to happen…

"I think we play both a similar type of game, up and down the wall, steady, not too much with the ball, no flashy shots… And today, that’s what I stuck to, trying not to do too many mistakes…

"Just a big thank you to my training partners, and my little brother…"



"Just couldn’t move today, a combination of a lot of things. I thought that I would be able to manage him today with not too much movement, but he played too well, just too well… I wish him good continuation in the tournament…"

Mark Fuller (Eng) bt Julien Balbo (Fra)
    11/8, 11/5, 11/9 (41m)

THE SHOCK

Everybody was absolutely stunned by the surprise victory from Mark Fuller against French Julien Balbo, fresh/tired from the Europeans, and a few other tournaments around the world…

Julien was pushed very hard in the first by an extremely up for it 23 year old Mark, and just threw the match in the second, going up to serve out on game ball, 5/10, to find motivation again in the third. But too late, by that time, Mark was full of confidence, finding superb back of court attacks and pinning the Frenchman to the back of the court..

An unexpected victory for the young Englishman from Nottingham, that will allow the Frenchman to go home a bit earlier than planned…

"No disrespect to Mark, but I value Julien’s game a lot, and I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it…"

 

Wade Johnstone (Aus) bt Lewis Walters (Eng)
     6/11, 11/5, 11/6, 11/3

"After losing the first game – I hit too hard and it didn’t bring me anywhere - I pushed on the T, and created a bit of space for myself, because the ball was very bouncy. I also got the ball at the back a little bit more and opened up the court.

"He kept it pretty tight, in particular the backhand drive, and if his drop shots were not too low, they were very tight to the wall, and very hard to pick up.

"I’m so happy with my game, it’s my first ever British Open, so I’ll try and qualify, and see what happens…"

Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) bt
Adam Murrills (Eng)
        8/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/3 (46m)

"I was up 1/0, 9/6, and then, not really sure of what happened! I didn’t manage to win the second, he gradually got on top of me, and in the end, was just stronger and fitter.

"It’s my first big tournament, I qualified through the pre qualifiers, it’s such a thrill to be in such a tournament, I just wish I’d taken the second game…

"Good luck to Mohammed for the rest of the tournament…"

Shaun Le Roux (Eng) bt Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind)
      11/7, 4/11, 11/9, 7/11, 11/9 (65m)

BOILING SHAUN…

I remember the first time I saw Shaun, it was around 4, 5 years ago, and he was having a big go at a ref in Wimbledon.
He was training with Malcolm Willstrop in those days, and I know for a fact that that it didn’t go well with him at the time.

For the past three years now, Shaun has been training with David Campion, and has calmed down tremendously. Still, when the pressure is right up as it was in the fifth again Ritwik, the old habit showed a bit of the nose again…

But as the Master of Ceremony he is, referee John Massarella kept everything and everybody under control, with a few warnings, a conduct stroke, and a “big voice at the right time” attitude.

Still, not sure the whole process is helping the opponent to stay in the match, and not even sure that it actually helped Shaun! He’s got to sort his head out that boy, because so much talent, so much talent, wasted (or nearly) by the interference of chatting with the ref and himself…

In front of him, we had Ritwik, maybe less gifted than Shaun, but relentlessly perseverant, and determined, with a heart “big like that”.

The difference today in my opinion was just on a few shots that hit the front corners, and came out straight to himself, offering a few strokes too many to Shaun…

The Indian player was distraught after the match, after the loss. I know, that’s what sport is all about, but when the match is that close, it’s heartbreaking for the loser…
 

"I calmed down, but I need to control myself, because it’s actually disturbing to me, I normally end up losing the next two or three points…

"Ritwik is so experienced, he knows how to win, whereas I’m just learning…

"I know that today, I won the games I was playing at a fast pace, because he enjoys a slower up and down the wall game, the first, and the third, so I tried to take him out of his comfort zone.

"The second and fourth, he took a good start, I tried to catch up, but it was too much. The fifth was anybody's really…

"It’s such a good win for me, I’m so relieved to win the match, I thought he really played well today…"

"It’s the first time in 10 days that I’m able to play, that foot is playing up again, and you know how it is, it's so easy to lose confidence, I think I’m playing like a whining injured buffalo…

"Jens is hard to play, he is a big boy, but he played pretty well today, I thought it was a great performance from him.."



"We had a good game, I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t play my best squash today, for a reason I’m not sure about! But all credit to him, he played well, at a fast pace…

"I wish I’d made a few less errors, maybe that I’d played a bit faster. I did my bet to avoid his backhand, as he is pretty good on that side…

"We were pretty close in the third, but I didn’t manage to win it, he just played that much extra.."

Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa) bt Jens Schoor (Ger)
    11/7, 7/11, 12/10, 11/5 (44m)

IMPRESSIVE JENS

Not sure why that German player wasn’t at the Europeans in Amsterdam, I thought his level was pretty good, but hey, what do I know about squash! Still, the boy is putting a lot of weight on the ball, he is persistent, fair-play, very fast for a big lad, and he’s got some delicate backhand drop shots that surprised Jesse a few times.

In other corner, we had Mature Player Jesse, as he called himself when we were in Hurghada, who is still great in patches, and so so in patches. Taking a good lead, he then seem to lose a bit of concentration, offering hope to his opponent, to then, accelerate again, and finish the game off… or not.

The third was pretty crucial, mentally more than anything else, as Jesse is always a bit fragile when he loses confidence in his game, in his shots… But today, the South African took an early lead in the fourth, that gave him that little cushion he so needed to get rid of a player who could have caused him a lot of trouble…

Ah, and Jesse desperately needs a new pair of shoes… Surely his sponsor can do something about that….?

Steve Coppinger (Rsa) bt Rob Sutherland (Wal)
    11/9, 11/3, 7/11, 11/7 (57m)

"The first game was very tight, couldn’t win it, and took an awful start in the second, and found myself with a bit too much to do.

"We’ve played each other a few times over the past months, so we know each other’s game pretty well. All the games were pretty tight, and in the fourth, we were 6/6, 7/7, but he snatched it again in the end…"

"I didn’t feel relaxed throughout the whole match. Last two times we played, he beat me in close 3/2, and for me, a good start was paramount.

"Today, I was more careful, and wary. I know he is pretty good in the middle, and I really tried and keep him in the corners…"

Scott Arnold (Aus) bt James Snell (Eng)         11/8, 13/11, 11/9 (46m)

"It was quite tight the whole match, it came down to nothing really, a few lucky shots here and there, at the wrong time mentally, also I made a couple of unforced errors that gave him a lead at the wrong time too…

"And that’s maybe the reason why he is that much higher in the ranking, he played the crucial points better, hopefully, that will change and I’ll be able to improve on that level, it’s such a fine line…"



"James has a lot of potential, he is just a bit too prone to errors at the moment, he gives away 4, 5 points at every game, and that’s too much. But he just needs a bit more experience, a few more matches at that level, and to feel that he belongs."

Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) bt Jethro Binns (Wal)
     10/12, 11/4, 11/7, 8/11, 11/3 (71m)

JETHRO GAVE IT ALL…

I must say there are times where you are able to evaluate somebody’s character, and today was one of those days. I was more than impressed by the guts and determination that Jethro Binns showed on court today. It was obvious to all that he was tired from the start, but still, he kept on relentlessly attacking from the right position, patient, not discouraged by the superb retrieving of the Frenchman.

It is true that Mathieu likes his rallying, he does, and he could have gone on rallying all night. I guess Jethro felt it, and it added to the pressure… Still, the Fighting Welsh came back from 2/1 to force a decider, but at the start of that fifth, I actually thought that he was going to pass out. He was white as a sheet, and obviously knackered. But still, he went on, and on.

Mathieu will be glad to take this win. Only good news for Jethro. He’ll have a day of rest tomorrow…

"For the past month I’ve been pretty poorly, and didn’t perform at my best on my last two PSA, to say the least. And in the Europeans, I didn’t have too many hard games, so I desperately needed to win a match to prove to myself I could still win on the PSA circuit.

"It was so warm on the court, it was not to either of our advantage, because we’ve got the same type of game, we like to play a lot at the back, and gradually, gradually, take it to the front. His forehand attacks hurt me a lot today…

"I was tense the whole match, I just was so afraid I was going to lose yet another match… Still, he played so well, and I’m glad to win this one…"

"I didn’t feel comfortable on there the whole match, it was a constant effort to keep going…

"Just a few hard games in the Europeans, then the travelling that takes its toll, the Swedish leagues soon, then America for a few weeks…

"It’s a bit hard mentally, but no excuse there, it’s the same for everybody

"Mathieu played very well, I thought we played a good game, maybe a bit slower than normal.

"But Mathieu is so tight… I thought I played OK, considering, too patchy though, too patchy…"

Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Chris Fuller (Eng)
        11/2, 13/11, 11/6 (37m)

"The first game was pretty easy, but the second one was pretty close, he even got a game ball. He is a good young player from around here. So I got back to basics, forgot about playing drop shots, and just put some lengths in…

"After I won the second I started to relax and played some good shots again. It’s a perfect start to the tournament, and allowed me to get used to the courts…"



"I was not too nervous at the start, as I already played in the event last year, and as the training is going pretty good. But I'm quite disappointed, not so much about not taking the second game, I had game ball, that’s a pretty good opportunity, but more with the way I played today, as I was not consistent enough to stay with him for long enough…"

Women's Quote Box

Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt
Carrie Hastings (Eng) 9/7, 9/0, 9/0 (24m)

"It took me a long time to adjust to the court, I overhit in the first game, and as she is very fit, that kind of game suited her very well. So, in the second, I slowed down the pace and shortened the rallies…"

Lauren Briggs (Eng) bt Vicky Hynes (Eng)
       10/8, 9/4, 9/4 (38m)

"The first game was a scrappy one for both of us, and I found myself down 7/2. From that point on, I just tried to stay in the rallies, and make no mistakes, which she made a lot of today…"

Annelize Naude (Ned) bt Jeannine Cowie (Eng)
         9/3, 9/1, 9/1 (20m)

"Good way to start the tournament, and I guess that it was for her too, as I just saw her name in the over 35s!

"She was quite determined, and kept on trying until the end…"

Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt Becky Botwright (Eng)
    9/1, 9/7, 10/8 (34m)

"It was hard physically, it was very hot on the court, but my aim was to win 3/0 to avoid to lose energy for the rest of the tournament.

"The pressure from the European teams has now dropped, and it’s hard to link the two tournaments, I’m not that used to it, but I’m ok I think."



"As I was lower 16, I was expecting maybe a better draw, but you can’t complain about it, it’s the same for everybody, sometimes you get a good draw, sometimes a bad one, you just get on with it, and play your game.

"I was pretty nervous to start with, until I realised that she was the better ranked player, and that I had nothing to lose. It would have been better to relax from the start, but it’s easier said than done.

"Isabelle really reads the game really well, and takes the ball very early. I felt that I had to get the ball past her, but I just wasn't able to do so…"

Lauren Siddall (Eng) bt Lauren Selby (Eng)
     9/4, 9/2, 9/3 (25m)

"I had a few good results lately, and I guess that it shows… But today, I was a bit nervous to start with, it being the British Open and all, but after a few rallies, I started feeling ok.

"She made an excellent start, and I realised I had to raise my game to compete. She also played some great volley drops and drops, but had some real trouble with her lobs, as the ceiling is pretty low…"



"Considering that the lob is probably my best shot, yes, I had a few problems, as the ceiling seemed like right above my head!

"But I’m so angry at Daryl, he took all the endurance genes, and didn’t leave any for me! I wish I could run and run, he can, and I can’t. So I just hate him…"