|
Mon 23rd Mar, Round ONE (top)
[6]
Daryl Selby (Eng) 3-1 [Q] Joe Lee (Eng)
11/7, 17/15, 9/11, 11/7 (77m)
[3] Borja Golan (Esp) 3-1 Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
11/7, 11/4, 10/12, 11/7 (64m)
[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-0 [wc] Eddie Charlton (Eng)
11/4, 11/5, 11/7 (38m)
[8] Fares Dessouki (Egy) 3-0 Adrian Waller (Eng)
11/3, 11/4, 11/5 (34m)
Matthew leads Seeds through
on opening day
Reports from Alan Thatcher & Lee Horton
Joe Lee
has hopes of becoming the new young English gun
on the block but his 77-minute scrap with England veteran
Daryl Selby showed that a wise head can still hold sway over
young legs.
 Lee, 25, from the opposite end of the Thames to
Essex man Selby, threw everything he had at the seasoned world
number 17 but the bearded battler never went close to
folding, let alone going down.
In a gruelling match-up, Lee had no less than 14 game balls over
two games, but managed to take just one. Seven went begging in a
marathon second game finishing 17-15 to Selby and the routine
looked liked being repeated in the fourth before the Surrey man
took the game at the seventh time of asking 11-9.
Selby’s experience was always going to dictate play and the 32-year-old
controlled a nervy opening game forcing Lee to ‘tin’ six times
as he took it 11-7. It was a similar story, and score, in the
crucial fourth after Lee had spent his energies over the
attritional second and third.
 Afterwards Selby played tribute to his younger opponent
recognising that a changing of the guard is imminent.
“Joe is among a group of players waiting in the wings ready
to take over from Nick, James Pete and myself. I’m lucky enough
to train a lot with the younger players can see their potential.
I’m hoping they can learn from the current incumbent of top
players and take their game to a new level.
“Joe breezed through the qualifiers with a couple of 3-0 wins
so I knew he would be relatively fresh. I thought that long
second game would have hurt him but to his credit he came back
brilliantly to deservedly take the third. It was a tough battle
for sure but I’m glad to be through to Wednesday’s quarters.”
 Despite the result, Lee was not too despondent. He
said: "Of course I'm disappointed to lose, but I felt I
played well for large parts of the match.
"It was irritating to lose that second game after having held so
many game balls. It wasn't like I was under pressure when I made
those mistakes, but I had some very good advice between games
from Robbie Temple after that.
"He told me to attack with pace at the start of the third game
and that tactic worked very well. I built a good lead and held
it all the way and that was a very good spell for me. But Daryl
came back strongly in the fourth and showed his vast experience
of playing in tournaments like this."
 Selby
will face Spaniard Borja Golan next after the man from
Pilgrimage city Santiago de Compostella kept faith with his
high-octane, attacking style to take out Dutchman Laurens Jan
Anjema 3-1.
The third seed rattled through the first two in quick-time and
completed the job 11-7, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7 after Anjema staged a
spirited comeback in the third, but failed to build on that in
the fourth.
Golan said: "I have been getting some really tough first round
draws recently, with LJ here and Nick Matthew in Chicago. LJ
beat me in China at the start of the season and has only just
started playing again after injury.
"He made his comeback in Chicago three weeks and I couldn't
believe how much he has improved in that time. I was very happy
to get the win on this beautiful new court."
 Nick
Matthew is in danger of becoming an honorary Londoner, such
is affection for picking up titles in the capital.
For a proud Yorkshireman, Docklands is one of his favourite
hunting ground with four Canary Wharf Classic PSA titles already
safely in the bank. And a fifth victory in six years appears a
decent bet with the top seed and current world number three
looking ominously sharp.
The three times former world champion opened his account in
clinical style last night disposing of training partner Eddie
Charlton.
Charlton was handed a wild-card entry into the tournament, and
gave a good account of himself before a packed crowd at the East
Wintergarden.
Charlton showed the kind of determination that would have earned
the respect of his opponent, refusing to lie down in the closing
stages of the third game and battling throughout a phenomenally
long rally as Matthew finally won it in the front of the court
to move to match ball.
 The
proceedings were over in 38 minutes with Matthew winning 11-4,
11-5, 11-7. He’ll face tougher battles ahead but it would be a
brave man to suggest his domination of the event won’t be as
water tight.
Matthew said: “It was important to get a good start at the
beginning of each game. It was nice and warm on this brilliant
new court and it’s always great to see this fabulous venue full
up on the opening day.”
When asked about his recent form, he added: “It shows that if
you look after yourself there is no reason why you can’t carry
on playing well into your thirties.” It was a comment that
clearly struck a chord with an audience full of enthusiastic
squash players.
 And
when discussing the fact that he and James Willstrop have each
won the Canary Wharf title four times, he quickly responded:
“I’m saying it’s 4-2 to me because the first two years were
non-PSA! Seriously, though, it took me a while to play well in
this tournament and those first two years had most of the top
eight players in the world competing.”
Matthew will now enjoy a well-earned rest day before his
quarter-final appearance on Wednesday, when he will face the
hugely talented 20-year-old Fares Dessouki, who powered
his way past England’s Adrian Waller in straight games.
Dessouki won 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 in 34 minutes of high-quality,
attacking squash. He hunted down the volleys, and buried plenty
of crosscourt nicks in the front right corner.
 He
thoroughly enjoyed his Canary Wharf debut and said: “This is
a wonderful venue, with a big crowd, and it’s a great place to
play squash. I knew it would be a hard match against such a
talented player as Adrian.
"He can control rallies if you let him and it felt good to get
that result, Now I am looking forward to playing Nick in the
quarter-finals and hope I can do well.”
|
COUNTDOWN #9
Matthew aims for High Five
Matthew reunited with kidney transplant
survivor Paul Dowdall
|
