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[ Surrey wk 5 ] [ Surrey Tables ] [ Surrey wk 2 ] [ Surrey Nov 06 ] |
14th Oct:
SURREY CUP
NEW ON
SQUASHSITE….
OK, the Surrey Cup is not as
prestigious as the National League, but
believe me, the faithful followers like me enjoy great matches, great fun,
and great players.
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REMINDER:
So guys, don’t forget to send us
the results of your matches, and nice little reports
would be more than welcome….
More results & Tables
to follow shortly ... |
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COLETS – LAKESIDE:
SOME SURPRISES….
Well, yes, Colets did eventually win the
meeting 3/2, by 15 to 7, but it was not that easy, all due to the
excellent performances of the first two Lakeside players, Stacey Ross
and Tim Vail.ROSS DOMINATES GOUGH
 I
saw a beautiful match tonight. Those two players, the Welshman Alex
Gough, world number 26, who was making his first appearance for Colets
tonight, and the Englishman Stacey Ross, world number 58, have a
game that complement each other's.
For most of the match, they were both solidly planted on the T, volleying
a lot, cross courting the ball as if there was no tomorrow, hitting hard,
trying to take the other out of his comfort zone, guessing each other’s
game (and pretty well, I must say), anticipating shots….
Like I already told you, I will never understand why Stacey is still
treading water in the top 60, he has a touch that I don’t know many
players to have. He can transform any hard-hit ball into a
beautiful-dying-on-the-tin drop shot.
And need I talk about the “end of the racquet” game of Alex? I always have
the impression that he caresses the ball only with the extreme end of the
head, which makes his shots so difficult to read.
The first game was so close, and we stayed a long time at 5/5 (traditional
scoring, which I DO LOVE), same thing for 6/5, but despite all the tricks
in the book that Alex threw at Stacey, the Englishman just kept on
hitting, dropping and lobbing to eventually take the first game 9/6 in 25
minutes.
In the second, those two were hitting the ball to the point where the poor
thing just gave up and split. A quick warm up, and we were back in the
game. Again, it started very close, 3/3, but Ross’ crosscourt kills were
just too quick for Gough’s legs, and he got a game ball 8/5.
 At
this point, the two players seemed to have a little disagreement, but the
discussion was short and quickly forgotten. The two adversaries went back
to basics, longer rallies, lengths, Gough scored another point, but Ross
took the 2nd 9/7 in 20 minutes.
When Stacey found himself leading 4/1, we thought it was all going to be
quickly over, but Mr Gough didn’t get his 26th world ranking by a lucky
draw lottery, and he came back, point by point, by taking control of the T
and cross courting the ball. At 6/6, it was anybody’s game, but Ross
played a few of his trademark drop shots, and a last tin at 8/6 gave him
the third in ten minutes.
Yes, it was a beautiful match indeed.
Bragging rights for Ross |
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“We all
know that a victory in the Leagues doesn’t mean as much as a victory
in a tournament, but last time Alex and I played, it was in Santa
Barbara a few weeks ago, and although I lost 3/1, all the scores
were 11/9, so it was a pretty close match. Today, I was a bit more
solid in my game.”
Stacey Ross |
Dave
Peck: Coach and referee
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“I felt
heavy tonight, that was just the way I felt, I didn’t feel well
balanced, and I couldn’t hit the ball on the spot I wanted to hit
it. Stacey was very solid. Overall, it’s a pretty miserable night
really: after my match, I went into the shower, and Wales was
leading 1/0 against Poland, and when I got out, we were down 3/1!”
“I haven’t seen the draws for the British Open, but if it’s true
that I’m playing Nick Matthew, I quite happy. He is a player I don’t
mind playing. When we played in Sheffield, I kept on telling myself
I was exhausted, and when I finished, I realised I was OK! I just
underestimated my resources that night… ”
Alex Gough |
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ANOTHER
SURPRISE
FOR LAKESIDE
We had another surprise result. No offence to Tim Vail, who is a
fine player, and who knows how to hit a winning point beautifully, but we
all thought that Scott Handley, the man who last week beat Adrian
Grant and made the Boss tremble, would not have too much trouble beating
Chichester professional Vail.
And we were nearly right, as Scott took the first game in a flash, against
a Tim that was not really concentrated. He also took the second one, with
a bit more difficulty though, as the players stayed at 4/4 for a little
while, before Scott found the accelerator pedal, and won the game 9/4.
Two games in 15 minutes, in traditional scoring.
But in the two next games, Tim just soared, 4/0 in the 3rd, 6/0 in the
4th. He was going for every shot, and Scott didn’t have any answer. In 15
minutes again, the two players are now two games all.
 In
the decider, Tim again takes an early advantage, 3/0, and if Scott is
trying very hard to reply, it is just not his night, and Tim’s every
point is lethal. After 10 minutes of a one-way game, Tim Vail creates the
second upset of the evening, and beats the man of the moment, 9/2.
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Clive & Scott
“I’m tired, very tired. My flight was delayed, and I only arrived
from the Czech Republic this morning, at 3am. And on my way here, my
clutch broke, so I had to call Clive (Ewing) for him to come and
pick me up. So, not a good day really. Not to mention that I still
haven’t recovered from last week, up and down the country, two very
hard matches against Adrian Grant and Peter Nicol, then off to the
Czech Republic… I haven’t had the time to touch the ground yet.”
Scott Handley |
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“It’s sometimes
difficult to get rhythm in League matches. One week, you play somebody who
is just a bit less good than you are, and the next thing you know, you are
playing a very hard match, like last week against Steve Meads. And after 6
hours of coaching, it’s sometimes hard to focus on the match.”
Clive Ewins |
CLONING NEEDED….
Once again, I could only see two matches, the three others being played on
the other court. I didn’t have any comment about the Danny Meddings
match, as he and his opponent left early.
The game between Lee Drew and Steve Richardson, the witty
Irishman, was a good show, I was told. “I was lethal”, said Steve. “No,
but you were gutsy”, retorted Lee. “Lethal!” “Gutsy”!
That went on for a while…
As you can see, so much tension, hate and aggressiveness in the Surrey
League…
I could only glance at the last match of the evening between the charming
(yes, I find him cute, sue me…) Clive Ewins and Stuart Farqah
where Stuart gave his best shot against a player of a different level all
together. But at no time did Stuart give up, and Clive had to fight for
every point, and not get complacent, as the Lakeside man would punish any
imprecise shot.
Well done to both. |
“Steve is always
gutsy! The court was quite warm and the ball was quite bouncy, so the
rallies would just keep on going. And it was just difficult to put Steve
away. In the 3rd, I won quite easily, 9/0. And I thought I had won the
match. But then, he decided to come back in the game, and I had to work
very hard until the last shot.”
Lee Drew |
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“I was robbed!!!!!!”
Steve
Richardson
Steve's supporters look on ... |
AND FINALLY
...
Most of you know that Colets has been Martin Bronstein’s club for
years now. And as usual, the famous journalist was watching the matches,
participating vocally to the performance of Colets’ players, encouraging
and supporting his team.
When I asked him if he enjoyed the Women’s Team
World Championship, he was more than complimentary:
“It was a beautiful tournament, we had some very good games, the
organisation was spotless, perfect, the food was out of this world, the
Press Room was very well organised, and the party at the end was good fun
too.”
Blast, and I missed it! Oh well, next time, then…. |
Martin watches the action
from behind the glass ...
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