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Sat 20th, Semis: on the
[5] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [4] James Willstrop (Eng)
11/8, 11/9, 10/11(0-2), 11/4
(63m)
[3] Peter Nicol bt [6] John White (Sco)
11/5, 11/8, 11/8 (45m)
[1] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt Alison Waters (Eng)
9/1, 9/4, 4/9, 9/1 (55m)
[2] Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt Madeline Perry (Irl)
9/7, 9/5, 10/8 (57m)
Matthew and Nicol in Mamut
Final ...
Two relative under-achievers
in the English Open will contest the final, as Peter Nicol confirmed his
impressive form with a straight games win over John White, and Nick
Matthew defied his earlier exertions to beat James Willstrop in four.
Quick reports from Steve Cubbins ... more to follow
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Jenny Duncalf bt Alison
Waters
9/1, 9/4, 4/9, 9/1 (53m)
DUNCALF FLIES
YORKSHIRE FLAG
Yorkshire's world number 9 Jenny Duncalf became the first player
to reach the English Open finals, as she completed a 3/1 victory over
England team-mate Alison Waters in the first semi-final of the
inaugural Eventis Women's English Open
Duncalf, 22, took the first two games comfortably, with Waters making
too many errors for her own good.
Waters rallied to take the third, but a good start for Duncalf in the
fourth was soon consolidated as she moved into the final. |
 "Alison
has improved a lot and she has been playing very well the past
season, I was really looking forward to playing her…
"I was pretty focused through the whole match, I imposed a good
pace, I was concentrating on getting a good length, putting the ball
in the back corners, and waiting for Alison to make the error…
"I like the low tin, I must say, but it did surprise me a few times…
"In the third, I got slightly tired, the mind wandered, and she
played very well. In the 4th, I started again concentrating on the
length, ball in the back corners, don’t play those silly shots…
Jenny Duncalf |
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 "I feel that
I let her control the match, she was in front for the most of it,
and she played extremely well, putting me under a lot of pressure
and leading me to make errors…
"And it needs to be said that, even with a lower tin, I still hit it
so many times…
"Next for me is Seattle, for which I’m trying to qualify. This year,
my aim is to try my best to get through to the first round, then try
and perform well against the top girls, and progress in the rankings
to the best of my abilities… "
Alison Waters |
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MY IMPRESSIONS…
 When
Jenny Duncalf has the brain at the right place, to paraphrase Joe Kneipp,
she is purely lethal.
She moves well, hits hard, and places great attacks exactly where her
opponent really wishes she wouldn’t…
Today, Alison was never really was in the match, I felt, although she
seemed to find her game in the third, helped by too many errors from
Jenny.
But soon, she drifted off again, and strung a few tins, allowing her
compatriot to retake confidence in her chances…
A match that Alison will be glad to forget, although she didn’t do
anything wrong…
Ah, I was about to forget, love the new look, Jenny... |
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[3] Peter Nicol
(Eng) bt [6] John White (Sco)
11/5, 11/8, 11/8 (45m)
Nicol takes it out of White
If John White wasn't tired enough after his late-night marathon
against Olli Tuominen on Friday, then Peter Nicol made sure of it
this afternoon in the Crucible.
Nicol, moving well as he has been all this week, simply dragged the life
out of White, moving him mercilessly around the court, extending the
rallies to the point that several times White simply gave up on the
rally.
White started each game well, leading 3-1 in the first, 5-1 in the
second, and 5-1 again in the third. But each time Nicol weathered the
early storm of trademark hard-driven winners from White, and pegged him
back.
Nicol eased ahead from 3-all in the first, won two mammoth rallies at
7-8 and 9-8 in the second - with White left dead in his tracks at the
back of the court - and forced White into several trademark diving
returns in the third.
So a first final for Nicol, who is improving each time in this event -
quarters in 2003, semis last year and now the final. No-one is betting
on him taking another year to win it though ... |
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 "I
felt good out there. It’s always a bit frenetic when you play John,
because of the way he plays and the pace he plays at, but I though I
was moving well and I really wanted to win, which makes all the
difference.
"I’ve got to thank Olli for taking a bit out of John last night, I
could hear him starting to grunt and groan in the middle of the
second.
"I’m getting closer every year here, I hope it doesn’t take another
year for me to win it. As for the final I don’t mind who I play.
Nick will probably be suffering after last night but if he gets
through he’ll be up for it again, and James is always a handful."
Peter Nicol |
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 "I
only went to bed late last night, after my match against Olli, which
finished about 11.45pm, and couldn’t go to sleep before 2am, so I
didn’t have much time to sleep or rest… So it’s all Olli’s fault,
now, isn’t it????
"No, playing several hard matches in a row ends up taking its toll,
but we are all in the same boat, and this is what the circuit is all
about, just got to get used to it again…
"In every game, I had the lead, I was attacking a lot, which takes a
lot of energy out of you, but he was picking up everything, and then
I would get tired… At the end of each game, I was just hanging on…
"When you put Peter under a lot of pressure, he actually comes out
with a winner, and today, he was getting an open court every time…
"Like Malcolm said, Peter is playing extremely well at the moment,
he hasn’t been pushed at all during this tournament, he is so hard
to play, he doesn’t make any mistakes…"
John White |
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MY IMPRESSIONS…
It’s
funny, you know, how things just seem to turn around… A few weeks ago,
when The Boss was playing, we were suffering for him, as his fitness was
far, far from what it should have been. And you knew that if Peter
didn’t win in three, if the rallies were too long, that we wouldn’t make
it.
That’s all in the past mate…
As John said after the match, Peter has hardly been pushed during the
tournament, and what you can do against him is very limited. I’m sure
ALL Peter’s opponents this week would confirm. People are puppets on a
string ... I push you here... And there you go... And catch that one if
you can... Oh, you got that, and what about that corner over there....
Cruel beyond belief...
Now, for John, his match against Olli the previous day was just a bit
too long, a bit too late, and today's match was lost after the marathon
rally in the second at 8/7, as John would never score another point in
the game. Clever Peter knows John inside out and that he couldn’t resist
the temptation of keeping the ball going, and going, and that would
damage the Tall Man beyond repair….
Two games down, fitness out of the window, at 6/6 in the third, John
accepted defeat, and decided to make an exhibition/training match out of
it, offering the crowd some tremendous/stupendous/ridiculous rallies as
only he knows how…
The spectators repaid him by a standing ovation. And after all, that’s
what it’s all about isn’t it? Entertainment, Fun, excitement… And in
that department, John wrote the book…
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[2] Vicky
Botwright (Eng) bt Madeline Perry (Irl)
9/7, 9/5, 10/8 (57m)
Botwright battles to Final
It was a hard-fought straight games victory that took Vicky Botwright
to the final over Irish number one Madeline Perry.
Botwright held a lead through a competitive first game, closing it out
9/7. Perry started the second better, but from 1-4 the Lancashire girl
swiftly took control to take a 2-0 lead.
The third was a tense, high quality game. Botwright started the
brighter, and although Perry battled all the way, she could never quite
do more than draw level before Botwright would pull away again. Perry
levelled at 6-all, and again at 8-all, with the rallies long and
testing.
But Botwright clinched the final two points to set up a repeat of last
year's ladies exhibition match against Jenny Duncalf.
This time it's for real ...
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 "I
think I played well, I knew that I had to play straight, as Madeline
is really good at volleying crosscourts…
"Madeline and I have been training all summer, about once a week,
and it has always been very close, so I was expected a hard game…
"My next tournament will be in Seattle… We are all going, we are
desperate for tournaments…"
Vicky Botwright |
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 "I
thought I played quite well, it really came down to nothing really,
a few important points… It was a good match for both of us…
"I didn’t have any game plan, just trying to play my game ...
Madeline Perry |
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MY IMPRESSIONS…
 You’ve
got matches where the result could go either way… A “very competitive
match” as Malcolm described it, a good, a very good performance from
both players, both girls playing their own game to perfection: Madeline
on the T placing lethal volley drop shots in the two front corners that
Vicky picked up and attacked…
It was honestly anybody’s game, a few points here, a little tin there…
No, very close indeed… But the English girl had just a bit more
motivation maybe… I wonder why…
Jenny/Vicky, that’s a match I do not want to miss…
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[5] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [4] James
Willstrop (Eng)
11/8, 11/9, 10/11(0-2), 11/4
(63m)
Matthew makes it this time
Spectators at the Crucible who were not
privileged to see last night's matches would have thought that it was
James Willstrop who came through a marathon match late on Friday
evening.
After a frenetic start, with Nick Matthew racing to a quick
early lead in the first game, the match settled down, with both players
rallying and probing, but it was Matthew mainly in control, moving
Willstrop around, forcing the errors.
 And
it was Willstrop who looked more tired, more flustered, always coming
from behind and mostly seeing Matthew open up that gap again.
Not that there was much in it. As Matthew admitted afterwards, it would
only have taken a couple of James's shots in the first or second games
to go up, rather than down, and the match would have been quite
different.
So Matthew went 2-0 up, narrowly, and lost the third, even more
narrowly.
Willstrop's clenched fist as he took the third suggested he thought he
was back in, but a quick three points for Matthew at the start of the
third opened up a gap that Willstrop never looked like closing. From 7-4
the match disappeared quickly from James' grasp, and it was Matthew's
turn to celebrate.
So the final will be contested by two relative under-achievers in this
event. Nicol, amazingly, appearing in his first final and Matthew,
living up to Sheffield's expectations at the third attempt.
Nicol will start favourite, surely, but after what Matthew has already
achieved this week no-one will count him out ...
 "One of the
things I've been working on over the Summer is my speed and stamina,
and it seems to be paying off, I don't feel sluggish in the third
and fourth like I sometimes used to.
"I'm glad I got off to a good start in the fourth though, I was
starting to feel it a bit, but that lead was enough to allow me to
just hang on, I wouldn't have fancied a fifth.
"How old is James? 21, 22… Blimey, I hope that I was that good when
I was 22… I think I need to enjoy my wins while as can, as I don’t
think I’ll be able to enjoy them when I’m 30 and he is what, 25…
"And tomorrow I've got Peter, the best player in the world for what
seems like 50 years. I'm ready for it mentally, but my body needs a
bit of a rest, so I'll take it easy tonight and hopefully be ready
for tomorrow."
Nick Matthew |
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 "To
tell you the truth, I didn’t feel that I was controlling the match
at all… Nick was just fantastic. I knew it was going to be hard, but
not in a million years would I have expected him to play that well…
"He was too good, too strong, his strength is incredible, at times I
felt like I was the one that was tired, and had heavy matches in the
legs…
"He was so full of confidence from his victory over Lee last night,
he played so well… And today, he completely took it to me, maybe
because he was afraid to get tired in the end, but he really took it
to me, and it worked… And I was just not good enough… "
James Willstrop |
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MY IMPRESSIONS…
It’s
not that James played badly… It’s just that Nick was hungrier… One was
playing to win the match, the other as if his life depended on it…
On fire is the expression I think that describes Nick the best. He
reminds me of Anthony Ricketts in the final of the ToC. Thierry was
playing well, Ricketts wanted it that much more.
James looked slightly under the weather physically, was the strapping on
his right thigh anything to do with it, probably not. Mentally, Nick was
just out of this world. Personally, I never saw him playing even close
to his performance of those three matches (Stewart, Lee, James) and his
front court game (drop and counter drops) allied with a lethal tightness
in his straight drives and a Jahangir like fitness have made him a bit
of a “SuperPlayer” really…
“Mentally I can’t wait for tomorrow’s final, even if my body is
absolutely exhausted…” said the Sheffield Boy at the end of the night…
Let’s see which overtakes the other, shall we???
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