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TODAY at the Nationals, Friday 15th Feb, Day SIX:
Quarter-finals
part two, More Masters ... |
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O35 Semi-Finals:
Nick Taylor bt Simon Parke
9/4, 9/3, 5/1 rtd (26m)
Peter Marshall bt Alex Gough
1/9, 9/7, 9/6, 9/0 (58m)
Alison Waters bt Lauren Briggs
11/3, 11/4, 11/2 (21m)
Jenny Duncalf bt Madeline Perry
8/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/8 (45m)
Alister Walker
bt Alex Stait
11/8, 11/7, 11/2 (32m)
James Willstrop bt Jonathan Kemp
11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (24m)
Howard Harding's Roundup
Defending champions through
No upsets tonight as defending champions James Willstrop
and Jenny Duncalf won through to the semi-finals. Willstrop
was in scintillating form as he demolished Jon Kemp while Duncalf
held her nerve in face of a stern challenge from Madeline Perry.
Duncalf will face Alison Waters who had no trouble in
seeing off an oiut-of-sorts Lauren Briggs while Willstrop faces
Alister Walker who won an entertaining match against old
schoolfriend Alex Stait.
Reports from Framboise Gommendy & Steve Cubbins at Sportcity
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En Bref #2
Ben's Back, Refs on Court
Gallery |
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Alison Waters bt Lauren Briggs
11/3, 11/4, 11/2 (21m)
Alison eases into semis
Steve reports
Alison Waters reached her fourth successive Nationals semi-final
with an assured performance against an out-of-sorts Lauren Briggs
who just couldn't get into the game.
Playing her first Nationals quarter-final, on a rare glass court
outing, Lauren lost the first three point in a flash and struggled
thereafter. She managed to keep Alison to the back for spells, but
once anything went short or loose she was in trouble, and a few
unforced errors didn't help either.
For her part Alison played well enough, did what she needed to,
but she knows sterner tests are to come ...
 "I
thought I played well. The court seemed bouncy at first, but it
does dies in the back so I tried to make sure I got good weight on
the ball.
"She was a bit edgy early on, but I guess it was her first
quarter-final and she doesn't play on the glass court that much.
"It's good to be back in the semis but you can only take it one
game at a time, I've had some good battles with Jenny and Madeline
so whoever I play it will be tough ..."
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"The court makes a HUGE difference.
"I felt like I never settled there, I was completely out of sorts,
and definitively didn’t play the way I wanted…
"And she never gave me the chance to get into it either…"
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Jenny Duncalf bt Madeline Perry
8/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/8 (45m)
Could have gone either way ...
Steve reports
"That was just the sort of game I needed - now I've won it!" said
the defending champion after beating Madeline Perry in one of
those matches that really could have gone either way.
 Talking
to the girls about the PAR scoring, one of the recurring comments
is "you can't afford to make mistakes", and Madeline learnt that
to her cost tonight.
The Irish champion came from 4/0 down to take the first game and
looked in good shape. Jenny wasn't doing anything wrong, but
Madeline was pressing more and it was paying off.
Jenny won the second 11/8, but that three-point difference was
helped by three horrendous errors by Madeline. When she made
another at the start of the third her racket went flying, and she
just couldn't stop hitting the tin until she was 9/0 down.
Cutting out the errors she reduced the arrears to 9/5, but 9/0 in
this scoring is always a winning lead.
The fourth was close all the way, Madeline leading 3/2, 6/4 and
7/6. Then at 9/8 to Jenny the Englishwoman got a rolling nick off
the sidewall, and on matchball her serve stuck to the same
sidewall.
Had this been traditional scoring the scoreline would have been
4/6, 6/4, 9/0, 5/2 and they might still have been on there now ...
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"I started quite well, I though I was moving well but then I lost
some concentration and was a bit half-length, especially on the
forehand and she's good there. I came off thinking I'd controlled
most of the game and I'd lost it!
"She made a few errors, especially in the third and I think that
got to her a bit
"People ask us about the scoring but until you play it in a match
like that you don't really know. It certainly makes it fast and
exciting especially at 8-all, 9-all. But you really have to focus
though, at 9/0 up in the third I was feeling pretty relaxed but
she came back a long way.
"It's great to be in the semis - I don't really think about
being defending champion, but I'm happy to have had the trophy
last year and the pressure this year ...
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Alister Walker bt Alex Stait
11/8, 11/7, 11/2 (32m)
HARD WORK…
Framboise reports
They both had to work very hard tonight, Alex Stait, to keep up
with the pace that Ali was imposing, and Ali to contain the
counter-attacks and the sharpness of Alex’s short game.
 Tonight,
the physical aspect made the difference. Alex, now a full time
coach, couldn’t keep up with the strength and power of his
opponent. Ali made him work extremely hard in the first game, and
collected the reward at the end of each game, as poor Alex was
struggling to catch his breath, and accumulated error after error.
But take my word for it, although this match didn’t last long, the
pace was pretty terrific, and we had some superb “silly” squash,
both counter-attacking, hitting, retrieving, and reacting in a
split second to their opponent’s shot…
It was a good intense match, that was.
How does it feel
to be in the semi-final for the first time?
 "Dead
chuffed!
"The minute I heard I was playing Alex and not Peter, I actually
felt the pressure, and I’m glad that I had the day off to turn my
head around things, and keep it professional.
"Well, we know each other so well, our family know each other, we
went to school together, we often used to fly to places together,
like New York, and of course, out of the 32 players, I got to play
him first round of the qualifiers!
"His front court game is absolutely out of this world, in
particular his backhand, and he kept me under pressure the whole
time. I just knew that I had to keep the pace up, and keep on
making him work hard, because if your shots are not at least
tight, he can make you look silly!
"I think I’m playing my best squash ever, I’ve learned an awful
lot from Nick Matthew, especially the professional aspect, how to
take care of your body, the attention to detail. Also, the support
team of EIS is actually amazing in all department, strengthening,
physio, etc..
"I’m really looking forward to playing James, we haven’t played
each other for a long time, and I just enjoy playing against him
tremendously.
"Still, I’ve just lost my flight to Oregon, and it’s non
refundable, so I’m not going to financially benefit that much from
this tournament, but I’m not complaining, I'll take a semi-final
in the Nationals over a flight any day!"
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"It’s the whole
difference between a full time coach, and a full time squash
player, he’s got much more accuracy, and even if I’ve got a few
more shorts shots, you still have to get to the front to play
them, and he kept pushing me to the back…
"When I’m able to keep fit and injury free, I’m playing the best
squash in my life at the moment, I’ve had a few good results
against Goughie, and Peter, and on the day, I can beat pretty much
anybody, but it’s all a question of staying fit.
"Ali played very well today, I’m pleased for him, we’ve been the
best of mates for so long, and he’ll give a much better show
tomorrow than I could have done…"
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James Willstrop bt Jonathan Kemp
11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (24m)
Framboise reports
JAMES UP THERE...
… With the Gods of Squash….
 You’ve
got some days where everything comes together, perfect court
condition for your game, perfect supportive crowd, perfect focus…
And out of that comes a perfect game.
One could argue that Joey Kemp didn’t have a length precise enough
to put James under enough pressure, and never forced him to “twist
and turn”, like players like David Palmer or Ramy Ashour have a
tendency to do, but how could he??? James was taking the ball so
early, his length and width was a model for schools, and when poor
Joey still found some astonishing attacks that should have died
once, twice, three time, James was retrieving them all Peter
Nicol’s style and counter-attacking John White nicks!
Tough combination to beat.
The score is very severe, but Joey shouldn’t feel discouraged. He
played an excellent game against a weary-of-him player that
tonight, was pretty much unbeatable…
 "I
played Joey in Qatar, and he nearly took me to five, so I was very
aware of his abilities, and I knew that when he put it together,
he could really put you under pressure. So it made me very focus
during the whole match.
"I don’t think my goals or hunger for victory has changed in the
past year or so. I guess that maybe before, I wanted things
desperately, whereas now, I may found a balance in my life. Funny
to think that the event I prepared the whole season for, the World
Open in Bermuda, was the most disappointing of the year.
Sometimes, when you want something too much….
 "Sometimes
people are trying to analyse too much, and very often, it’s the
most simple things that make a person happy. And I’m happy. I’m in
love with what I’m doing, I love being a squash player… And I love
to express myself on a squash court. If I can’t do that, normally
I don’t play at my best. But if I can express myself with my
attacking game, and being relaxed, then that’s when I’m at my
best.
"I feel terrible for Peter, it’s such a big tournament, like Nick
he must me gutted to miss it… As for Alister, he and I we’ve
played each other so many times in the juniors, hopefully I hope
I’ll know more about his game than he’ll know about mine!...
"It’s great to play close to home, it’s a real stage, a
spectacular venue for us to play on, and I’m here to retain my
title…"
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"I don’t think I played well, but I can’t say I’ve played badly
either. I think that the court today made a big difference.
"Tonight, I felt that if I didn’t play a perfect shot, if I was a
bit loose, not tight enough, he just put it away, whereas in
Qatar, on a traditional court, he couldn’t, as the ball was
sitting up much more.
"I couldn’t get my length in enough, and couldn’t put him under
pressure at all, he was always in control and had all the time in
the world and the confidence to play his shots, even when I was
putting in what I thought were good shots.
"In other words, not a good day really…"
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Nick Taylor bt Simon Parke
9/4, 9/3, 5/1 rtd
LIMPING PARKE…
Framboise reports
 From
the first rally, where he slowed down the play, and played five
lobs in the space of 10 shots, I knew like I’m sure the rest of
the audience, Sir Simon Parke was not at his best.
Very quickly we realised that he was not able to get anywhere near
Nick's exquisite volley drop shots, his movement was obviously
hampered badly.
Well, the man has been injured for a couple of weeks, and his
match against Alan Clyne in Edinburgh was I guess the cherry on
the cake, and Simon’s groin just gave up on him really…
He still tried to anticipate, still got to a few of Nick’s
astonishing shots, let’s not forget that, but in the third, after
picking up a last crosscourt at the back of the court, Simon had
to throw in the towel.
Sad, I am, really sad, as I was, like everybody else in the
audience, so looking forward to this match…
 "I
love playing here, I love the court, I love the crowd. This is the
best event in the word, and I just love being here…!
"From the first rallies, I could see that something was not right
with Simon's backhand side, and it’s a shame, as he was one of the
toughest competitors on the circuit, and was forced to a
standstill in the end…
"I’m gutted for Simon, I’m gutted for the crowd, it would have
been a cracking match, and although I’m delighted to be in the
final, not like that…"
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"It’s been on going for the last couple of weeks.
"When I stopped the PSA circuit, things went alright for 6/8
months, but then I started getting injury upon injury, trying to
compete with the top players, and not training as much as I used
to, plus the fact that I’m getting older... I don’t feel like an
over 35, but like an over 65, and I’ve never been so injured in my
life…
"I’m really sorry for the audience, and I’m very disappointed too,
as I was really looking forward to a good match against Nick…"
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Peter Marshall bt Alex Gough
1/9, 9/7, 9/6, 9/0 (58m)
ONE TOURNAMENT TOO FAR…
Framboise reports
“Even Alex can’t do it”.
That was Peter Marshall’s comment after Alex Gough just fizzled
out during this semi-final of the over 35s. And that seems to be
the general consensus. You can’t join the two, main draw and over
35s, get to the quarters in one, and to the final in the other
one, on the back of dozens of matches, and make it safe and sound.
As Peter started rather slowly, and seemed a bit lost on that
glass court, it looked like Alex was going to walk into the final.
But at 1/0, 7/2, Alex's back just locked out. And that was that.
Yes, we still had great rallies, he still fought hard, stayed on
there 58 minutes, but ‘feeling the smell of blood”, Peter went for
the jugular, placing the ball yo the four corners, and putting his
mate under more and more pressure. And Alex just accumulated
mishits and tins, and despite physio treatment between the third
and fourth games, he was gone.
Peter was ready to do the work for this one, and Alex couldn’t. As
simple as that…
 "I
knew my best chance was if Alex had something wrong with him, but
he started well, and the glass court seemed very big this year
again, but I got used to it quicker this time.
"Normally, Alex is too fast for me, but he has had so many matches
back to back, even he can’t do it…! Still, I think that
tactically, he is playing his best squash ever…
"I feel fine racquet wise, it’s the movement and speed that lets
you down…! I enjoyed the match though, and I'm looking forward to
playing Nick in the final, as he beat me in the British Open semis
last year ..."
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"At the start of the match, as Marsh wasn’t moving well, I thought
I was fine. But then, my legs were too tight, and my back just
locked out. I called for the physio to try and relax it, but I
guess that if it had relaxed, something else would have gone…
"It’s the Chris Ryder match that was the killer, I was 2/0 down,
and came back, and still had another match to play right after!
"I may not play the two events next year ..."
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