Tweets by @StGgeSquash

[1] Ben Coleman (Eng) 3-0 Aqeel Rehman (Aut)
              11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (40m)
Angus Gillams (Eng) 3-2 [8] Jaymie Haycocks (Eng)
             8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7 (73m)

BEN IN CONTROL

The young Englishman Ben Coleman was just too accurate and mentally strong today for Austrian Aqeel Rehman. It could be feared that Ben would be a bit tired after playing a hard three-day tournament in Wimbledon this weekend, but nope.

From the first game on, Ben’s length was pretty spotless, and his crosscourts in particular did a lot of damage, forcing Aqeel to attack from too far back and making far too much errors.

In the second game, Aqeel made the rallies longer, and was able to put more pressure at the back for Ben, but the Englishman quickly adapted and varied the height of his shots on the front wall, scoring lovely winners at the front. Still, some lovely rallies, and the score doesn’t tell the story and the hard work the Austrian put in, 7/3, 10/5 Ben. Aqeel saved three balls, but tins the last one, 11/8 and 2/0 up for Ben.

The third, excellent start for Aqeel, 4/1 against a Ben that seems a bit mentally disconnected, but a quick waking up for the English that scores 6 points in a row to go straight to 7/5! No turning back, with the momentum back, Ben takes the third and match 11/5 in 40m…

“Back from Salt Lake City on Monday, and I was playing the Wimbledon BSPA on the Friday ! I beat Angus Gillams in the semis, and Lyell [Fuller] in the final - who managed to beat Charles [Sharpes] in the semis.

“So not too long a drive to come here today [Wimbledon is about 20m drive from St George’s] although I’m from Essex, that’s about 1h drive, not bad at all!

“I felt pretty comfortable today on there although a little wobble at the start of the third. Partly me not stepping up early enough, and partly him having nothing to lose and going for his shots. I am getting better at focusing on the job at hand for me instead of getting involved with the ref or what the other player is doing.

“Happy with the transition to the glasscourt, and that’s the main reason I’ve been looking forward to this event, if I want to compete with the big boys, I’ve got to get used to playing on the glasscourt more and more. Good match today, looking forward to the rest of the week…”

Ben Coleman

ANGUS LIKES HIS CHATTING DOESN’T HE…

Too much talking. What a shame. I started by really enjoying the young Englishman lefthander’s game, unorthodox and powerful, but quickly became rather annoyed with his commenting each and every decision Ref Aqeel [Rehman] made. The Austrian, having lost the previous match, had to ref (and also cleaned the court between the games, ultimate humiliation bless him) and did a pretty good job in a match where we had far too many contacts, lets and interruptions from the 4th game on.

Maybe Angus was a bit tired from his BSPA in Wimbledon, that’s possible. And Jaymie got warned for asking lets with minimal interference. So it’s not black and white of course. But the comments at every single decision really got to us, sorry Angus…

As for the squash, it was all about Youth v Experience, and it was anybody’s match all the way through up to 5/5 in the 5th, with Jaymie taking the first game, Angus the following two, Jaymie back in the driving seat truly comfortably in the 4th, 9/2 only to see the young Englishman finding his way back in there at the end, only to lose 11/7.

The 5th, far too many decisions/stoppages again, up to 5/5, close up to then, with suddenly, Angus scoring 4 points out of nowhere, finding some lovely short shots, and taking the last point thanks to a uncharacteristic tin from his opponent.

George Parker (Eng) 3-0 [6] Joel Hinds (Eng)
               11-8, 11-4 rtd (24m)
James Earles (Eng) 3-1 [4] Richie Fallows (Eng)
                4-11, 12-10, 8-1 rtd

FALLING LIKE FLIES….

Well, not sure if it’s the prospect of having to talk to me if they won, but basically, my players are just falling like little flies in the light out there today! After Joel having to forfeit on an ankle injury, it would appear – not confirmed – that Richie was suffering from his hamstring…

What a bleeping shame, as I was truly and utterly enjoying this match between two different style of players – Richie very tall and powerful, and James shorter and finding some lovely counterdrops – with about 1 let per game and not a word to the players!

It was such a joy watching those two on there, battling away, long and intense rallies, both playing the ball and providing us with great squash.

Richie dominated the first game with powerful drives and crosscourts that died at the back. The second was more balanced, but from 5/5, again Richie finding the back of the court, 9/6, 10/7. Only to tin the ball for the following 5 points, within seconds. 12/10 to James, something was obviously not right.

After basically not moving at all in the 3rd, he just shook hands with his opponent at 7/1 down. What a shame. Truly.

"Well, we can’t really say anything about the match… But on a more general subject, I’m quite happy I broke into the top 100 last month, that’s rather good for my age.

I’m based in Manchester, I work about 3/4 days a week out there, with Rob Owen and also with England Squash, and I train a lot with Declan James and other players up there.

I reached two 10K finals this season, and beat top 80, top 70 players, that’s about it. My biggest strength? Let’s see, my aggression, that’s about it! If I could change something? A bit of everything really! And my goal? Reaching the top 50 as soon as possible really.."

George Parker

[3] Peter Creed (Wal) 3-0 Tristan Eysele (Rsa)
                11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (33m)
[7] Tom Ford (Eng) 3-0 Matthew Broadberry (Eng)
                 11-7, 11-3 , 11-2 (28m)

PETER SOLID

One of those matches where you can see the gap between a top 70 in the world and a top 200. Tristan never did anything wrong. He didn’t go short too early, he was patient, he played some excellent and powerful drives, and found his targets at the back.

But despite that, Peter C was 3/3 (or 4/3 in the 3rd) in each game to find himself 8/3 in each game.

It was a very pleasant match to watch, fluid, hardly any decision, lovely rallies with a lot of visit of the 4 corners, played in the spirit intended, but Peter was just too solid and had an answer – mostly a counter-drop – to everything the South African threw at him…

"I was watching the other matches today, and I could see how other players got a bit over-hitting their shots and getting carried away with the speed of the ball at the front. So with my coach David Evans, I tried and worked on the weigh of length, forcing him to hit up quite a bit, that allowed me to counterdrop nicely.

I know Tristan quite well, we play for the same Surrey League team, Surrey Park, where Jesse Englebrecht works. He is a good friend, I knew it was going to be a clean and fair battle, a good match.

It was quite nice to have my coach David Evans here with me, it makes such a difference, I only manage to get him like once a year on a tournament, and I get more focused, he prevents me from playing my silly shots, and curbs my personality. Which is a bit of a hard job…"

Peter Creed

TOM IN CONTROL

A young 18 years old Matthew that came off the blocks firing with all cylinders, taking his chances, and surprising Tom a bit, who then took the measure of his young opponent, who got more and more frustrated and vocal as the points run away from him in the 2nd and 3rd…

"I don’t think I changed an awful lot, it’s often the case when you play against somebody who is a bit better than you, or just has got a bit more experience than you..

He came out firing and it got a bit difficult for me to hit my target at the beginning, but no offence to him as he played a very good game, it was always on my terms, in my control and my pace.

All credit to him, he stepped up and tried to change things, although he got down on himself ad beat himself down, I’ve surely been there, you get frustrated, and it makes it even worse!

I felt good, I think he likes to control the middle, and luckily, I like to do that too, and today, I was a bit better than he was. He had a couple of good results lately as well, maybe that’s why he got even more frustrated, because he couldn’t play as well as he know he could play. That was my job to stop him from doing so….

Those kids are so dangerous, Fram, you can take nothing for granted nowadays! But truly looking forward to tomorrow, this is probably the only glasscourt I like – so far – it’s hot on there!"

Tom Ford

[5] Kristian Frost (Den) 3-0 Stuart Hadden (Eng)
                 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (27m)
[2] Steve Finitsis (Aus) 3-0 Alex Ingham (Eng)
                 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (36m)

STUART COULD HAVE BEEN TRICKY…

I was impressed with Stuart mature game I must say. Apparently, the young man trained for a while with the Shorbagies, and it’s shows, believe me. If Kristian didn’t give him all due respect, I suspect he could have found himself in a lot of trouble. And if Stuart lost a bit his calm at the end of the match, he was pretty composed and clever for most of it …

"For a few months now, I’ve been focusing on putting my life in order, finishing my studies (I’m 26), and I’m actually finishing my Master Degree in two weeks. And if anything I actually played better squash!

I’ve been working at improving my game for about 6 months a year, trying to get a more attacking style. I’m training with John Williams, I’m learning so much from his experience, and I’m trying to learn as much as I could! He is teaching me about discipline and game plan.

And hopefully, Fram, I’ll get and speak to you tomorrow!!!"

Kristian Frost

ALEX NEEDED THE FIRST GAME…

A bit of a difference in the world ranking, Steve, 32 and WR86, Alex, 25, WR153. If you look on our players’ page, you’ll see that Alex started playing in St George’s at the age of 2 along with a player called Joe Lee…..

It was a beautiful first game I have to say, with Alex starting a bit nervous – home crowd and all – down 4/1 after three tins, only to catch up 4/4, 5/5, 6/6. He went ahead, playing at an awfully fast past, varying the angles beautifully, and twisting/turning the Tall Australian to perfection, setting up a game ball, 10/9. But the hard work produced to get there took its toll, and he had to go for a bit too short too early, hence a few errors at a crucial time, 12/10 Steve….

The next two games were on the same pattern, with Steve growing more and more confident as the points strung along, from 4/4 in the second to 8/4 10/5, to take the game 11/5 and 5/1, 9/2, 10/3 match ball in the 3rd.

Giving it a big push and encouraged by his supporters, Alex managed to save 2 match balls, but was wrong footed on the last point, a beautiful kill drive, 11/5.

"Yes, I was happy to take the first, it could have changed the whole dynamic of the match, I think I gave him too many angles in that first game, and he played the court better. After that, I lengthened the rallies, played a more straight game that probably took a lot out of him, fitness and confidence wise. He played well on his home court, it tends to lift people up when they play home..

This summer, I went back home and played the Victorian open – reached the semis – then the Australian Open – reached the quarters. Then I had a little break with the family, kind of reset… and this is only my second tournament after the summer break.

This year, I’m hoping to stay injury free, to enjoying my squash and game, and the rest will come from there hopefully."

Steve Finitsis