Wednesday 14th, Last 16

Latest Photo Galleries

En Bref Issue #2

Men's Round Two:

  Alex Gough bt Alister Walker
      11/8, 11/8, 6/11, 11/4 (78m)
  Lee Beachill bt Scott Handley
       11/8, 11/6, 11/4 (42m)
  Tim Vail bt Jon Kemp
       8/11, 11/3, 11/9, 11/9 (39m)
  James Willstrop bt Alex Stait
       11/9, 7/11, 11/3, 11/4 (42m)
  Simon Parke bt Daryl Selby
       11/7, 15/13, 10/12, 11/8 (98m)
  Adrian Grant bt Steve Meads
       14/12, 11/3, 11/6 (77m)
  Peter Barker bt Lee Drew
       9/11, 11/3, 11/6, 11/3 (48m)
  John White bt Hadrian Stiff
       11/4, 11/3, 11/5 (28m)

Women's Round One:

  Laura Hill bt Kirsty McPhee
      10/8, 9/1, 9/4 (33m)
  Madeline Perry bt Georgina Stoker
      9/1, 9/0, 9/1 (29m)
  Jenny Duncalf bt Karen Leach
      9/4, 9/1, 9/3 (30m)
  Tania Bailey bt Becky Botwright
      9/0, 9/4, 9/2 (31m)
  Dominique Lloyd-Walter bt Sarah Kippax
       9/4, 9/1, 9/0 (30m)
  Alison Waters bt Lauren Siddall
       6/9, 9/5, 9/3, 5/9, 9/5 (56m)
  Laura Lengthorn bt Laura Mylotte
        9/1, 9/1, 9/0 (22m)
  Vicky Botwright bt Vicky Hynes
         9/6, 9/3, 9/2 (32m)

 Simon Parke bt Daryl Selby
       11/7, 15/13, 10/12, 11/8 (98m)

RIDICULOUS SQUASH
Framboise reports

As I sat down to watch the match, I remember thinking of two things. 1. That a match between Lunatic Retriever Simon Parke and Grinding Laidback Daryl Selby on a bouncy traditional court could be a long one. 2. I reminisced Daryl's words the day before, “I wanted to save energy as I thought I was going to play Parkie.

And then I KNEW we were going to have a long match.

First game, quite straight forward, one of the short games of the match, “only” 21 minutes. Parkie mentally hungry and willing, Daryl a bit nervous  to go for his shots, as he often is. The madness shortly started after that. Very quickly, a much more confident Daryl got some superb nicks to cut down Simon’s energy, and in no time young Selby is up 10/3 in the second. And Parkie goes into Retrieving mode.

Patient, precise, relentless, he rallies, and rallies, and rallies, exhausting Daryl's options to push him first to make the error, and then preventing him to go for his shots. Six game balls later, we’re at 10/10… Simon is now the one under tremendous pressure. What could have been a quick “resting” game 11/3 to come back in the third has become a monumental game that he can’t physically afford to lose anymore. Plus, coming all that way to lose in the tie-break? Would be silly really.

One game ball for Parkie. Saved. Two. Saved. Three. Saved. Four. Long rally. Very long rally. Let. And again, Daryl attacking as ever, Parky retrieving and slowing the pace down. Going for a long crosscourt lob, Daryl seems to hit the outside red line. The marker stays mute, and so does the ref. But Daryl knows. And he leaves the court with loud appreciative clapping of a knowledgeable crowd.

Can you believe that sportsmanship? Already 1/0 down, a player who was 10/3, on the verge of losing the game 14/13, and who gives the point away, probably costing him the match. Mmmmm.

The fourth is also a heart stopper. When the two players get to 8/8, Daryl has made six unforced errors. He won’t make another until the end of that game. Getting game ball 10/8, we can hear him say “Just one. Not like last time. One.” Not to be. Simon again saves one game ball, two game balls, forces a tie-break yet again, but on a superb forehand kill, Daryl get the third one. He serves. The ref calls the serve down.

Returning the favour from the previous game, Simon refuses the point, and settles for a let. That was the shortest game of the match. 20 minutes. Daryl is back 2/1.

We all know that Simon is tired, very tired. He played nearly all the third in slow motion. If he doesn’t win this one, no way no way he is winning the fifth. He desperately needs a good start. And he gets it. Parkie will stay 2 to 4 points ahead throughout the 23 minute game.

A monumental point at 6/4, four lets asked by Daryl as Simon is slower and slower to get out of the way. But still it’s the Old Guard that gets to do the wrong footing and moves ahead 7/4.

His belief broken, his mental destroyed, Daryl is still standing, Daryl is still fighting. But the momentum is now with Sir Simon, who gets to shake the young man’s hand, and to leave the court under the acclamation and the standing ovation of a seduced, amazed, astonished crowd 11/8 in the fourth after a 98-minute four-game match.

That was one of the best battles I’ve seen for a long, a very long time. It was a brutal, ridiculous game between two blessed gentlemen lunatics.

Merci Messieurs.

At 10/3, I just thought, I’m not going to give it to him, if I could just stick in there and get three points, like 10/6, he would get him edgy, and he did. I played a very defensive game, tight, and made no error.

It’s very spongy out there, even if you hit the ball very hard, it doesn’t do much good. I’ve been hitting the ball pretty hard recently, but it’s not working on that court.

I attack too, not in a John White style, I’m more patient, and I wait for the right moment. And the fact I’m coaching now has really improved my precision, when you do training sessions with guys like Arthur Gaskin, Jonathan Kemp or Ong Beng Hee, you’ve got to be accurate, you’ve got to be on the ball. Also, being on court around five hours per day helps with the accuracy…

I’m not saying that the wrong way at all, Daryl doesn’t do anything amazing, but he does everything pretty well, he attacks well, he retrieves well, he volleys well, and he is quick, he is very quick, mind you we both are, so it was bound to be a long match. We seem to have a lot of 3/1. Very tough 3/1…

I’ll be a bit stiff tomorrow…

The second game was so crucial, at 10/3 I thought I'd won it, I relaxed, and Simon must be the worst person to relax against…

I don’t think he is human, I think he is an animal, he enjoys it out there, the way he mentally prepared himself for a match like that is incredible. He had a hard match yesterday, so I thought he would be tired, but no…

Mind you, each time I play him, each time I play a bit better… But it’s always the same thing when I play Simon, I’m in control of the rallies, but I don’t seem to be able to finish them or find a nick, especially on a court like that where it just bounces out.

I gave it everything I had, everything I could, everything I had in me, and I enjoyed the battle. I’m just gutted that I didn’t get to win it, and that once again, I’m not going to get to play on the glass court. Last year, I missed it by two points, and this year yet again…

Somebody had to lose this match. Pity it was me…

Alex Gough bt Alister Walker      11/8, 11/8, 6/11, 11/4 (78m)

BOY DID ALI WANT THAT ONE…
Framboise reports

I’ve seen those two Alex Gough and Alister Walker battling away quite a few times now, and it’s always a tough battle that Goughie has managed to win so far. But it’s always a lot of lets, with our favourite Welsh chatting away with the ref, explaining to her the basics of life, you know the drill, bless him, and Alister, trying to stay focused and not getting involved but eventually using so much mental energy to block it all off he doesn’t have much left to stay focused on the match.

That’s for the aside story.

As far as squash is concerned, it was a beautiful match, with two players that luuuuuve to return and counter attack. I must say I was most impressed by Alister’s superb volleying, he is difficult to pass by, and gives the match a superb rhythm and panache, although there was a point in the first game where I thought that somebody had to tell them there was a right wall, and maybe vary from the up and down the wall.

But that was all Alex’s tactic. He gets you into a false rhythm in the first, and then varies it at will from that point on, leading you to wonder where the heck is he going to send it this time, traditional game or from the top of my head one…

Also to be noted, the excellence of Ali’s technique which allows him to play a perfect tight straight drive or lob from virtually any defensive position. The hard work he’s been doing with DP and Nick Matthew is paying off.

So, yet again, the experience prevails, but beware, the boy is learning fast…

My squash is fine, I just need to look at the mental side of things…

I needed to win one of the first two, especially the first one. We went up to 8/8, it was very close… But Alex was playing so well, he is so good at lifting the ball, finding the perfect width at exactly the right time, and then lifting it to the perfect height…

In the third, he was more accurate, I tried to finish the rallies off and went short and short…

I was able to control the rallies well - when I was playing fast, we would play fast, when I would play slow, he would play slow… I felt also pretty accurate, but just kept hoping that my body would hold, that was the unknown…

I saw him play in Sweden, he played very well, he pushed Palmer to five, so I knew he was in form. We’ve been playing half a dozen of times now, and it’s never been easy, always been tough.

There is always a bit of agro, a bit of banter, but we get on all right at the end of the day…

Tim Vail bt Jon Kemp        8/11, 11/3, 11/9, 11/9 (39m)

AN UPSET IN SPORTCITY
Framboise reports

Fact. Tim Vail is an extremely skilful player. Fact. He puts a tremendous amount of pressure on his opponent with a superb length and width. Fact. He is not the fittest punter of the block. Fact. Jonathan Kemp is fitter than Tim, although he’s recovering from injury. Fact. It was obvious that if Jonathan was able to keep Tim on court long enough, he would win this one. But easier said than done.

Jonathan took an excellent start, 8/3, only to let Tim come back close, very close at 8/9, but still managed to win the game without losing another point. The second saw Tim at his best, with superb attacking/counterattacking/retrieving from both players, but still, Sussex Man wining comfortably 11/3.

The last two could have been anybody’s, short and intense rallies, with Vail starting to struggle to pick up Jonathan great attacks, moving a bit slower than he would have liked, but still managing to wrongfoot and surprise his opponent, and keeping a very good length indeed.

Tim’s skills were such than one loose ball, and you’d have nicks zipping across from all angles. You’d had to be perfect at all time. And in the fourth, the pressure went sky high, and Jonathan, probably not as comfortable on court he would have like because of his back, started to tin, to offer a superb upset to an extremely pleased Tim Vail and coach Ian Robinson…

I’m so pleased, it shows that when I play, I can actually play!

I had never played him before, so I didn’t know what to expect really apart from the fact I knew he was going to attack. And it started from the minute when we went on court, during the warm up, the ball was flying around, so I KNEW he was going to attack.

And in the first one, he did, and I didn’t, because I didn’t feel that comfortable yet. From that point on, I was able to read his game a bit better, giving me more time on the ball, allowing me to hold my shots better, so he wouldn’t know where the ball was going…Also I was able to get a decent length, and was getting in a position to finish the rally off.

And then, it all came down to when I was totally out of position, going for something that nobody would expect from there. If the ball was up, it’s a good shot. And I’ve played those shots enough to know that it will be up…!

Now I’ve got 10 hours to train on the glass court, I play on it about once a year, if that…

I knew what to expect against him - but he played really well.

I've been suffering with a back problem for the past two weeks and haven't played at all - but I couldn't miss the Nationals!

But I didn't think I played badly, under the circumstances.

Lee Beachill bt
Scott Handley
11/8, 11/6, 11/4 (42m)

"It's good to get off three-nil. I didn't feel amazing, but I'm hitting the ball well enough, which is good.

"I felt better physically as the match went on, and for me if I feel good physically that's when I play well.

"I'm just looking forward to getting back on the glass court now."

James Willstrop bt Alex Stait 
      11/9, 7/11, 11/3, 11/4 (42m)

ALEX LOST HIS WAY
Framboise reports

Alex Stait, having nothing to lose against a not that comfortable to say the least on that court James Willstrop, went on a flying start, winning a great amount of points with a perfect width and length that James had real trouble returning.

But after that, maybe a bit of tiredness, a bit of mental lapse, Alex just lost his way, playing not exactly the right shot at the right time, going for cheap points and tinning them, forgetting how he got his points in the first place…

And it didn’t fail. After a wandering mind in the second, James reset the clock on Pontefract time, and it took him only 15 minutes after losing the second to walk away with the match…

I was not tired at all, I just lost my length after the third. I played Darwish last week, and it was exactly the same when you play the top 10 guys. I feel I can hurt them when I’m concentrating, but then I seem to lose my concentration, and then it goes so quickly. The minute I lost that, it was all over…

What really amazes me with James is not so much his shots, which yes are tremendous, but it’s more the amount of ball he gets back, and the amount of pressure he puts you under because of that…

It’s common knowledge that I don’t deal that well with that type of court, but then again, nobody does, it really levels you out, and when you play against a very decent player such as Alex, it becomes a rather close match. It’s a trembling court, and it makes you feel average.

I knew perfectly what to expect, and as long as I realise that I never play fully on that court, it’s fine. But it’s OK, it forces me to play a different type of squash, a more patient one, instead of just going for my shots, I choose carefully when I’m going to attack, because if your timing is wrong on this court, you can really expose yourself.

But then again, everybody’s got to play on this court, you’ve just got to adapt and get on with it.

John White bt Hadrian Stiff
       11/4, 11/3, 11/5 (28m)

FAST AND RELAXED…
Framboise reports

As everybody, John White is more lethal the more relaxed he is. And today, he had had a good rest, slept well, was ready and willing against a player who never believed he could win the match I think, and it showed a bit in the first two games.

But having nothing to lose, I guess Hadrian went for it, starting to find a good balance between great lobbing and feathery drop shots, putting the Tall Man under a bit of pressure at last. But not enough to make him find the way of the tin, and it took Whitey 28 minutes to march on to the quarters against another jet-lagger Peter Barker, freshly off the plane also from the US. They’ll both enjoy a sweet day of rest…

He is a very steady player, he’s happy to have the ball float up and down the side wall, he is very fit, and he’s got the shots that goes with it, a pretty good touch so he is quite dangerous.

In the third, he was a lot tougher than he was in the first two, he was even up 5/3, and found some nice nicks where I didn’t do anything wrong. So I went back to basics, length, patience, if you can call it that when it comes down to me…

I was moving a lot better today than I did yesterday, I guess the jetlag had a lot to do with it, I was happy to play long rallies, and play real squash instead of just getting frustrated.

Pretty pleased…

I played him a few times when he was lower ranked and then once a few months back in National League so I knew what to expect…

I was very disappointed with my game in the first two, and I played way better in the third. He is such a great player that everything I would do wrong I would get punished of course, but still I was very happy with my game, I was concentrating on good rallies, on getting the ball tight.

And then, there was a point where he hit six nicks in a row, including two from behind me where I thought I was in control, and then two that he hit so low that they bounced twice before they got to me. But it’s not that I couldn’t have done anything really, except calling him names, which I did!

But I’m not too disappointed. The main thing was to win yesterday, although it would have been nice to score a few more points today, but he is not an easy man to score points against…

Peter Barker bt Lee Drew
       9/11, 11/3, 11/6, 11/3 (48m)

"It wasn't a great start, I was hitting a few too many around the middle but he's very efficient and will attack anything loose.

"I tried to put more discipline into it and make it hard for him, and I was fine after that.

"I'm looking forward to a rest day, and then John, we've only played once and that was a few years ago ..."

"After the first he upped the pace, noticeably hitting the ball harder, but he's going to do that isn't he, he's top 20 and if you take a game off them they're going to try something different.

"It worked for him and he was on the up and I couldn't find a way back into it. He's very solid and to beat someone like that you have to play very well.

"But I've had a good week, I'm pleased with it."

Adrian Grant bt Steve Meads
       14/12, 11/3, 11/6 (77m)

"It helps if the courts are a bit bouncy, it gives me a bit of time. I only play one big tournament a year so I get myself really geared up for it. It's good to still be able to give these guys a game they have to work for.

"The first was a little bitty, but got better after that. I could use my experience more yesterday, but today I knew Adrian was a step above, all I was interested in was testing myself.

"I enjoyed it, and while it might have been nice to sneak a game it would only have made me stiffer in the morning.  I'll go away happy and it's back to teaching tomorrow.

"I'm not ready for the O35 yet, another year of this. Injury free, I'll be back ..."

Laura Lengthorn bt Laura Mylotte   9/1, 9/1, 9/0 (22m)

Vicky Botwright bt Vicky Hynes      9/6, 9/3, 9/2 (32m)

Late night namesake matches

Due to the long men's matches, the final two women's first rounds were last on court simultaneously, with Laura v Laura and Vicky v Vicky ...

Lancashire team-mates Botwright and Lengthorn came through to set up a quarter-final on the glass court on Friday, with Vicky having the tougher time against the skilful Hynes, while Laura looked impressive in allowing Mylotte just a couple of points.


 

Vicky Botwright bt Vicky Hynes     
      9/6, 9/3, 9/2 (32m)

"I didn't play super well, but I pleased to get through without dropping a game.

"She's a tricky player and considering how long she was out and having had a baby she plays really well. She was guessing a lot and I was putting it on her racket, but once I started to concentrate better I was able to stop her doing that.

"We play on these courts all the time, but I'm really looking forward to getting on to the glass court, it's a different game and we all try to practice on it where we can."

"Maybe I should play twice a week!"

"I was quite pleased the match went on late, I needed the rest to recover from my other matches. It would be nice to be able to play someone of that standard with fresh legs, you can't really compete against them unless you're fit.

"I'd like to play more, but with a busy schedule and a baby it's difficult, but I've enjoyed this week and maybe my performances here will encourage me to play a bit more, we'll see ..."

Laura Lengthorn bt Laura Mylotte  
      9/1, 9/1, 9/0 (22m)

"I felt pretty sharp tonight, it seems to have been a long buildup to this event so I was ready for it.

"Laura struggled with the pace a bit, but she took me by surprise last year in Edinburgh so I knew I had to be prepared, in particular I was conscious to keep it off her forehand, she's really powerful on that side.

"It's nice to be off to a good start, and I'm looking forward to the quarters ..."

"I've not played competitively for a while, after the world teams and world open I needed a second operation on my knee. That was in December and I've been rehabilitating it since.

"It's really nice to be back on court, but I was expecting to be in qualifying, it would have been nice to get a game or two in before taking on someone like Laura, who's on the top of her form.

"I'm back now, and I'm playing in France next week, I just need to get match-fit again."

Alison Waters bt Lauren Siddall      
      6/9, 9/5, 9/3, 5/9, 9/5 (56m)

An escape for Alison

From four points last year to nearly the biggest scalp of her life. Lauren Siddall had the 2005 finalist worried here tonight.

The Pontefract girl took an early lead, winning the first from 4-6 down, but when Waters eased to 6-0 leads before taking the next two and led 5-0 in the fourth an upset seemed unlikely.

But Lauren kept running, kept believing, and took the next nine points to force a decider with Alison beginning to look the worse for wear.

That effort took its toll though more on the challenger though, as Alison again opened up a good lead, 6-2 then 8-5, before making a very relieved passage into the quarters.

"I was surprised at how strongly she started, and I made a few errors which didn't help.

"I made good starts in the next three games, then started making errors again, but got it back in the fifth.

I'm relieved to get through, and grateful for a rest day tomorrow.

It's funny, I played Lauren at this stage last year, and Dominique in the quarters ...

"I'm very glad to get five points in the fifth, I was so tired after the fourth I didn't think I'd get any.

"She lengthened it out in the third and fourth, and though I'm the fittest I've ever been she's obviously got a bit more in the tank.

"I'm pleased to get so close, it's a good incentive to carry on the hard work.

"My defensive lobs were good today, it's a shot I never used to play, Malcolm would be proud ...

Laura Hill bt Kirsty McPhee        10/8, 9/1, 9/4 (33m)

Laura makes the quarters again ...
Steve Cubbins reports

Last off last night, first on this morning, it was always going to be an uphill task for Kirsty against a seeded-for-the-first-time Laura.

But the Pontefract girl took the game on in the first, going up 5-0 and 7-2, moving well and playing some good winners. Laura patiently worked her way back into it, saving a host of game balls before levelling. At 8-5 the marker - wrongly - called Laura's winning drop down, and the referee's correction didn't help Kirsty's state of mind, and not long after the first game had slipped away.

As always seemed likely, Laura took control from then on, and although Kirsty still ran willingly, the balls were getting just that bit harder to reach. A little flurry of points from 6-1 to 7-4 in the third, but Laura finished it off with a trio of boasts to advance to the quarter-finals.

Last year it was a surprise that she made it, this year she was expected to ...

"When I lost the first - which I thought I'd won - I knew I didn't have the legs for the rest of the match, I needed that one.

"You just don't need the qualifiers, do you, which obviously helped Laura, but she deserves to be there, deserves to be seeded, she's earned it."

"Normally I play the qualifiers, so although you're more tired you're also used to the courts. She played well in the first, but I was moving well and was confident of winning even if I'd lost that, but it was a bit of a bonus to get off in three.

"Hopefully not having to qualify will make a difference tomorrow on the glass court when I haven't got four games in my legs.

"I'm going to try to play overseas more, while still working. I want to see how far I can get, but you have to see what works for you, and for me, even though I'm not getting any younger, working and playing works at the moment.

 Madeline Perry bt Georgina Stoker      9/1, 9/0, 9/1 (29m)

Madeline takes her time
Steve Cubbins reports

It was a bit of a strange game this. Madeline raced into a 7-0 lead in the first, then took about 15 minutes finishing it off 9-1. She wasn't doing anything special to get to 7-0, just hitting it a bit tighter and deeper than Georgina.

But then it suddenly became much more competitive, and with a series of long rallies, a few lets and a few decisions disputed by either player, it looked a real match.

But two quick tins by Georgina - the first poor shots she'd hit for ages - signalled the end of the game, and for the rest of the match Madeline was back in control.

Georgina contested most of the rallies well, but couldn't finish them off, and although the scoreline looks harsh, apart from that one spell she never seriously threatened to trouble the third seed.

PS: In PAR, it would have been 20/12, 11/2, 11/3

"I'm not disappointed with the way I played, just frustrated that I didn't get many points, I felt I was in lots of the rallies, I just wasn't winning any points!"

"She plays so fast, I got drawn into just slapping the ball instead of thinking about it, but I guess it's all good experience.

"I'm happy enough with that. I wanted to start with a good performance and I though I was moving well and playing well enough.

"It was a bit strange that I should get to 7-0 in the first so quickly and then struggle to finish it, but there were a few lets, a few funny decisions, it sometimes happens like that.

"I've had a good couple of weeks training and feel I'm back to normal after a bit of a bad patch."

Dominique Lloyd-Walter bt Sarah Kippax
       9/4, 9/1, 9/0 (30m)

Dominique in charge

This was another of those games which featured many competitive rallies, but only one player accumulating the points. From 4-all in the first Sarah was always on the back foot as Dominique's power was that bit higher and her placement that much more precise.

But the difference, the big difference on this one was errors. While Sarah made a handful per game Dominique made a handful - if that - in the entire match.

"I was very fired up for that one, but it was still pretty hard. She played well, but I seemed to have the answers to everything she tried.

"I play Alison in the quarters last year, so it's nice to get a chance of revenge ..."

Jenny Duncalf bt Karen Leach         9/4, 9/1, 9/3 (30m)
Tania Bailey bt Becky Botwright      9/0, 9/4, 9/2 (31m)

Bailey & Duncalf in half an hour

Defending champion Tania Bailey and Jenny Duncalf set up a quarter-final meeting as they both completed half-hour wins over Becky Botwright and Karen Leach respectively.

Karen started well, led 4-3 in the first, but slowly and surely her exertions in qualifying caught up with her as Jenny started dictating the game.

Tania came up against a determined younger Botwright, who competed well in a match with many long exchanges, but couldn't string points together to sufficiently trouble the scorer.
  

Tuesday 13th, Men's Round One,  & Women's Qualifying 

• TODAY • SEMIS • QUARTERS • LAST 16 • Day THREE • Qualifying • Soundbites • Howard • Malcolm •