TODAY at the Dunlop British Open

Sun 17th,
Semi-finals:

coming up at
14.00 and  19.00

EN BREF

GALLERY

What a difference a day makes
Steve reports

If you'd seen these two play yesterday you wouldn't have recognised them. Rachael, getting through by the skin of her teeth against an unseeded player, Natalie looking awesome as she despatched the sixth seed.

It was all different today, as Rachael moved serenely into the semi-finals against an opponent who just couldn't get into the match (which happened to be a repeat of the 2004 final, held here in Nottingham).

It didn't start well for Natalie, as she hit the ball out of court five times and found the tin four times to virtually gift the first game to Rachael.

After that the US-resident South African kept the ball lower, but by now Rachael was in full flow, moving her opponent from front to back with her patented mixture of lobs, lobs, drops, boasts, lobs, drops, drops and lobs that just suck the life out of her victims.

Natalie was being forced to stretch at the front mercilessly, and while she would sometimes find a cracking drive for a winner, as often as not she would find Rachael right behind her to volley away an interception leaving Natalie stranded at the front.

Not a good day for Natalie, but given the year she's had with injuries and lack of tournaments, a British Open quarter-final isn't too bad ... for Rachael another good run in Nottingham beckons ...

"I just needed a bit more training on the glass court. I haven’t played on it for so long now, and 20 minutes this morning was just not enough. Rachael was just so much more comfortable than me on there today… "I mistimed the ball all the time, my length was far too short, I never found my rhythm out there, I looked like a beginner on the glasscourt. It was embarrassing. "It’s really frustrating, as yesterday I was moving well, I was all over the court. I was really fired up to play today, too, but never got going. I feel like saying 'can we go back on for a best-of-three! "Oh well, you have those days…"

COURAGEOUS JAMES, RELENTLESS NICK…
Framboise reports

It’s amazing, when you think of it, that a week ago James Willstrop was in a hospital in Cairo with extreme food poisoning, and that today, after having played all weekend at the Gerrard Grand Prix in Manchester, he was today in the quarters of the Dunlop British Open…

Even so, the boy gave it all he had from the first shot, blasted it away, finding some stunning kills and drop shots from the back of the court that Nick was having real trouble returning.

The rallies became longer, more intense, more disputed. And I could see James digging in, and digging in, and Nick retrieving, and retrieving….And like his camp I’m sure, I knew that young James was not going to sustain that kind of pace for very much longer.

After he lost the second game, he knew in his heart that he would never be able to come back from there, and took the right decision, and retired.

James went beyond duty today, but Nick’s relentless attack, determination and perseverance had the better of the very little he had left….

"I'm absolutely devastated. Last week's food poisoning has finally taken its toll... When you play Nick Matthew, he puts you under so much pressure, and physically, my body just couldn't cope with it today. "I'm shattered, because it's really one of the best BO I've seen for years, and I wanted so to do well here..

Now Engy likes the BO
Steve reports

For someone who's never done well at the British Open, Engy Kheirallah is having the time of her life here this week. A second successive 3-2 win over opponents in the world's top ten and she's in the semi-finals.

But don't get the idea it was easy, it was nothing like easy. They battled for 74 minutes, without either of them really enjoying a spell of domination of more than a handful of points.

It wasn't crash-bang-wallop stuff either, both were willing to construct the rallies, but both were also willing to go for their shots given the chance. We had up and down the wall periods, dropshot exchanges, crosscourt and lob duels, and we never really knew who was going to win until the very end.

Engy was kicking herself after letting the 17-minute first game slip from 8-5, but made a good start to the second and held on to level. The third was Alison's, the fourth Engy's, and the fifth was close all the way.

Engy doesn't overpower her opponents, she out-guiles them. The decisive factor in this match was her delicate crosscourt volley into the front left corner. If Alison put the ball loose in the middle Engy would stroke it into that corner, ever so gently, so that it either died or was so hard to get the next shot would be easy.

In my notes I called it "that volley", and I wrote it thirteen times in the last four games. That's a lot of points.

It was 'that volley' that took Engy to matchball, and when Alison hit the ball back to her herself on the next point Engy's delighted squeal said it all.

Alison will be back, that's for sure ... but for Engy she can finally enjoy the British Open ...

KARIM STOPS WHITEY
Framboise reports

Oh boy…. Was the Tall Man on rocket today or what. On rocket, because fire doesn’t start describing the way John White started his match against Karim Darwish…. He was hitting the ball so hard that even the pros sitting next to me had to gasp in amazement… And the mix between hard hitting and delicate drop shot was perfect, and wrong footed Karim more than once….

And as it was the first time ever those two played on the PSA circuit, well, they played once for the Super Gerrard two years ago for the 7/8th play-off (Dixit my bible, Mr Howard Harding, from Squash Info), it took the Egyptian a game and a half to get used to the hammering pace….

Apart from the second game where he led comfortably from the start, John was down at least 3/0, and even 8/0 in the fourth… Not a good start, you would say. Which means that he had constantly to play catch up, with the more obvious one in the fourth, where he actually saved six game balls from 2/10 to 8/10 to finally lose 11/8.

Surely there must be a simpler way to score points, less stressful and mental energy consuming…

Once level at 2/2, John was bound to doubt, to wonder if he could make it. The tins started to accumulate, the tiredness from the previous exploits the day before starting to show, the rallies became shorter and shorter.

And Karim’s drop shots became more and more quads’ killer, his kills more and more difficult to reach… And the Egyptian, more consistent, more patient today, finally got what he had worked hard for, a place in the semis of the Dunlop British Open….

So the Tall Man didn’t make it today. His match yesterday must have emptied him from both mental and physical reserves. Also, I’m not sure that he was even expecting/dreaming of getting through the first round by beating the Prince of Egypt. And therefore not prepared mentally to get to the semi-final of the British Open….
  

Two for Toowoomba
in the Semis
Steve reports

Natalie Grinham joined her big sister in the semi-finals as she beat English number one Tania Bailey in front of a packed, and only slightly partisan crowd here in Nottingham.

Playing a similar game to Rachael, Natalie started the match the stronger, catching Tania out with her drops and flicks to go 7/2 up before clinching it with a lob that died in the back corner.

She went 4/0 up in the second too, but Tania was starting to pick up her game, and began to draw the Australian into longer and longer rallies. She levelled at 5-all, where they were stuck for six rallies, then were stuck again at 7-all with a series of lets and hand-outs.

Natalie broke the deadlock with a stroke followed by a crosscourt that was just out of Tania's reach, and 2/0 looked a good lead.

It looked even better just two minutes later when, after a series of strokes and tins she found herself 6/0 up in the third. But Tania stuck in well, again extending the rallies She wasn't normally the first one to go short, but she was holding her own when they did play at the front of the court.

A fine comeback saw a game pulled back, but then she had to do it again - three strokes and three lucky nicks from Natalie and it was 6/1. This time there was no comeback as Natalie kept on going to reach her second British Open semi-final and leave Vicky Botwright the last remaining British hope ...

"Last time I played Tania, a month ago, she took me 3/2 so I'm happy to get through that one. "The second was crucial, well all games are, but physically and mentally that was a big game. I was well up in the third but it wasn't as if I'd won the points to get to 6-0, so it wasn't a true reflection of the game. "But having lost that lead I had to make sure I kept my concentration when I was ahead in the fourth. "I don't think I'll ever top winning three Commonwealth Golds, and you can't look too far ahead, but a British Open title would be great to have…"

BENG HEE SOO CLOSE…
Framboise reports

I was amazed that the Malaysian still had any strength left after the long journey that he had to face to arrive in these quarters… And he did pretty well at the start of each game actually, as he shot off 6/2 in the first, helped by a David that kept on insisting on playing shots into the tin….

But soon the Australian regrouped, got a bit more patient and disciplined, and in no time they were back at 7/7 and 9/9, serving us with astonishingly intense rallies, where both were volleying high pace shots, cutting each other’s shots with grace and fluidity… Still, the Australian clinched the game on a stunning glued to the wall backhand drive…

The next game would be on exactly the same pattern. Beng Hee shooting to 7/2, and again, helped by two tins from David at 8/7, got game ball 10/7. Well, actually, he got three of those, that he was not able to concretise. The Australian put the gas on, found three beautiful backhand drop shots in a row to get his first game ball, and welcomed a kind tin from the Malaysian to now lead a comfortable 2/0….

In the third, although Bengy tried his best, his legs had gone, spirit had gone. And still he tried. And still he ran. And still he found some great lengths and short shots. But David knew that he was now in the semis, kept the pressure on, made the rallies longer, and walked off to meet a Frenchman in the semis.

What, those bleeping Frogs AGAIN…!!!!

"It’s nice to get a bit of pay back from last year’s match at the British Open… I played him at the Worlds two weeks ago, and it was pretty much the same as today, a 3/0 win, but each game very tight… "I always struggle against Beng Hee, he goes for every shot… Today it was a bit patchy at times, but overall, I feel better with every match… "In the first game, I felt pretty good, and felt comfortable to hit the ball, although I was maybe lacking a bit of patience, but still, felt very good… Maybe I was spending too much energy running around, I always struggle a bit against him, he is my bogey man… "I could feel that he was suffering physically at the end of each game, who wouldn’t after four matches (three in the qualifiers, plus one hard match yesterday against Anthony)… "Like in the Worlds, I found that he sometimes wants to finish the point a bit too quickly, he goes for too many winners. So I just tried to hang in there, and the longer the rallies, the better it was for me…."

No holds barred Nicol
Steve reports

Vicky Botwright doesn't have a bad record against Nicol David. She won their last meeting in the Qatar Classic, and led 3-2 in the head-to-head series, the last three all being 3-2 affairs.

And tonight's match started off as if another close encounter was in the offing. Vicky went ahead 2-0 and 3-1, and the rallies were long and evenly contested. Nicol levelled at 4-all, then edged ahead, taking the 16-minute game and the lead, but it was still pretty even.

By now though Nicol was running down most of what Vicky was throwing at her, as she moved seemingly effortlessly around court, putting the ball back where Vicky most didn't want it.

You could sense Vicky's frustration growing, that "what have I got to do to win a point" feeling. The English woman was still playing well, still putting in good shots, but Nicol always had the answer.

So it went on, with Vicky winning three serves in the second and six in the third, but she just couldn't win a point. At 8-0 in the third we knew Nicol wasn't going to let up by the grimace on her face when she was awarded 'only' a let.

She only needed one more chance to finish it off and she was into another semi-final, and another meeting with Natalie, and their head-to-head reads 4-all ...
 

TITANIC BATTLE
Framboise reports

Again another hard and tough match… Again another encounter that will probably cost the next match to the winner. A question of “I want to be the new Top Dog” from Greg. A question of pride for the Old Man.

I was giving Greg winner 3/1. First of all because Thierry seemed quite tired after the Worlds and the Gerrard Grand Prix.

Also because Greg appeared to have reached another level in Cairo, and I feel that the Kid may be a bit more hungry for victory than his mate. When Greg took the 3rd game to lead 2/1, my money was still firmly on him.

But once again, Thierry is a tough cookie, and didn’t let go of anything. Greg, as often happens, had his “little drop of gas” in the fourth. Thierry felt it, gave it a last push at 7/7 to force a decider.

In the last one, they were racquet to racquet until 4/4, but in the next seven points, Greg would put four in the tin, offering Thierry a match ball on a silver tray. One was enough.

Sorry guys, but I really don’t want to dwell on this match that I found extremely hard to watch, as they really fought like wild animals each defending their own territories, as they should really...

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