TODAY in Paderborn,
Mon 22nd, Day TWO
Steve and Fram in
Germany ...
Roundup:
Malaysia & France take control, There
two matches in the first session where the two seeded team met,
and the one that was closest on paper was in Pool E where
Malaysia took on Pakistan in an all-Asian clash.
Malaysia's top pair of Azlan Iskandar and Ong Beng Hee wrapped
up the match quickly enough, leaving Pakistan with a
winner-takes-all match with Denmark, who beat Austria 2-1 to
keep their hopes of a last 6 spot alive.
On the glass court France met the Netherlands to
decide which European team would take control of Pool C and it
was the French, runners-up last time, who quickly took control
with wins from Gregory Gaultier and Thierry Lincou.
In Pool F India and South Africa kept their winning
records going, setting up a Pool decider tomorrow, as did
Australia and Finland in Pool D.
USA and Canada in last-gasp winners
The evening session saw two North American comebacks as first
USA and then Canada recovered from losing the first
matches to beat Switzerland and Mexico to maintain their
top-of-the-group statuses.
Nicolas
Mueller put the Swiss ahead, but Gilly Lane levelled and Chris
Gordon won it for the US with a fiercely contested win over John
Williams, finishing with the American totally delighted and the
Swiss desperately frustrated.
The Mexicans were even closer to an upset. After Cesar Salazar
put them ahead against Shahier Razik, Shawn Delierre had to
fight back against a determined Eric Galvez to put the Canadians
level, leaving it to Andrew Schnell to play a second successive
decider.
Erik Tepos went two-nil up, but with the Canadians and the Scots
- who beat Namibia 3-0 and wanted Canada to win so they could
play the Mexicans for second spot tomorrow - urging him on,
Schnell overcame a deficit in the third before finally taking
the match after 60 tense minutes.
New Zealand bounced back from yesterday's disappointment
with a 3-0 win over Sweden, and Spain scored a minor
upset over Ireland, although realistically all four will be in
the 17-32 playoff mix.
Hosts Germany, urged on by a noisy 1000+ capacity crowd,
threatened to give top seeds England some worried when
Simon Rosner took the first game off Nick Matthew 15/13, but the
top seeds reeled off the next nine games to effectively win
group A. A German win over Spain tomorrow will still see them
qualify - indeed a close loss would probably be enough.
So it's all set up for a decisive last day of Pool matches
tomorrow before the knockout phase begins - but a lot happened
today ...
Read on for reports and snippets of today's action ...
Pools Round Two
Playing Order:
1,2,3 13.30
Malaysia 3-0 Pakistan Denmark 2-1 Austria India 3-0 Kuwait South Africa 3-0 Hungary
14.00
France 3-0 Netherlands Argentina 3-0 Korea Australia 3-0 Colombia Finland 3-0 Bermuda
17.30
USA 2-1 Switzerland H Italy 3-0 Ukraine H Canada 2-1 Mexico G Scotland 3-0 Namibia G
18.00
England 2-0 Germany A
Ireland 1-2 Spain A Egypt 3-0 Hong Kong B New Zealand 3-0 Sweden
Australia 3-0 Colombia
My ankle is not at its best, and I guess I should have to rest
it a bit more, but then if I don’t play, my body gets a bit
stiff, so, it’s all a question of balance.
And today, the match was exactly what I needed. He is a good
player, nice and solid, we had some great rallies.
It’s a shame that Miguel is not there, because their team would
have been really dangerous, it’s really such a shame. Especially
as they are used to play in conditions pretty much like the ones
we have here, very warm and humid, so, they could have been very
dangerous….
Now, I’m going to think and try to decide if it’s better for me
to play tomorrow or not….
I have no words, it’s a completely different level. I was never
comfortable, he never let me settle in. So, first, it was so
hard squash wise, but also on a mental level, I kept on
reminding myself, I’m playing David Palmer, I’m playing David
Palmer!!!! I was playing against myself too….
But it was great, I enjoyed it so much…
MALAYSIA ON TOP Framboise reports First
on was Azlan against Aamir, and the first game, well, we sort of
didn’t see much of the Pakistani, that kept on offering a lot of
tins to his opponent, the score tells the story, 11/3.
As often in that case, Azlan sort of got out of the match a bit,
and the second game started really scrappy, with both of them
making a lot of unforced errors in very short rallies. Slowly,
they both improved, and we got some nice long rallies, with good
attacks from Azlan, and some nice runs from our favourite Speedy
Gonzales.
The second was crucial of course, but still led 2/0, Aamir
didn’t give up, still pushing his opponent into nice rallies.
But a logical result in this encounter, Malaysia 1, Pakistan 0.
Beng
Hee then went on against Yasir, and the Malaysia was much more
settled than the previous day, it has to be said. His lob/drop
shot/boast nicely in place, he was able to put Yasir under a lot
of pressure, and Yasir just couldn’t find his rhythm, although
they played long rallies throughout.
A good day for the Malaysians, now assured to finish ahead on
their pool. Not the same story for Pakistan, who’ll have to win
against Danemark tomorrow to stay in the race…
In the second, Aamir was a bit
loose at times, I kept on expecting the ball here, and it would
arrive there! So, a few unforced errors too many really.
The conditions are not too easy, very fast court, very humid,
but still, the drops are going in nicely, and they cling to the
wall. So, just had to be patient….
I’m happy to get off 3/0, 3/0, I’ll keep fresh for the rest of
the matches.
I played a lot better than yesterday, like I said, the first day
is always the most difficult for me. Today, I don’t think that
Yasir’s shots came in that well, maybe a bit of timing off,
which helped me!
It’s nice to get a bit of revenge, because last time we played,
it was in India, he beat me, 3/1 I think…
Denmark 2-1 Austria There
was a great atmosphere behind the court while Aqeel was trying
to upset Kristian. Lots of vocal support from the two camps,
with in particular Kristian family that were vibrating and
living the match even more intensely than Kristian himself, as
parents do…
Aqeel, like he did yesterday against Aamir, played out of his
skin, and run, run, and when he couldn’t run anymore, still
found some legs somewhere, to run a bit more. That boy has got
heart…
But Kristian’s just was just that little bit better today,
still, the Danish number 1 will be happy to get off in 4….
He
played so well, he picked up so many balls. I tried and speed up
the pace, take the ball early, but nothing did, he was on every
ball.
In the 4th, I was lucky to get a few points ahead, we had so
many long rallies, and it just came down to who was handling
those a bit better. I was match ball up 10/6, and he managed to
claw back to 9/10, but I got the last point on a stroke…. Bit of
luck there….
We are aiming for the top 16 spot, but it’s so difficult as we
are in a tough pool, with Malaysia, Pakistan and Austria.
Tomorrow will be the decider, as we play against Pakistan…
France 3-0 Netherlands Andre Delhoste reports
Greg v LJ
Greg starts the match with a better length than his opponent,
and creates for himself better opportunities to attack at the
front of the court with attacking boasts and dropshots. Anjema
finds himself at the back of the court most of the time and
commits too many mistakes from this position.
The second game is more balanced, as Anjema, not only has a much
better lengh than in the first game, but doesn't make any more
tins. The game is tight until 5/5 when Greg starts to increase
the pace and gets away on the scoreboard to take the game 11/6.
Greg starts the third game very intensely, the first two rallies
are long and tight. Then Anjema makes a few mistakes as Greg
keeps the pressure, varying pace and shots until he takes this
last game 11/2.
It's
the first time I have played on a court this colour – and it's
even better. You can see the ball really well and there's much
more support on the floor, which is even better for our legs and
knees. It's the best court I have ever played on, by far.
ASB do great work on thinking about the future, with new
inventions. With all the lights around the court, it makes it
very special – I have never seen anything like this before –
it's great for the presentation of squash. It's these small
details that much such a difference.
Thierry v Piedro
Thierry dominates the first game taking control of the T,
attacking at the front of the court at the right moment. He
makes a lot of damage at the front right corner with both
dropshots or kills that Schweertman cannot retrieve. He takes
the first game 11/5.
In the second game, the third rally is very long and intense,
Schweertman making most of the defensive work. After that rally,
Thierry varies his game on all corners and takes the game fairly
easily 11/4.
The third game is quite short, both opponents going for shots on
every opening. Thierry gets most of his shots in as Schweertman
finds more tins. Thierry ends the game 11/4.
It’s
the third or fourth time I’m playing against Thierry, and I
think it was the first time that was the best, I “only” lost
3/1, and from that point on…. He just chopped me, too much
experience….
It’s so difficult to create yourself some opportunities, as
those guys put you under so much pressure, it’s so hard to get
them in the back to be able play short yourself…
We hope that during the Europeans next year, we’ll be able to
beat them and get our revenge, but we can say that we got a
squash lesson from the French today…
Globally,
it was really important that we had a difficult match against a
team that never gives anything away, and in the conditions that
we’ll have at a later stage of the competition, as in on the
glass court.
Day after day, our team is growing stronger, step by step.
Mathieu v Ravelli
The first two games are tight, Mathieu dominates his
opponent only periodically. Mathieu attacks too soon in the
rallies, when Ravelli is on the T, and loses most of the rallies
at the front of the court. Nevertheless, he takes both games
11/8.
In the third game, he uses a lot more powerful balls, which are
his stong point, and therefore dominates the T more than in the
previous games. He takes the lead on the scoreboard to win the
last game 11/5.
USA 2-1 SWITZERLAND
If Julian Illingworth beat Nicholas Mueller only a few days ago
back in Australia 3/1, today, the American didn’t seem that
comfortable on court, maybe did he put a bit too much pressure
on himself today?
From the second on, he seemed a bit short physically, playing a
lot of unforced errors, and in particular at the end of long and
painful rallies. That must have hurt, more mentally than
physically really….
And if the Swiss was all over the place yesterday focus wise,
today, he seemed more concentrated, didn’t do much wrong, and
played an excellent match, with no “junior squash” spell as he
sometimes can fall into.
"I felt really
good today, I’m very happy with the way I played, I can’t
remember last time I played that well, especially after playing
a long and disputed match yesterday, it’s good to be able to
recover that quickly, and backing it up.
"Yesterday, it was really not a good day for me, it was only the
second match of the season, I was a bit flat, I had huge lapse
in concentration, and went too negative. I was also too self
critical. A bit of self criticism is fine, but too much, no. I
feel that I play my best squash when I’m happy, and that’s what
I did today."
In the second leg, Gilly Lane,
despite his back nagging him a bit, didn’t have too much
troubles to go past Reiko Peter. And if we were in the decider,
between Youth, Chris Gordon, USA, and John Williams, 39,
Switzerland.
On paper, it looks easy, doesn’t it.
Anything like, my friends, anything like.
Chris attacked beautifully tonight, at the right time, in the
right position, and did everything right. But oh my, John was
not having it. He fought, counter dropped, run, lobbed,
volleyed. It was a festival of lovely attacks, great retrieving,
and varying of pace/angle.
A really good game.
Unfortunately, it ends on a bit of bad luck/controversy for the
Swiss team. In the 4th, John is down 2/1 in game, and 9/4 down.
And he slowly comes back, point by point, to 9/9.
The vocal
support from the two teams was at its highest, when those two
gave us the rally of the day, which ended with a bit of a lucky
shot reflex from Chris, but hey, the more I practice, the
luckiest I get, as they say.
The next point was a bit more controversial, as the Swiss lost
the match on a no let, whereas in our opinion, he had been
picking up the same kind of shots all match long, but hey, what
do we know about squash…
Still, a superb – and not easy – victory for the US, a match
that, as their coach Paul Assiente stated “we could have lost
tonight”….
It’s all about
France! I just switched racquet last week, now I’m playing with
a French racquet, Tecnifibre, and it made the difference!!!!
More seriously, I’m really happy with my performance today, I’m
glad I was able to keep my concentration through the crucial
points, not a long time ago, it’s the kind of match that I would
have lost.
John is a former top 20 player, and once you reach that level,
you never really lose it. And I’m 25, and he is 39, so I
couldn’t have lost and said, well, I was tired at the end!!!
I’ve been working so much on my game for about a year, I was
never comfortable with my short game, I never felt confident
about attacking, but today, I think that was actually my
strongest point.
I’m happy to win one for the team in a tough situation…
This was a tough match that we could have lost. I’m happy with
two things.
One. Julian had a bad day, but five minutes after his loss,
which mustn’t have been easy for him, he was back behind the
glass, supporting his team mates.
Two. Although Julian lost, the two others just picked it up.
Happy with that.
There is nothing worst that playing the same man twice in two
weeks. The one who wins goes away happy, but doesn’t think about
it anymore. The loser, just keeps on ruminating, what have I
done wrong, what mistakes could I have avoided…
So when he arrives on court for the rematch, he has got a game
plan ready. And today, that’s exactly what happened. Nicholas
was determined and focused, with a grounded strategy, while
Julian looked a bit lost on there…
But now, the next time, it will be again a complete different
story, because Julian has tasted it, and he will now go away,
and think, and reassess. I don’t know what the result will be,
but it will be a complete different match for sure. Julian just
needs to go back to the drawing board, but it’s always like that
in sport.
Canada 2-1 Mexico
We knew that Shahier Razik was bound to be tired after his
mammoth encounter yesterday against Alan Clyne, but the Canadian
used all his skills and experience to try his best against Cesar
Salazar. Just the first game, although 11/5 for Mexico was 20m,
that shows how hard they both worked.
In the second, crucial, as there is a big difference between
going 1/1 or 2/0, as you know. Shahier was up comfortably 7/3,
but just couldn’t stop his opponent catching up 7/7. Nothing
between the players, 8/8, 9/9. But it’s the Mexican that gets
the last two points…. The mountain was just too high to climb
from there mentally or physically for Shahier…
Yesterday,
I watched him play very carefully along with our coach, and we
established a game plan that I was able to follow to the letter
– and no, I’m not telling you what it was!
I know he was tired, but still, he didn’t give me anything, I
had to fight and work so hard for each and every point. I made
him work very hard in the first two games, and it was crucial I
would take them. In the third, I could feel he was very tired,
and that’s when I started to play a bit shorter, and attack
more.
I
didn’t see the second match that Shawn Delierre won 3/1 against
Eric Galvez, nor the first three games of the decider between
Andrew Schnell v Erik Tepos.
But I saw the last two, and that was a remarkable match alright!
What those two didn’t throw out at each other, just incredible.
What I found amazing was the calm and accuracy that the Canadian
still had, having been led 2/0 and down 6/2 in the 3rd!
He was delayed the ball to perfection, his backhand volley drop
shots could have been videoed and shown in squash camps, and he
kept his length again and again, never going for the easy option
of playing short.
Well, apparently, he only started doing it at 6/2 in the third,
bless him. Before that, it was all about the Mexican playing a
superb game, counter attacking and picking every ball under the
Paderborn sun, forcing the Canadian into making the error under
pressure.
I have the sneaking feeling that this event will make Andrew
take a huge step forward in his career. He just played two
deciding matches, one against Scotland, one against Canada. He
is acquiring experience, he is getting sharper and more accurate
by the minute, and he was fit enough to mentally and physically
come back from 2/0 down. I think Canada has found itself a
future champion here.
Is
it the best match I ever played? Well, it’s certainly up there!
Coming down from 2/0 down, I’m so proud to have won that match,
especially while playing for my country.
Well, at 6/2 in the 3rd, I suddenly started to do what my coach
Yvon was telling me from the start, as in being patient, holding
the ball, and pushing it to the back, as he was very fast at the
front, picking up everything. Ah, and also, I changed my shirt
after the 3rd!
All
credit to Mexico, those three players are just great guys, it
was a real pleasure to play against them.
I’m so glad that I played that match yesterday, I realised that
I was able to win a decider, that pressure was not too much of a
problem. And today, the key was patience…
The kid is a good learner, you wouldn’t believe how his game has
improved in a year.
He
is training and based in Calgary, where he is very happy with
his set up, and plays every day with his brother Graham, and
trains with his coach, and comes regularly to train with us and
the squad.
He is developing, he is improving, those travels allow him to
learn an awful lot, to acquire experience. He’s got an enormous
potential, that’s for sure.
