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TODAY in Cayman: Thu 7th,
QUARTER-FINALS |
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The Last Eight
[2] Jenny
Duncalf (Eng) bt [7] Camille Serme (Fra)
6/11, 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 (53m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt [Q]
Sarah Kippax (Eng)
11/7, 11/6, 11/7 (28m)
[Q] Donna Urquhart (Aus) bt [5] Madeline Perry (Irl)
6/11, 11/13, 11/8, 12/10, 11/9 (72m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [Q] Natalie
Grinham (Ned)
11/4, 8/11, 11/8, 11/4 (47m)
Alister Walker bt Chris Binnie 11/4,
11/5, 11/4 (30m)
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[2] Jenny
Duncalf (Eng) bt [7] Camille Serme (Fra)
6/11, 11/6, 11/4, 11/7 (53m)
Duncalf has the best spell
Last year's runner-up #Jenny Duncalf was the first player to
reach the semis after prevailing in a high-quality encounter
with France's Camille Serme, strangely the only quarter-final
not to feature a qualifier.
 Both
move neatly and quickly when needed, and strike the ball
cleanly, if not with the absolute power that some of the girls
can muster, and are adept at manouvering their opponent around
the court.
Which all goes to say it was an evenly contested match, both
enjoying spells of dominance.
Serme had the first good spell, scoring seven points in a row to
go from 4-6 to11-6 in the first. It was an exact role reversal
in the second, Duncalf taking seven in a row to level matters
up.
It seemed Duncalf had taken charge as she took the third with
some ease and then moved 5-1 ahead in the fourth. But now it was
Camille's turn again, as she took six of the next eight points
to draw level at 7-all.
Two crucial errors from the French racket though - a
dropshot at the front of the court into then tin, then one from
an attempted drop from the back. That gave Jenny a bit of
breathing space and with a dropshot that was too tight to
retrieve, and a wrongfooting boast to finish she was into
another Cayman semi-final.
"I'm just
exhausted, it's so hot!
"I'm pleased with how I played tonight though, I wasn't happy
with my game for a few months, but I'm playing better now I hope
I can improve some more.
Tonight I just wasn't tight enough, I gave her too many
opportunities to attack."
"I don't usually sweat so much, not until I come here, it's the
sweatiest place I've ever been! You just have to deal with it
though, it's the same for both of us.
"It was a tough match, but it's good to win the first one, I can
relax and watch the others play now."
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[3] Rachael
Grinham (Aus) bt [Q] Sarah Kippax
(Eng)
11/7, 11/6, 11/7 (28m)
Rachael plays Normal ... almost
A little like the previous match, this one went in patches, but
Sarah Kippax only enjoyed brief runs of points, it was third
seed Rachael Grinham who was amassing the most.
 He
game is all about flicks, drops, lobs and winners - as MC Dan
said to her afterwards, "wherever you are on court the plan
seems to be hit it twice then hit a winner".
Rachael didn't exactly object to this description of her style,
but she pointed out that tonight most of her winners came at the
back of the court as she was employing a less risky gameplan
than normal.
And that was true, it was a little less of a typical Rachael
game, more of a 'normal' one, and that probably suited Sarah,
who was 'in' pretty much every rally. Yes, it was Rachael most
likely to finish it off, but Sarah was never out of contention.
An early lead for Rachael in the first, 10-5 was consolidated
for an 11-7 win. From 5-all in the second she pulled clear to
take it 11-6, and after a 3-0 start in the third she never let
Sarah get back on terms, 5-4 and 8-7 was as close as it got.
After Sarah fluffed a dropshot attempt that could have brought
her level Rachael took the necessary two points to finish it
off.
"I've played
really well this year, and had a great event here last year,
there's something about here that makes me play well!
"Rachael's very experienced and very skilful, it's always
difficult to play her, but I thought I played well and I'm happy
with my performances this week."
"I felt I played pretty well there tonight. Sarah's very quick
and very fit, she can get everything back so I was having to
make sure I put the ball into the corners. Most of my winners
were in the back of the court, which is unusual for me, I played
a less risky game than normal."
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[Q] Donna
Urquhart (Aus) bt [5] Madeline Perry
(Irl)
6/11, 11/13, 11/8, 12/10, 11/9 (72m)
Brutal
There's no other word to
describe it really. Seventy-plus minutes of top quality women's
squash which went from fast and furious, to ferocious, then to
savage, then tense, and eventually to exhaustion as Donna
Urquhart and Madeline Perry both collapsed onto the floor at the
end of a match that will linger in the memory of all those that
saw it.
It was fast and furious at the start, with Perry, who survived a
five-game thriller yesterday, forcing the pace, volleying
everything and reaping the rewards. Donna Urquhart, who also
survived a five-game thriller yesterday, was struggling to keep
up with the pace.
Perry took the first 11/6 but the second was more even, 4-all
then 7-all. Then came the ferocious phase, as they went at each
other hammer and tong, smashing the ball and running after it as
hard as they could for rally after punishing rally.
From 10-all it was simply savage, and when Perry finished off a
particularly savage rally punching the ball deep for 13/11, it
looked a long road back for Urquhart, a long road indeed.
It couldn't continue at that pace and intensity, not with two
players who should be tired, not in these hot, humid conditions.
The players in the earlier matches had talked about how hard it
was in the heat, and they hadn't been playing like this, so
imagine how the girls must have felt.
After it was all over both confessed to being absolutely
shattered at that point. Perry, after MC Dan commented that she
looked tired in the fifth, replied "I was gone after the
second!".
Donna revealed that she had gone to her corner and told Kasey
Brown "I can't do this, it's too ho, I can't breathe, I can't
think." Kasey's advice was to slow it down, get herself back
into it and see how it went.
It was a fair bet that they couldn't continue at the pace of the
first two games, and it did calm down, but it never fell below
the "very, very tough" mark. Donna held the lead most of the way
through the third and took it 11/8. All the points in the second
half of that game were won with winners, it was high quality
stuff. Well, except Madeline's final volley into the tin, but
she can be excused that one.
The fourth and fifth were the tense phase. Still tough rallies,
still remarkably few unforced errors, and boy were the crowd
getting wrapped up in it all now.
The fourth was even, from 8-all Madeline produced two match
balls, but Donna took the next four points, the last two of them
strokes, and we had a decider.
Donna opened up to 6/2, Madeline clawed, crawled her way back to
7-all. 9-7 Donna with a fierce crosscourt drive and a cry of "CMON".
9-all as Donna got a no let, got a let on an identical situation
on the next rally, and Madeline finished a patient rally with a
dropshot.
It was a pity that the match had to end the way it did, with two
strokes to Donna, but that doesn't detract from the thrill of
it, the sheer spectacle of it. Well played girls, well played,
you put everything into that one.
 "That
was horrible! I was wrecked after two games to be honest. I took
it early and put her under pressure in the first two games, but
I couldn't keep it up. I don't know how I moved at all in the
fifth!
"I should have won the fourth, I had two match balls but
couldn't take them. I tried my best, but I guess I'm just too
old now, I must be mad but I still really enjoy playing these
matches!"
"No, I didn't feel nervous at all, I just didn't have the energy
to think, let alone feel nervous. I've never played on a court
so hot - I should have weighed myself before we started, I
probably lost 5 kilos on there tonight, my dress was so heavy it
was weighing me down!
"After two games Kasey came to talk to me and I told her 'I
can't do this, it's just too hot, I can't breathe, I can't
think.'
"I was dying but she seemed to be ok, I was asking myself 'how
is she doing this', then when she talked to Dan at the end I
knew she was hurting as much as me, but at the time I didn't
know that.
"Kasey told me I had to slow it down completely, try to play my
game instead of competing at such a fast pace. I did that, got
my breath back and managed to get back into it.
"She was killing me at that fast game, but thankfully she
couldn't keep it it, I know I couldn't have.
"I know I said it yesterday, but this is definitely my best
win!"
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[1] Nicol
David (Mas) bt [Q] Natalie Grinham
(Ned)
11/4, 8/11, 11/8, 11/4 (47m)
Just like the old times
If you didn't believe yesterday's headline, "Nat's Back", then
believe it now.
It was just like the old days of 2006 to 2009 when Natalie
Grinham and Nicol David contested major final after major final.
True, Nicol won the majority of them, as she did tonight, but
they were always compelling, always long, and always full of top
quality squash.
 Much
the same as tonight, really. Sometimes Natalie would attempt to
simply outlast Nicol - Belfast 2006 World Open Final - but now
she professes to be hitting the ball better than before Keiran,
moving less well, but playing with greater freedom. And it
certainly looked like that tonight.
Their first meeting since the 2009 World Open final in Amsterdam
was every bit as good as that or many of their earlier
encounters - Nicol led 23-7 before tonight.
The rallies were intricate, each trying to weave a web to entrap
the other into before applying the finishing touch, and it was
great to watch.
Nicol took the first comfortably enough, Natalie got a god start
in the second and held on to equalise. The third was in the
balance, Natalie was 8-7 up and playing confidently, but Nicol
just nicked it away from her with four points in a row, and she
was looking confident now.
At 3-all in the fourth Natalie hit the tin, told herself "oh
stop that" but couldn't. Nicol was on top now, and Natalie's
error count grew. The result became to look inevitable, but it
didn't detract from a quality match.
And let's face it, Natalie's played eight days in a row now,
Nicol's relatively fresh, and as one Cayman veteran said of the
two time defending champion, "that's the first time I've seen
Nicol lose a game!"
Footnote:
A couple of records may have been broken tonight. First, as
proof of the fact that Natalie sorely tested the world number
one, world champion, commonwealth champion etc etc etc ... Nicol
David dived. I'll repeat that: Nicol David dived. Of course she
got the ball and won the point with her shot from the floor,
what else do you expect. Natalie was so impressed so jokingly
threatened to throw the ball at her!
Nicol thinks she might have done it once before in Singapore,
but no-one here can remember her even coming close to
horizontal. Sadly the best I have is an image of her legs moving
away from me, but hopefully Steve Line, who was on the correct
side of the court, will let us have one of his!
Secondly, we had an injury timeout request ... after midnight.
At 0:09 Natalie rather sheepishly asked if she was allowed a
break because of blisters. The referee said yes, so a timeout it
was. Ok, not as interesting as the first one, agreed.
"I'm happy with my
match. She made me do a lot of running, which meant I had to
sort out my blister towards the end. I feel like I'm playing
really well, no pressure, and I'm hitting the ball better than
before, even if I'm not moving quite as well."
"We've played so many times over the years, we have these
monster matches. She's just won a tournament so I knew what to
expect, I knew she'd be up for it and raise her game so I had to
raise mine.
"The dive? I really needed that point, so I just had to really
go for it!"
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