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THE NORTH EAST
MASTERS
IN MANCHESTER ...
Sat 12th, Day THREE
It was a case of three down
and none to play on Saturday, as the final three our our North East
Masters all fell at the semi-final stage.
Perrott shows his class
John Perrott bt Ken Johnson
9/4, 4/9, 9/6, 9/5 (35m)
Ken wanted the Over 60 number one seed after yesterday's win, but he got a
bit more than he bargained for in the experienced John Perrott.
Ken competed well, and levelled the match at one-all before Perrott changed
the game by keeping the ball more in the air.
 "He's
got a bit more class than me," said Ken after the match. "I've got the
running but I had no answer to his skills. But I've enjoyed my first
Nationals, and I'll be back.
Perrott is a past master at this event, with titles to his name at 45, 50
and 55 categories, and has won the O60 event twice in three outings.
"I started lifting the ball in the third, which caused Ken problems if he
didn't volley it," said John. "He stopped me doing it for a while in the
fourth, so it was hard to finish the game off."
One too many for Tommy
Mike Clemson bt Tommy Elves
9/7, 9/6, 1/9, 1/9, 10/8 (40m)
After his great escape yesterday, Tommy Elves clawed himself back from the
brink again today, only to fall short in the fifth in his O60 semi-final.
"I'm just trying to get my money's worth," he declared after levelling the
match at two-all.
It was a cagey start to the fifth, with Tommy's delicate drops taking him to
2-0, but Mike's running and disguised boasts caught Tommy out as he went to
6-5 up. Then two errors from Tommy, one a sitter, made it 8-5 and it was all
over ... surely.
Nope.
A trademark volley kill saved match ball, a cross-court kill pulled one
back, another volley kill a second, and a boast into the tin made it 8-all.
Tommy served out.
Tommy volleyed into the tin to give Mike another match ball, and Tommy's
crosscourt winner (well it looked like one!) was second-guessed by Mike and
went a millimetre above the tin for the match.
 "It
was a fascinating match," said Mike. "Once Tommy got his game going I was at
a loss as to what to do. His serve is so good, and you have to get the
return tight or he'll just kill it. I think I was lucky to win in the end,
that last shot was pure guesswork!"
"This is my third time in the O60s, I was in the final two years ago, but
I've never beaten John Perrott. But then I'd never beaten Bradburn until
yesterday, so we'll just have to see ..."
I know what I had to do ...
Pat Kirton bt John Shaw
9/5, 9/6, 9/1 (21m)
"But I just couldn't do it!" said John Shaw as he became the last of our
North-East warriors to depart the draws.
"Pat was just too good, I needed to get in front of him, to get on top, but
he just wouldn't let me."
Pat can't count the number of finals he's been in ... but it's more than a
few, and he's looking forward to another challenge tomorrow in the O65
final.
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We hope you've enjoyed the North East
Masters coverage. Apologies to all those we haven't been able to
feature, but we hope it's given you a flavour of the events which help
to make the Nationals an experience, not just a tournament.
See you next year ...
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THE NORTH EAST
MASTERS
IN MANCHESTER ...
Fri 11th, Day TWO
Four out of four wins yesterday, with all our North East Masters back in
action today, and three progressing to the semi-finals today.
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE
O55 Q/F [5/8] Howard Cherlin bt
[3/4] John Smith
9/5, 9/4, 9/7 (32m)
 "No
serving out of the sun," Howard warned John as they went on court. But it
was John who needed the sunglasses, as Howard's delicately placed lobs
combined with deceptive boasts and the occasional hard-driven straight drive
caused John problems throughout the game.
All three games followed a pattern, with Howard getting off to a lead, John
pulling back but ultimately unable to overtake his opponent.
5-1 in the first became 5-5, 3-0 in the second became 3-3, and 4-0 in the
third became 4-4, but each time John was unable to continue the comeback.
In the middle of the third nerves looked to be getting to Howard as he
tinned two easy drops with John nowhere to be seen. "I never, ever, miss
those," he said afterwards.
One match ball saved at 8/3 gave John hope, as he clawed his way back. A
third drop shot error from Howard helped John's cause, but the nerves
held ... in the end.
On his third match ball three hard drives proved one too many for John as
the first of our North East stalwarts fell.
"The man was just too good for me today," said John, "simple as that."
Howard now moves on to play defending champion Phil Ayton ... his room-mate!
"Phil's way ahead on matches between us," said Howard, "although we haven't
played for six or seven years, so you never know."
SHAW MAKES IT LAST
O65 Q/F [3/4] John Shaw bt [5/8] Anthony Breakwell
9/6, 2/9, 9/4, 7/9, 9/4 (47m)
"That must have been well over an hour," said a victorious John Shaw
after a marathon victory over Anthony Breakwell.
Well, 47 minutes actually, I told him. But hey, that's a marathon for the
over 65s surely ...
"It was a see-saw match," said John. I was 5-0 down in the first and won it,
6-2 up in the second and lost it."
But John pulled through in the end, thanks to some advice from Tommy Elves
between games.
 "He
was playing too much on his opponent's forehand, and his boasts just weren't
working," said coach Tommy. "So I told him to keep it straight and wait for
the opportunity to drop." Good advice at any age or level ...
This was Anthony's fourth year in the over 65s, and he's been playing these
events for 40 years. "I got to the final once, but today things just went
against me at crucial times in the fifth," he said.
These two were overdue a meeting. This was the first time they'd played, but
they've been in the same events for 20 years. "In 1985 Anthony was
Warwickshire O45 #1, and I was Durham #2, and although we've been in lots of
events together, often as 5/8 seeds, we always seemed to miss one another."
Let's hope they don't have to wait 20 years for the rematch!
TOMMY THE COMEBACK KING
O60 Q/F [5/8] Tommy Elves bt [2] Adrian Wright
4/9, 5/9, 9/5, 9/7, 9/4 (56m)
"I thought I was going to get zipped 3/0 there, said a relieved Tommy Elves
after a dramatic comeback win over O60 second seed Adrian Wright.
Adrian took the first two games, pulling away after even starts in both, but
then Tommy clawed his way back.
"I said to myself 'I'm not coming off here until I've won a game'", declared
Tommy. "I knew I had to stop myself making daft errors from winning
positions."
 The
tactic worked in the third. "Then I thought I'd try to win another one." The
fourth was tight. At 6-all there were a couple of decisions Adrian didn't
like, leading to a thrown racket and a conduct warning, but it remained
tight until Tommy finally levelled it with a great drop shot to finish the
best rally of the game.
The fourth went well for Tommy, who was now showing his full range of shots.
Helped by some service return errors from Adrian the D&C man quickly reached
8-3 game ball, finally taking the match at the third attempt with a final
long drop.
"I was running on spirit at the end there," he said as he came off court.
For Adrian, this was his fourth year in the O60 event. "I won it at the
first attempt, and I've got one more year before I move into the O65s," he
said.
Neither of them appreciated the courts much (the ones with the painted glass
front wall). "I never play well on these courts," said Adrian. "I suppose
it's the same for everyone, but they're just so slow and different from what
we're used to."
Tommy agreed. "The ball's so dead on your racket, and you really can't see
the ball up in the air."
So, Tommy moves into the semi-finals, and an all North-East final is still
possible, as Ken Johnson, playing at the same time, also won through.
Bring on the number one seed
O60 Q/F Ken Johnson bt
[5/8] Len Froggitt
9/2, 6/9, 9/7, 9/1 (37m)
 Those
were Ken's words as he stepped off court with a second victory in his first
Nationals appearance.
Ken's trickery won him the first game against Len Froggitt, who came back to
take the second, and after a hard fought third Ken raced away with the
fourth to reach the semi-finals.
"He was much quicker to the front than I expected," said Ken, "so I had to
mix it up a lot more than usual."
Len had his chances in the third, but his overall assessment was quite
simple. "The wheels fell off. I was 6-1 up in the third, and I began to
tire, but he kept going. All credit to Ken, he's been doing a lot of
training, he says, and it obviously paid dividends."
"Yes, the youth and fitness got me through!" quipped Ken. |
John and coach Tommy
Tommy and Adrian
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THE NORTH EAST
MASTERS
IN MANCHESTER ... Day ONE
With the multitude of Masters matches taking place at Sportcity it's hard to
get an overall feeling for what's going on. So, in the style of the BBC's
'road to Wembley', we thought we'd follow some of the players from one
region and see how they fare.
The North-East always sends a healthy contingent down to Manchester for the
Masters events, and several of them have prospects of reaching the later
stages, so stand up you Geordies and Mackems ... let's see what you're made
of.
Steve Cubbins |
Ken finally makes it
THE REFS
"I love reffing the masters. It's great to watch old friends and
adversaries play each other. They all watch and support, and they play
such varied games.
"And they're all ever so polite to the referee!"
Joss Garvey |
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#2: Gan Seek
The Baaalll
Gibberish to most, but a well known phrase in the North East. Loosely
translated, it means "please make more effort to reach the ball."
 John
Smith and Ken Johnson both hail from Newbiggin, north of Newcastle, where
the accent is thick, and squash a lifetime's passion.
John is a frequent visitor to Masters events, and has been both British Open
and Closed champion two years ago, and lost in the O55 final here last year.
This time he is a 3/4 seed, but wishes he was in the other half.
"I lost to Phil Ayton last year, and I know I'll probably have to play him
some time, but I'm in his half so it might be in the semis. "
John's not a fan of the courts here. "They need to put some whitewash over
the breeze block at the top. For those of us who play 'up a height' it's
very difficult to see the ball."
Today John played Irishman Terry Norman, who also foud the courts not to his
liking.
"The front wall's so slow, if you're behind the 'T' then unless you guess
where he's going to play the ball you've got no chance of getting there," he
said.
 John
won 3/1 after dropping the first, but wasn't happy. "The only winners I
could get overhead were mis-hits," he said, offering to buy the necessary
whitewash himself. "And to make it worse, we're playing with a black ball
with black carpets outside the back wall, so you can't see the ball in the
back corners either!"
Ken was supporting John, having earlier won his first ever Nationals match
in straight games.
"I would have loved to have played in these before," said Ken, who stopped
working when he turned 60 last May, "but work commitments always stopped me,
so I'm glad I could make it at last."
And the courts? "Well, you can't see the ball very well up a height,
but I don't play as many lobs as as Tommy and John, so it's not so bad ...
John Smith bt Terry Norman 7/9, 9/3, 9/1, 9/1 (25m)
Ken Johnson bt Nick Topman 9/6, 10/8, 9/1 (28m) |
#1: Durham
Stalwarts
In the Over 65 and Over 60 events two Durham and Cleveland stalwarts, John
Shaw and Thomas Elves, are flying the North-East flag.
John Shaw was the owner and inspiration behind Durham Squash Club, which won
the European Club Championship back in the eighties.
"I sold the club 15 years ago," said John, and I've been coming to the
Nationals and British Open along with Tommy ever since."
Still active in the local leagues, John currently plays for
Chester-le-Street, who have teams in both the D&C and Northumbria leagues.
"I actually played my first Northumbria league game for 45 years last week,"
John revealed, showing you just how long he's been playing this game.
"My best masters memory was playing Hashim Khan at Lambs two years
ago in the British Open first round. There was a great palava, with press
and TV there, but it wasn't for me! I was unseeded then, beat Hashim, went
on to beat three seeds before losing in the final.
"The next year they made me top seed and I lost in the first round!"
This is John's first year in the O65 event here, having reached the quarter
and semi final stage several times in previous years in the younger events.
"I've got the late shift today," he said of his 5pm match while watching his
mate Tommy win through his first round.
"I've been playing in competitions like this for 30 years," said Tommy
before his opening encounter. "But I still get nervous before every match."
 No
worries for Tommy today, as he beat Middlesex's Berge Kay. Well, apart from
the court, that is.
"You just can't see the ball when it goes in the air on these courts. Even
when you serve, you just lose it in the lights."
Tommy went 8-1 up in the first, lost it 10-8, but took the next" three to
set up a meeting with second seed Adrian Wright of Leicestershire.
"Tommy and Adrian have similar games," John Smith told us, so it should be
an interesting match. But with Adrian, no matter how tight you serve, he
seems to be able to just pick it off, and it's dead before you can do
anything."
Sounds like Tommy has his work cut out tomorrow ...
O60: Thomas Elves (D&C) bt Berge Kay
(Middlesex)
8/10, 9/5, 9/4, 9/6 (33m) FOUR
OUT OF FOUR
The fourth of our North East band took to the court at 5pm, and John Shaw
made it four out of four, with a 3/0 victory over Martin Sweeney.
 Shaw's
trademark disguised boasts caught Sweeney out numerous times, and while many
rallies were short, there was plenty of effort, running, and more than a few
exciting rallies in this 20 minute match.
"The court was nice and warm," said Shaw, which made it easy to try to keep
the ball going. "The front wall is slow, making the court ideal for someone
with great lobs."
Sweeney was happy with his runout. "That was a good game," he said. "I've
played plenty of old guys where a three-shot rally is a rarity, so this was
enjoyable. I tried to keep it going, not going for too many winners, but
sometimes you just have to!"
So, tomorrow sees our band of four in action once more ... we'll be there to
see how they do ...
O65: John Shaw bt Martin
Sweeney 9/1, 9/3, 9/2 (20m)
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John watches Tommy
You can't see the ball up
there!
How long
since you saw
a bag like this ??? |
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