A REAL FRIENDLY GAME

That was such a good game, that was. Close, yes, but with both players willing to get to the next round, so fighting very hard, but not “fighting”. Great rallies, a few “stop running”, and “you’d better give up now…” kind of remarks, lots of great rallies, both attacking each in their turn.

And a much better performance from Peter, who thoroughly enjoyed his rest (11hours!) and came out blasting. A bit of drop of energy in the third, but nothing bad… Daryl played also at his best, just didn’t seem to be able to finish the rallies. So don’t be fooled by the score, this was a pretty good match we saw….

"I’m disappointed, but not about my performance, I’m quite happy with the way I played, but of not playing on the glass court yet again! I keep on missing the opportunity… "I didn’t play badly, I thought I was in control most of the rallies, but I didn’t seem to win any of them! He’s got that wining shot that I don’t have… "It was a match played in good spirit, as always when playing against Pete, and he played well, I made him play well… I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m not complaining…" Daryl Selby

 

"I had 11 hours of sleep, so that made a big difference. And no disrespect to Sam, but I knew I had to play 10 times better today if I wanted to beat Daryl. I always knew it was going to be tough… "I’m really pleased with the way I played. After my match against Peter in the Nationals, as I was driving down, I felt a bit depressed, but then I thought, hold on, you’ve got to be realistic here, you started playing 10 days ago…. So disappointed with my errors, but still, not too bad…. "When you are not too confident with your fitness, you try and go for shots at the wrong time, you get lazy. And today, I started trusting myself much more…. I’m so happy to be through…" Peter Barker

DISPUTED AND CLOSE….

I’ve had the privilege to see Sir Simon perform in all kind of places and environments, and I must say I never saw him that determined to win a match. In the fourth and fifth, every error he would make would start off a real frustration, let me reassure you immediately, against himself only.

That man’s got spirit and passion, let me tell you…

Against him the same determination, the same hunger for victory, Alex Stait, who is at last injury free from all the knee worries he had last year. Maybe just a bit too keen, far too many errors in the first and last game. He was more or less controlling the rallies, and zoom, would find the tin.

But mentally a very strong young man who came back from 2/0 against Simon Parke to force a decider, and that in itself is an achievement…

"I made so many unforced errors, I gave him literally a game and a half, and that made the difference. I know that Simon retrieves everything, so I was trying to go for my shots, but kept on finding the tin. "We both play well at the moment, and we both wanted to win, so it was disputed, but I really enjoyed it, and I’m pleased with the way I played…" Alex Stait

TWO SHABANAS….

Or two lunatics, whatever term you choose!!!!

On my left, the new kid on the court, Tom Richards, who doesn’t exactly fall into the rally up and down the wall category, always trying to find winners (and sometimes the tin). On my right, Jonathan/Joey Kemp (I always called him Jonathan, suddenly he is called Joey, I’m slightly lost here…), who has been having a foot injury for a few weeks now, and who desperately wanted to keep his strength for the next round.

The result?

I don’t think I ever saw a match quite like that. Fireworks of winners is probably the best way to describe it. As we had a lot of spectators, we could actually have put a few chairs at the back of the court, as it was never used during the encounter!!

Joke apart, a great match, in total opposition to the previous match, where Simon applied a clinical approach to his game. The audience was delighted, and as the match was very short, we got back on schedule…

NOT IMPRESSED

It was the first time I saw Borja Golan play a real match, as yesterday his opponent Laurence Delasaux withdrew on injury, and I was quite looking forward to see him perform against Joey Barrington.

Sorry to say, my feelings about the match are not that wonderful. A Barrington that didn’t seem all there, his focus a bit all over the place, and a Borja whose constant complaining and discussions with the referee made it quite unpleasant, with a few pushings that cost him a conduct stroke, quite deserved I think.

My comment would be that Borja has got the talent, but maybe dropping the attitude would help. As we got talking after the match, he explained that he was really unhappy about the decisions, and that he couldn’t not say anything, and that I shouldn’t judge him on one match only.

Good point.

So, I will try and keep an open mind…. Time will tell I’m sure…
 

Spotlight on Borja

BARKER STILL FRAGILE,
MILLER STRONG…

You must all know by now that Peter Barker broke his ankle a few weeks ago, and has only been playing a few days. So he is doing fine, considering. But at the moment, his width has gone way out the window, and he basically opens the middle of the court… Not good.

And Sam Miller today was prompt to take advantage of Peter’s lack of accuracy. Add to that an excellent counterdrop, especially on the forehand, a good balance between length and short game, some pretty amazing retrieving, and Mr Miller really threatened a Peter just back from Manchester.

Peter will be happy to have a good sleep tonight, and hopefully will be ready for yet another hard match with old mate Daryl Selby….

"I’m rusty, I haven’t played enough matches, I didn’t touch a racquet for 2 months, and have only been playing for 10 days. So I’m glad to play, but I’m not playing as I should. "Today I played better in the 4th than in the 1st, but I’m really tired, I don’t know why, maybe going to bed at 3am after my match against Peter Nicol in Manchester and rushing down here this morning has something to do with it???? "I’m really happy to play against Daryl, we are very old friends, and as we have a lot of friends in common, at least they will get to see and support one of us in Canary Wharf…" Peter Barker

MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR GORDON…

American Chris Gordon came quite close to destabilise Daryl Sebly. The points were very disputed, a bit of physical contact, but really nothing bad, just two players trying to get to the next round.

Today, Daryl was not too quick at the front, and Chris could have used that a bit more maybe. Also, if Chris had succeeded to take the second game, the match may have turned pretty drastically. Like I said, a missed opportunity for the American, but the Englishman prevailed….

He gave it 100%, and made it hard for me from the first rally. He didn’t let me get into my rhythm, and played extremely well. But you expect the younger players to give it all what they have. It was very cold to start with, as the heater wasn’t on when we started, and I felt that I had to seize all the opportunity to attack I had…. But it was a really close game… Tomorrow against Peter should be interesting, we haven’t played for a little while, and I’m really looking forward to it… Daryl Selby

3, 3 and 2, what is there to say????? It was a good lesson. I didn’t played terribly, but he just played at a pace I couldn’t sustain…

Aaron Franckomb

I had seen Aaron beating Mark Chaloner in the qualifiers for the Saudi, 3/2, and you have to be a good player to beat Mark, even if he was a bit tired.

So, I gave him respect and tried to win as quickly as I could, getting in front, and also, taking the opportunity first time, and not waiting for the 2nd or the 3rd…

The last time I played against Alex, was in the famous English Open where I got into the final against Lee. So it will be interesting to see how we get on…

Simon Parke

SAURAV A BIT LOST…

It was a “weird” match that one. Alex was playing superbly, very accurate, and didn’t let Saurav breath much, but I’ve seen play quite a few times, and I never saw him play like that.

He seemed to have lost his way, didn’t make any impression on his opponent really, just tried and return and retrieve, run a lot as he always does, but seemed to have forgotten his basic game.

Alex didn’t really spend too much energy on that first match, and will be fresh to play Sir Simon Parke, and as they are both hungry for victory at the moment, that will be a very interesting encounter…..

For the past three weeks, I’ve been working very hard, both on squash and at University, and I think that I may have overdone it slightly, and I feel that I’m tired, more mentally than physically really. Also I was slipping all over the place, which didn’t help… I could also be that I didn’t play well today! But all excuses apart, Alex played very well, in particular his back hand shots were superb, he played some backhand volley straight, a very difficult shot to execute, and I didn’t pick one! That how good there were… Saurav Ghosal

I played quite well, and broke his game, I prevented him from playing well. Also, he was struggling a bit with his footing, he slipped a few times. At the moment, I feel quite confident, so I go for winners, whereas I can play a bit safe if I’m not… I had a few injuries but for a few months now, I enjoy my game again, and I’m still training with Annette Pilling who makes me really positive. I was glad today to have John Milton to coach me between games, I didn’t see him for a while, and that was really a great help… Alex Stait

TOO FAST TOM….

I didn’t have the chance to speak with Davide after his match, but basically, Tom Richards dazzled us all today with his pace and short game, and I’m pretty sure the Italian number one didn’t expect such a performance from a “just turned pro ex junior”.

The pace was just remarkable, all the English boy shots were coming in, he was fast as ever with his hands, and has succeed to cut the errors that used to crippled his game.

Davide didn’t play badly at all, he was just overwhelmed and maybe was unprepared mentally to such a performance. And on the last point, as he clinched the victory, Tom let his emotion explode for the first time, and shouted a Hewitt style “Come one”, quite charged with both pride and extacy.

Well played, Tom, well done….

I’m much more disciplined now, I got fed up of losing matches I should have won. And it’s not that I’ve changed coach or anything, I’m still training with Danny Lee, I’ve been with him for the past 15 years now. People used to tell me that I should be more disciplined, I just didn’t seem to listen, but I do now… I just played Parke at the Nationals, and that gave me confidence to realise that I could compete at that level. I’m just trying to find the right balance, I don’t want to lose my short game too much in favour of a more disciplined game, but it’s all a question of balance…. When I was 2/1 up today for example, I just played as tight as I could… Also, I’ve got much more confidence in my fitness. Before, I didn’t trust I could keep the rally going, so I would try and shorten it. Now I trust myself much more… Tom Richards

CLOSING THE DAY WITH JOEY…

Yes, at is often the case, and I’m sure he doesn’t intend to, but the last match still being played when everybody else is taking a shower is Joey’s match! Very often you hear a “is Joey keeping everybody up yet again?”

Well, sue him! He is fit and is not afraid of rallying, and although he tries very hard to incorporate more attacks in his game, “I spend my training sessions working on drop shots, and today, how many did I play? Four, five???” he told me after his victory….

Against him the young Chris Simpson, who had given a good fright to Barrington a few days ago in the BSPA Artemis, and who fancied his chances. And as it’s often the case, when you put a bit too much expectations on your shoulders, you forget to enjoy your squash and you lose your marks…

So Chris was disappointed with his performance, and I guess that seeing his mate Tom advance to the next round will make him quietly hoping he was too…

I went through a lot of different frames of mind today. First two games, I was a bit too negative, so in the third I attacked more, but went too far the other way, and if to start with I was a bit sluggish, then I had too much energy all over the place… In the 1st game, I played quite well until 9/9, when I started thinking that the next two points were really important, and I started to play safe… Joey played well, he didn’t give me anything cheap…. For the past two weeks, I played really well, in the BSPA Edinburgh in particular, where I still lost against Joey, but I played well, and I felt happy of my performance, whereas today, I’m disappointed… Chris Simpson

I never felt tired or exhausted really, but more intimidated than anything else… He plays so well the ball, he is so accurate, and would take advantage of my loose shots, so I tried and keep it as straight as possible.

It was a very good experience, and he played superbly, he deserve to win. Hopefully I can play more tournaments like this, and play more players of that calibre.

Arthur Gaskin

I was trying to save my energy, as I’m just recovering from an injury in my right foot, which is the reason why I didn’t play in the Nationals, to try and rest it. It’s been nagging me for 5/6 weeks now, but today it felt alright…

On a more general point, I feel that I’m not as fit as I should be, and I’m struggling with my racquet skills, so I’m working more on my fitness at the moment.

Jonathan Kemp