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Mon 15-Aug:
Qualifying Round One:
Mansoor Zaman (Pak) bt Jean-Michel Arcucci (Fra)
11/7, 8/11, 11/4, 11/8 (57m)
Philip Barker (Eng) bt Scott Handley (Eng)
11/10(4-2) 11/2, 11/4 (32m)
Alex Stait (Eng) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
9/11, 11/5, 11/9, 9/11, 11/8 (73m)
Alister Walker (Eng) bt Daryl Selby (Eng)
11/7, 8/11, 11/4, 11/4 (51m)
Rodney Durbach (Rsa) bt Laurence Delasaux (Eng)
11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (39m)
Peter Barker (Eng) bt Yasir Butt (Pak)
11/9, 11/3, 11/5 (39m)
Davide Bianchetti (Ita) bt Stacey Ross (Eng)
11/6, 11/2, 11/3 (27m)
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Alex Gough (Wal)
11/7, 11/5, 11/5 (31m)
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Sheffield
EN BREF
...
Everything you never knew you needed
to know
Day One:
Travel, Cricket, Not Enough Effort ... |
|
Boswell breezes
past
Gough in Qualifying ...
Quick reports from Steve
Cubbins,
match reports and photos
from Framboise ...
The third edition of the
English Open got under way in Sheffield, with first round qualifying matches
taking place at the Hallamshire and
Abbeydale clubs.
 The draw threw up a match that would grace many a main draw final,
with former world number four
Stewart Boswell, in the draw as a 'local', drawn last out
of the hat to play former world number eight Alex Gough. Boswell
maintained his 35-match unbeaten run with a straight games win over the
Welsh 'veteran'.
The top half of the draw, at Hallamshire, featured the longest matches of
the day, with Alex Stait overcoming Laurens Jan Anjema in five -
although at 9-5 in the fourth it seemed that the Englishman would win in
four - and Alister Walker completing tomorrow's final line-up with
a late-night 3/1 win over Daryl Selby.
Meanwhile at Abbeydale, Rodney Durbach, Peter Barker and
Davide Bianchetti emulated Boswell's feat with straight-games wins.
For tomorrow's qualifying finals the venues are interchanged, to allow as
many players as possible an opportunity to play on a glass court (at
Abbeydale) before the main draw gets under way at the Crucible. |
THE
MATCH…
WELL, NOT REALLY…
Framboise at Abbeydale to see 'the comeback' ...
Stewart Boswell bt Alex Gough
11/7, 11/5,
11/5 (31m)
That was THE match we all wanted to see… And when I say we, I mean, the
players in particular… Quite a few of them were behind the glass to see
the “Return of the Aussie” after a two year absence from major PSA
tournaments…
Disappointed? Slightly… Welshman Alex Gough was willing, but just
couldn’t perform at his best today… Once again, like in the first match
between Bianchetti and Ross, we had a pretty close first game, 4/4, 6/6,
Alex saving a game ball, but only to concede the first game 11/7 after
12 minutes.
But Stewart Boswell’s relentless attacking and fast pace soon seemed to
discharge any batteries the Welshman had when he arrived this morning…
Second game 9 minutes, last one 7 minutes.
And although coached between games by his son Jayden (who you may
remember from last year used to excel in
chess and who has now switched to cricket), Gough could only shake his
opponent’s hand and let him be on his hopeful way to qualification for a
top tournament that he has wanted for far too long.
 "It's
really good to be back. My back kept me out of action for 18
months, but it's been two years between PSA tournaments.
"I don't feel the pressure that other people put on my shoulders,
it doesn't bother me. I put enough pressure on myself....
"Against Alex I didn't have any particular game plan, I just
played my normal game, attacked a lot, kept the pace up to try to
control the rallies, not going for too many risky shots.
"It doesn't please me to say that we, Alex and I, were the oldest
players in the draw ...
"The AIS supported me and stood by me for the past two years. They
could have dropped me, but they kept paying my expenses, for which
I'm very grateful.
"My first goal is to get back to my level. By the end of the year
I hope to be back to where I was. I'll just try to play as many
big tournament as I can, and as many top ten players as I can.
"For this event I'd like to qualify, but it's unfortunate that I'm
playing Davide tomorrow. I've been sharing and training with him
for a few days, so it's a bit of a shame, but at least one of us
will qualify."
Stewart Boswell |
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"For the past two weeks I've been suffering with a lung infection,
I've got absolutely no energy. I think I'll be ok, because I don't
feel ill, but every time I try to do anything I've just no no
energy, no push. I'm not looking for excuses, but it's just so
annoying...
"It's extremely frustrating, as I've been training very hard. The
Welsh team went to South Africa, where we played a few test
matches, and I trained hard after that, so it's really hard to
find that I'm not at my top physical condition.
"I was due to play St Louis, but I may have to miss that, I'm
really not up to it physically, and
concentrate on the European Clubs and Hungary."
Alex Gough
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MANSOOR LEAVES
IT LATE
Mansoor Zaman bt Jean-Michel Arcucci
11/7, 8/11, 11/4, 11/8 (57m)
Top seed in the qualifying competition Mansoor Zaman looked like
he was heading for a fifth game against Frenchman Jean-Michel Arcucci.
Leading 2-1, the Pakistani number two fell 7-1 behind in the fourth, but
levelled in a single hand and went on to take the game 11/8 to secure a
3/1 victory.
 "My
ranking has dropped this year, especially because of a couple of
zeros I received due to visa problems, we were refused entry for
the US Open and the Tournament of Champions. It's hard at the
moment because there are more and more tournaments in the USA and
it gets harder and harder for us to get in.
"I'm playing two tournaments in Pakistan, the CAS and CNS
Internationals, then Qatar. I've been training with Jamshed Gul
for the past six months. He helped me tremendously by making me
play to the back corners, before that I used to play too many
shots. I feel that he has enriched my game.
"I'm going to try my best in this tournament, winning or losing,
that's part of life, but I need to know at what level I'm playing
at the moment. I want to get back to my best level, which is top
ten, as quickly as possible as my best ranking was eleven.
"I've signed for Wolverhampton in the National League next season,
and I'll be staying in London with Mo Yasin, my uncle, who has
been extremely supportive. I feel this is a big step
for my career."
Mansoor Zaman |
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"For the next few months I'm playing Berkshire and a few other
tournaments in the USA, as part of the preparation for the World
Teams in December, which is the priority for this year.
"I'm happy to be playing again at a very good level, I've started
to train like when I was young and it would have been good to at
least get past the first round of qualifying as that would give me
a good few points."
Jean-Michel Arcucci |
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NOT A WORD…
 Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
bt Stacey Ross (Eng)
11/6, 11/2, 11/3 (27m)
Blimey, that was a bit of a surprise, a nice one though… I’ve seen
Davide Bianchetti play a few times, and he sometimes goes a bit… OTT
would be a nice way of putting it…
But today, not a piping word from the feisty Italian against England boy
Stacey Ross, who was not at his top physically today, having been
struggling with injury for a few weeks now I was told…
A very good first game, both players being patient, constructing long
and fast paced rallies, varied and pleasant game.
But the more we were getting in the match, it became clear that Ross was
not performing as well as he would have liked, and although he tried
very hard to keep up with a very precise Bianchetti, the games went
pretty quickly, after a 14 minute first game, second was 5 minutes, and
the third only 4… |
 "I'm
feeling quite good at the moment, I've been training with Stewart
[Boswell] and it's made me feel good about my game.
"I was feeling confident enough to lengthen the rallies in the first
game, to work harder in every rally, and after that Stacey seemed to let
go a little.
"It was my first match on this court. I usually like glass courts, this
one's a little different from the other ones I've played on. The floor
in particular is a little hard, but overall it's a good court."
Davide Bianchetti |
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Barker brothers break through
Back from their adventures
in the Americas, where Philip reached the final in Salt Lake
City, and Peter claimed two titles in Brazil, the Barker brothers
moved into the qualifying finals with straight-games victories over
Scott Handley and Yasir Butt, respectively.
Philip Barker bt Scott
Handley
14/12, 11/2, 11/4 (32m)
 "I'd
never played Phil before, I always find it quite interesting to
play new people, especially someone from the same country.
"I played for one game, had a game ball, but in the tie-break I
got what I though was a bad call.
"Phil thought my ball was down and raised his hand, and I stopped
because he was just in front of me, but I was refused a let.
"The ref was happy to say the ball was good, but still didn't give
me a let and after that my concentration just went out of the
window.
"It's a shame, because we were very close in that first game.
"For the next few months I'm probably going to a tournament in
India, and also to Marseilles at the end of September to work with
Thierry, and of course going on with my work with Pete Goodings.
"This is the beginning of the season, we're all in the same boat
not knowing what to expect, so we'll just wait and see ..."
Scott Handley |
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"Scott has his own training regime, as we got together late in the
season last year so didn't have much time to establish our work
relationship.
"We put in a week of training in preparation for this event,
working on concentration, and at the moment we're concentrating on
the SAQ - speed, agility, quickness. We'll adapt the program
according to what happens during this event."
Pete Goodings |
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AND
ANOTHER GREAT
FIRST GAME…
Peter Barker
(Eng) bt Yasir Butt (Pak)
11/9, 11/3, 11/5 (39m)
Not that I am complaining or anything, but the first two matches I saw
had excellent first games, with easy rest of the match. Well, the third
was about the same scenario…
This time, no physical trouble at all, just a player fresh out of the
junior game, the discreet and humble Yasir Butt, a really nice
gentleman, who makes his country and coach Rahmat Khan proud by fighting
hard and fair…
An extremely close first game, 17 minutes, the junior matching Peter
Barker’s every shot, fast pace, long rallies, some awesome attacks
from the left hander, and some pretty amazing retrieving from the
Pakistani. I have to say that the young man has improved tremendously
since the last time I saw him play, in January here in Sheffield for the
British Junior Open…
The second game was Peter’s, no doubt about that, only 7 minutes. The
Englishman was just at his best, finding perfect length drives that were
just irretrievable, never giving his opponent a chance…
In the last game, Barker seemed to relax slightly, and as he was
fighting for every ball, Yasir was able to threatened Peter, and came
back from 2/8 to 5/8. Sensing danger, the Englishman raised his game,
not allowing his young opponent to score another point… |
 "It
was a good match, but overall, Peter played extremely well. I was
up 6/2 in the first, but that's where you can see my lack of
experience, I couldn't finish it ...
"In the second, it's not that I was tired, but he was playing so
well, he didn't give me any opportunity to attack, again, his
experience prevailed...
"It's my first time in the EO, I'm happy, it's an excellent
experience for me. I've been training a lot with Rahmat, I think
I've improved in the last months.
"I'm going to play two tournaments in Pakistan, then I'm off to
Calcutta..."
Yasir Butt |
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 "It
was pretty close. I went down 2/6, then managed to come back at
9/7, then Yasir clawed back to 9/10, and I sneaked in 11/9.
"In the third, I got a bit of a lead, and dropped off the pace
slightly, and he used it to his advantage.
"I felt OK, in the first game, the rallies were really really
fast, so I decided to slow down the pace, to get more control, and
it worked..."
Peter Barker |
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IMPROVED DELASAUX…
Rodney Durbach (Rsa) bt Laurence Delasaux (Eng)
11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (39m)
I think the last time I saw Laurence Delasaux play was against
Nick Douglas in the first round of the Nationals 05 in Manchester,
and like his opponent today Rodney Durbach, I was impressed by
his improvement.
 And
although Laurence lost today, maybe putting a bit too much pressure on
his own shoulders, probably expecting too much of himself on home soil,
he showed some talent that should be encouraging for him and his coach
David Campion. And at least, this match was different from the first
three, as the best game was actually the third!
Totally overwhelmed in the first game, the young Englishman let the
South African lead comfortably 8/1 before closing the gap a bit, still
losing the game 11/5 in 11 minutes.
Controlling the pace, imposing his speed and proactive style, Rodney
went on to take the next game that still lasted 12 minutes, signs that
the young man was still alive and kicking.
But Delasaux kept the best for last: the third game was of a very high
standard, fierce rallies, good hitting from Rodney, great retrieving and
some remarkable volley drop shots from the back of the court, in
particular on his backhand.
But not today, Laurence… Durbach was just too good today, but keep on
working, you are doing something right, take my word for it… |
 "It
was a nice match to start the tournament with ...
"I think I was pretty much in control throughout the match, but
when I lost my concentration, I also lost the control, but I don't
feel he actually took the control away from me. And then, when I
got my focus back, I was able to get on top once again...
"I was extremely impressed by Laurence. I played him a few months
ago, and I won quite comfortably. I was expecting a hard match,
but nothing like that! He's got it, now, he's got to get
stronger... and be just a bit more patient..."
Rodney Durbach |
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 "I'm
very disappointed, I don't feel I played as well as I could have.
Abroad, I played well, but today, I was too inconsistent. One
minute I was playing OK, and the next, complete rubbish! I got
better in the end, but too late, far too late.
"I tried to play my game, not too fast a pace, waiting for an
opening, and then work on the ball, but Rodney made it hard for
me, he didn't allow me to play my game...
"I'm happy with my backhand length, but I could have had a better
forehand length, and also, my turning on the T was not good
enough, there are some movements I need to work on...
"At the moment, I train with David Campion, along with Alister
Walker and Adrian Grant.
And I think I know what David would have
told me if he had been watching the match : I knew what needed to be done, but, as is often the case, I just
couldn't execute it..."
Laurence Delasaux |
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