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TODAY at the
Canary Wharf Classic
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Day TWO at the
Wharf
After last night's bottom half matches the action stayed the all glass court in
the spectacular East Wintergarden setting in London's Canary
Wharf as the quarter-finalists were completed ...
19-Mar, Round One, Top:
Tom Richards (Eng)
3-0 [Q] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
11/4, 11/5, 11/3 (36m)
[4] Peter Barker
3-0 [Q] Alan Clyne (Sco)
11/7, 11/3, 11/7 (38m)
[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-1 Miguel Angel Rodrigues
(Col)
9/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/9 (70m)
Steve Coppinger (Rsa) 3-0 Alister Walker (Bot)
12/10, 11/9, 11/1 (38m) |
STATS: Head2Heads,
Player Info, CW Performance History
Day One Full Reports
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Alan Thatcher reports from Canary Wharf |
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Tom Richards
(England) 3-0 Ali Anwar Reda (Egypt)
11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (36 mins)
Richards routs Reda
 Tom Richards powered
through the first match with a straight-games demolition job on
Egyptian Ali Anwar Reda.
Playing high-tempo squash, the world No.12 from Walton-on-Thames
attacked at every opportunity.
Always quick on the ball,
Richards volleyed with purpose and moved his opponent to all
corners of the glass court at the East Wintergarden.
 Richards quickly established a 6-1 lead in the first game and
although Reda hit back to 4-6, Richards pushed through to
complete the game without dropping another point.
Reda drew
level at 5-5 in the second game but again that was far as his
contribution went as Richards won the next six points.
The expected third-game revival from Reda failed to materialise
as Richards underlined his superiority with a display of total
control. From 2-3 down he won nine points in a row to book his
first appearance in the Canary Wharf quarter-finals. |
“This is a great
feeling, as a London boy to win before a sell-out crowd in a
terrific venue like this.
“As world No.12 one of my targets is to get into the top ten
before the end of the year and so I am hoping for more
performances like this.
“With the World Teams coming up as well, I know there are a lot
of very talented English players ahead of me in the rankings and
I will need to keep producing results if I am to be selected.”
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 “Medical science
is a wonderful thing these days. The knee is holding up well and
I want to give it one big push this week then take it easy for a
couple of months before the British Open.
“It’s a great feeling to be able to play in front of family and
friends, and sleep in your own bed at night, and although this
tournament is not as big as Kuwait in monetary terms, I know
that we are all here because we love the game.
“This is a very big year for squash on so many fronts, with the
Olympic vote and the World Championships in Manchester, and we
hope the powers that be at the IOC take notice of fantastic
tournaments like this.
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[4]
Peter Barker (England) 3-0 Alan Clyne (Scotland)
11-7, 11-3, 11-7 (38 mins)
Barker bests Clyne
 Peter Barker advanced to a
quarter-final clash against Tom Richards after seeing off the
challenge of Scottish number one Alan Clyne.
The result could have a huge bearing on England’s squad
selection for the forthcoming World Team Championships, with
world No.8 Barker and No.12 Richards ranked three and four in
the country behind Nick Matthew and James Willstrop.
Barker’s knee injury, which caused him to withdraw from last
week’s Kuwait Cup quarter-final against Gregory Gaultier of
France, was a worry for tournament organisers. But Barker
dispelled those fears with a demonstration of excellent mobility
to overpower Clyne as the Scottish world No.27 made his debut
appearance in this PSA International 50 tournament.
 Clyne looked nervous as he struggled to make an impact in the
first game and Barker, who always enjoys playing in this event,
won the first six points. Clyne dug in to claw back to 7-7 but
Barker’s superior length and touch at the front of the court was
the deciding factor as he regained control to win it 11-7.
Barker tightened up to win the second game 11-3 but Clyne fought
desperately to stay in the match in the third. He pulled level
at 7-7 but again Barker’s experience told as he closed out the
match in 38 minutes. |
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[1]
Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-1 Miguel Angel Rodrigues
(Col)
9/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/9 (70m)
Matthew scrapes past Rodriguez
 Nick Matthew admitted he was lucky to reach the quarter-finals
after fending off a phenomenal attack from Colombia’s pocket
rocket Miguel Angel Rodriguez in a hugely entertaining first
round battle.
The unseeded Rodriguez won over the packed crowd with some
amazingly athletic retrieving in a gripping encounter that had
the East Wintergarden rocking.
He took advantage of some unforced errors from Matthew to lead
10-6 in the opening game and held off a spirited revival from
the top seed to close out the game 11-9.
 Matthew’s error count dropped in the second and although he was
playing his usual fast, aggressive game, Rodriguez fought for
every point. Matthew led 7-4 but the world No.23 from Bogota
drew level at 8-8 before Matthew enjoyed some good fortune to
win three points in a row.
Matthew, the No.2 seed from Sheffield, kept in front for most of
the third and finished strongly to win it 11-6.
Rodriguez was spurred on by the home crowd who were clearly
willing the match to go the full distance.
 The fourth game, accordingly, was a brutal battle as Rodriguez
flung himself around the court to keep the rallies going and
produced some quality finishing at the front of the court.
It was touch and go all the way but from 9-9 Matthew moved to
match ball when Rodriguez failed to scrape a shot off the side
wall and the 32-year-old Englishman finally clinched a thrilling
match with a crosscourt drop after some sensational rallying.
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“Miguel was the
better player tonight and I was lucky to get through. I knew
what to expect after our massive match in America last year and
he has obviously come on a lot since then.
“I was fortunate with a few lucky bounces at crucial times and I
am very relieved to get off the court with a win.
“He is so quick that sometimes you are just not sure if the ball
is up or not. It was great entertainment and very enjoyable for
the crowd, but not for me.”
 “This is my first
time here at Canary Wharf and this is a wonderful venue and the
best crowd I have ever played in front of.
“I have been working hard with my coach, David Palmer, and I
look forward to coming back next year.”
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“I am looking
forward to playing Nick in the quarters and want to thank Miguel
for giving him such a tough match.
“We are both working hard with David Palmer and he is an
outstanding coach. He was watching the game on TV and texting me
advice between games.
“I also want to thank my family and friends from South Africa
who were cheering me on through the match.”
And the baggy white shorts ? “I borrowed them from Saurav
Ghosal.”
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Steve Coppinger (Rsa) 3-0 Alister Walker (Bot)
12/10, 11/9, 11/1 (38m)
Coppinger whirlwind stuns Walker
 South African No.1 Steve Coppinger broke the spirit of Alister
Walker to reach a quarter-final clash with top seed Nick
Matthew.
 Coppinger recovered from 6-2 down in the first game to push
Walker all the way. From 9-9 it was Walker who reached game ball
first but Coppinger dug deep to clinch the game 12-10.
Coppinger built a 5-1 lead in the second and managed to stay in
front all the way as Walker responded.
The tall South African reached game ball at 10-7 and although
Walker won the next two points Coppinger held on for 11-9.
Walker’s challenge collapsed in the third game as Coppinger’s
relentless driving saw him power home 11-1. |
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