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Tue 16-Aug:
Qualifying Finals:
Alex Stait (Eng) bt
Alister Walker (Eng)
10/11(0-2), 11/10(3-1), 11/9, 11/0 (49m)
plays Kneipp
Peter Barker (Eng) bt Rodney Durbach (Eng)
11/8, 11/5, 5/11, 11/5 (57m)
plays Shahid
Mansoor Zaman (Pak) bt Philip Barker (Eng)
11/8, 11/8, 11/6 (29m)
plays White
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt
Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
11/5, 6/11, 2/11, 11/5, 11/3 (72m)
plays Matthew
Quick reports by Steve Cubbins,
Framboise reports from Hallamshire ...
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Sheffield
EN BREF
...
Everything you never knew you needed
to know
Day TWO:
Qualifiers, the REAL stars ... Gardening to Driving .... |
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from the Crucible,
from 5.30 Wed |
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Peter Barker (Eng) bt Rodney Durbach (Eng)
11/8, 11/5, 5/11, 11/5 (57m)
plays Shahid
TENSE AND INTENSE…
 From
the first ball exchange, we knew we were in for a good match. The two
players didn’t come here to make up the numbers. Both extremely focused,
determined and willing, you could have cut the tension with a racquet
string…
South African Rodney Durbach didn’t have such a good season last
year, he didn’t seem very happy with the way his squash was going, but
recently, he’s been moving well, and his drop shots are as lethal as
ever. Well decided to confirm a good start of the season Rodney was…
 Peter
Barker has been enjoying the pleasure of travelling all over the
road, wining two tournaments in a row in South America, Sao Paulo and
Colombia, but his last report to us was “I’m absolutely shattered”. And
quite logically, as the body often does after a long and exhausting
journey, it shuts down… And Peter has been under the weather for the
past week with a strong cold/flu…
So both players ready for battle, and the first game was… tense. A lot
of decisions (I counted 15), a lot of stopping, no arguments but a few
questionings of the ref’s decision (although it became obvious that
Rodney was not exactly overjoyed with his decisions, he never went over
the top), fast paced rallies, Peter playing his return of serves a bit
short, but very tight drives, Rodney attacking beautifully, moving
fast...
In other words, it was anybody’s game. Peter sneaked in and got it, on a
“no let” which didn’t go that well with the South African...
 When
he came back on court, Rodney had visibly had a good talk with himself,
and had taken the decision that, no matter what decisions were going to
come from the referee, he was not going to get excited about. And that
was a good move, as he was able to concentrate on his game…
The second game was Peter’s really, with the Englishman much more
patient, accepting the exchange a bit better, not trying to finish it
too early, leaving it to Rodney to make the error. Thirteen minutes
later, Barker looked pretty good, taking the game 11/5 to lead 2/0.
But Rodney hadn’t given up whatsoever. He shot up 5/1 in the third, let
his opponent come back at 3/5 but after that, never looked back in the
game, that he seized in 9 minutes again 11/5…
In all honesty, I don’t think that Peter would have won in five. It was
obvious to all that he was not at his best physically, coughing his
lungs out, poor thing, and Rodney seemed really on his way to equalise
at two games all…
At 3/4 in the fourth, Peter didn’t look that good. But he really dug in,
and scored point after point after point. Helped by a few ill-timed
errors from the maybe too keen South African, the Englishman clinched a
victory in four games, 11/5 in the fourth…
Peter must have been sooo relieved to get that game... And Rodney so
disappointed, as he had a good chance today, we all saw it…
 |
 "It
was a very hard start, there were a lot of decisions and I think
the ref did pretty well. I knew that if I could keep my calm I
would be able to win through.
Rodney is a bit awkward to play, and the more awkward it gets the
more he likes it. So I tried to keep it simple, hitting it
straight and getting to the front.
"In the third I knew I was playing far too short, but because I
don't feel that great physically, because I'm not 100%, I didn't
do what I would normally do, which is 'length it out'.
"I
was so pleased to win the fourth. When I got to 8-4 I really gave
a sigh of relief, because normally when you get to eight you have
to do something drastically wrong to lose the game.
"I'm so glad I'm not playing Nick [Matthew], as I've been staying
at his house all week, and his mother, who I call 'Auntie Sue',
has been unbelievable and nursed me back to health.
"Today I spent the day in bed and she kept on bringing me lemon
and honey, so I'm extremely grateful."
Peter Barker
 |
 "We
both knew it was going to be a hard game, because we both like to
attack the 'T', so there was bound to be interference.
"In the first I thought the ref was making some very strange
calls.
"When I came back for the second I'd settled down and I decided I
wasn't going to lost the game because of the ref. But yet again he
gave some bad decisions which made me lose the second.
"I
decided to slow down in the third, I didn't feel tired at all and
I knew the only way to keep the ref out of the match was to play
up and down the walls.
"In the fourth I though Peter was tired, but instead of keeping to
my game plan I picked up the pace. That was a bad decision, I made
a few bad errors, and that was that."
Rodney Durbach |
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Mansoor Zaman (Pak) bt Philip Barker (Eng)
11/8, 11/8, 11/6 (29m) plays
White
Mansoor denies Barker Double ...
In the second match at Abbeydale, top qualifying seed Mansoor Zaman
prevented a Barker double, beating Peter's brother Philip in straight
games in just under half an hour.
 "I
felt good before the match, so I'm a bit disappointed to lose.
"Against someone like Mansoor you have to keep the ball tight, but
I hit a few too many loose shots and I got punished."
Philip Barker |
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 "My
ranking has slipped because of visa problems that kept me out of
some big tournaments in the USA, that's why I'm back in the
qualifying.
"I enjoy playing in Sheffield, especially at this club. I actually
played Phil here in the BJO U14s in 1995, where I went on to lose
to Bengy.
"But I'm happy to be back into the main draw, and I'll give my
best ..."
Mansoor Zaman |
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Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt
Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
11/5, 6/11, 2/11, 11/5, 11/3 (72m)
plays Matthew
FIERCE AND FRIENDLY…
"A gentlemen’s game" could have been the title of this report.
Let me let you in on a little secret here. The first two times I saw
Davide Bianchetti play, I was far from impressed. His behaviour on
court was, how can I put it... slightly outrageous... He was arguing
loudly with the ref, and I didn’t like it or him whatsoever.
 Then,
in Kuwait, he was there with his dad, such a charming and well educated
man I thought, naaaa, with a dad like that, there must be more to Davide
than what I saw… And this week, I’ve discovered the other side of the
Italian. Funny, charming, clever, witty, caring….
At the same time, I was also meeting Stewart Boswell for the
first time, as since I’ve been on the circuit, he has been injured, as
you must all know by now… And I could use the same words to describe the
Australian as I would use for the Italian, with one major difference:
Davide speaks a lot, and Stewart listens a lot…
All that is to say that those two are the best of mates, and that their
match today was the perfect example of how squash is, or should be.
Intense, friendly, varied, entertaining, with uncertain outcome…A real
gem.
Throughout the match, rallies were long, very long, disputed, very
disputed, perfect traditional squash… A bit of up and down the wall,
lovely drop shots, amazing retrieving, a few clever lobs, lots of
running, good variation of shots and pace…
 And
if in the first two games, Davide didn’t believe in his chances, in the
third, he really thought (we all did) that he could win the encounter,
as the poor Bozza was really really REALLY tired.
In that game, there were some great moments. Davide is up 3/0, asks for
a let, is awarded a stroke, and turns to the ref, and says quietly, “I
only wanted a let, please, I don’t want a stroke”. The crowd loves it.
But the best is still to come. A few minutes later, 1/5, Davide gets a
let, but this time it’s Stewart that turns round to the ref “Oh give him
a stroke, I’m playing cr…”. The crowd adores it.
But do not believe for a moment that those two were having a nice
friendly game here, or chatting around a beer... They were both fighting
for their life, for their livelihood…
In the fourth, Boswell seemed to get a second wind, looking much more
refreshed than he did in the third. Slowing down the pace, he took the
control of the match again. And Davide, who was so close, lost his heart
when he lost the fourth. The fifth was not a formality, but the Italian
had lost the belief…
So, guys, thank you for giving everything you had, thank you for
entertaining us, thank you for your perfect behaviour, your great
sportsmanship. This match should have been filmed and shown in all the
squash camps all over the world…
Where is the streaming when you need it?????????? |
 "I'm
so happy to get through. In the third I really wasn't feeling too
good. Throughout the whole match my length was all over the place,
but in the last two games I hit more length, was more patient.
"I thought that Davide retrieved the ball pretty well, I was playing
some very good short balls and he kept getting them back - I'm not
used to those kind of shots coming back to me!"
Stewart Boswell |
 "I
didn't want to play the first game the way I did, I didn't want
long rallies at all. I just couldn't do what I wanted, which was
to shorten the rallies, because the court was so hot and bouncy
and because Stewart was playing tight and fast, making it
difficult to control.
"But, as my friend Stewart Boswell says, I'm not a good first game
player, so I wasn't too disappointed when I lost it.
"In the third I really thought I had him, I haven't seen Stewart
looking that tired playing against me, but then somehow in the 4th
and 5th, he got stronger.
"In the fifth he was a bit more patient, and because I thought I
had a chance I wanted to close it out a bit too soon, I went for a
little too much.
"I have to admit that I didn't think I was going to win this one, and to
be honest, if I had money to bet on the match, I would have bet on
Stewart. But I'm a little disappointed, because this is the
closest I've ever got to him."
Davide Bianchetti |
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Alex Stait (Eng) bt
Alister Walker (Eng)
10/11(0-2), 11/10(3-1), 11/9, 11/0 (49m) plays
Kneipp
Stait back in the big time ...
Alex Stait, back in action after a
five-month injury lay-off after knee surgery, became the first player to
qualify for the Crucible as he beat fellow Englishman Alister Walker
in four games in the first match at Abbeydale.
The first two games were shared, both going to the tie-break, and at 9/4
to Walker in the third it looked as if Stait's hard match last night
against LJ Anjema might be taking its toll.
But Stait rallied, and with no apparent sign of injury to his opponent,
reeled off seven unanswered points the take the lead, and a further
eleven points to clinch the match, 11/0 in the fourth. |
 "Obviously
I'm bitterly disappointed. We're good friends, but I thought I had
a good chance as Alex had a tough match yesterday.
"I had a great chance when I was leading in the third, but I lost
my focus, struggled to get it back and Alex took full advantage."
Alister
Walker |
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 "I
had my meniscus removed back in March, and I thought I was going
to be OK, but suddenly, about a month ago, during a tournament,
the other knee went, apparently with the same thing. But thank
God, nothing showed on the scan. So two weeks ago, my surgeon said
to me to “try it out, and if it’s not working, we’ll operate”. So
far so good, it seems to be working…
 "Yesterday
against LJ, I knew it was going to be a close game. He is really a
powerful player, but if you can stand his pace for the first and
second game, because he is a tall guy, and you make him move
around, you’ve got a chance…
"In the 4th, I was 9/5, and I still managed to lose the game, but
hopefully, I won the 5th, a pretty close game… I think I was just
a bit more positive at the end…
"Now, Alister. He is probably my best friend on the circuit, he
came to live with us a few years ago, my mum is a bit like his
mum, so we really do not enjoy playing against each other.
"We are professionals, so we try to put it aside, because we know
that it’s bound to happen. We played together at the ToC for
example, I had match ball, but still lost the match…
"Today, I won because I was able to score the important points,
and although the first and second were pretty close, I played
really well in the 4th (the score was 11/0).
"I’ve never played Joe Kneipp on a PSA event, but we’ve played a
few times in the Leagues, and the last time we played, he
absolutely thrashed me! I’ve got to do better than that now,
haven’t I?....."
Alex Stait |
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