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[ THE FINALS ] [ SEMI-FINALS ] [ WILLSTROP ] [ Day TWO ] [ Day ONE ] [ RESULTS ] |
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RESULTS
GALLERY |
28-Apr, DAY ONE:
GOOD START FOR
ENGLAND & FRANCE |
 Framboise
Gommendy
reports from Rennes... |
Below:
Reports on France's win over
Denmark in the women's,
and a real problem for the
world number one ...
FRANCE:
STRAIGHT THROUGH
They started early! I was writing the report on the French Ladies, and
zoom! Jean-Michel Arcucci had already won against the tall John
Hurley from Ireland, 9/5, 9/2, 9/3, and Renan Lavigne had taken
the first game from the always smiling Steve Richardson 9/4.
I like Steve. He plays in the Surrey League, so I’ve seen him play for a
few years now, and he is also a good showman. He is always up for a good
run, nice at the front of the court, and loves hitting the ball hard.
Well, he gave Renan a good run. The Frenchman retrieved the Irishman's
attacks very well, and gave us a very pleasant match to watch, even if the
score seems a bit light, 9/4, 9/3, 9/1.
The 3 & 4 strings played, Gregory Gaultier stepped into the court,
and for the first time, I saw my compatriot playing, against the cheeky
nosey funny John Rooney, who arrived in the final of the Wimbledon
Cup a few weeks ago, only to lose against Steve Meads in 4 games.
And I start to see what everybody has been talking about. “Equilibriste”,
“Magicien”, immediately came to my mind, in French of course. “Tip-it
man”, “Magician”. You feel that he was born with the racquet grafted to
his arm. Inventive, deceptive, original. His game must surprise a few
players, and I think that the word “wrong footing” must be the name of the
game in a few rallies.
But his opponent was no joke, let me tell you. Rooney is never afraid of
long rallies, he dwells on them, and loves replying to attack games. So
yes the score went up to 6/0 in the first, but John was sticking to the
Frenchman in every rally, just making the little mistake at the end that
cost him the point.
I only wish Rooney would stop commenting on his own game while playing.
You can see him during the rally saying to himself “you play cr…” and it’s
a negative factor that causes him to lose too many points.
9/1, 9/3, and at 3/3, in the 3rd, John decided to stop, as he injured his
back three days ago. Shame really, it was a good match with long rallies
and flamboyant shots from the French.
On the next court, Thierry Lincou took his time in the first game
to study his opponent's game, 9/5, but then it took him only a few minutes
to finish the match 9/1, 9/3 against Irish number 1 Liam Kenny.
So, France goes through to meet Spain tomorrow morning, then Wales later
in the afternoon.
FRANCE 4-0 IRELAND
THIERRY LINCOU bt LIAM KENNY 9/5 9/0 9/3
GREGORY GAULTIER bt JOHN ROONEY 9/1 9/3 3/3 rtd
RENAN LAVIGNE bt STEVE RICHARDSON 9/4 9/4 9/1
JEAN-MICHEL ARCUCCI bt JOHN HURLEY 9/3 9/2 9/3
ENGLAND: A WALK IN THE SWEDISH
PARK
 James
Willstrop was playing on the central court against Joakim Karlsson.
He made so many mistakes in the 1st game (never heard the tin ringing so
many time with James on court) that he nearly lost against a very precise
and determined Swede. 4/4, 6/6, 8/8. The rallies were extremely short, as
James was going for every shot (and putting quite a few into the metal
board), and the pace very high. It took him 15 minutes to overcome the
Swede 10/9.
Then, 3 minutes 9/0, and 4 minutes 9/0. OK. No damage done.
"He plays at such a high tempo" admitted Karlsson after the match. "He
takes the ball so early, he doesn’t give you any time at all. So you have
to stay behind him all the time, and it gets very tiring."
 Bado
Aziz said something similar after his match against Nick Matthew.
"I knew it was going to be a hard match, and I was looking forward to the
experience, as I don’t get many chances to play at that level. The pace is
so different. Normally, I have an attacking game, but here, I didn’t have
the chance or the time to do so. And when I was succeeding to attack, Nick
would return the shot so quickly, putting me under a lot of pressure. But
I did enjoy the chance of playing him".
Matthew didn’t take any prisoners, 9/3, 9/0, 9/0. Nor did Adrian Grant
(sorry, couldn’t see it, was watching James…) 9/1, 9/0, 9/0. He did lose a
point though, for which he apologised personally to me! What, losing a
point? How dare he!
And I know that a lot of people have made a fuss about the fact he is the
first player of the Afro-Caribbean community to represent England in the
European, but I’m sorry, for me, he is just a pretty damn good 23 year old
player who, when he stays concentrated, can play some remarkable squash.
Lee Beachill took a bit more time to get rid of Christian
Drakenberg, as he went for the rallies more than for the shots,
contrary to his team mates. But the score was as final as theirs, 9/2,
9/2, 9/3.
England now plays Denmark in the morning and Netherlands in the evening.
ENGLAND 4-0
SWEDEN
LEE BEACHILL bt CHRISTIAN DRAKENBERG 9/2 9/2 9/3
NICK MATTHEW bt BADR ABDEL AZIZ 9/3 9/0 9/1
JAMES WILLSTROP bt JOAKIM KARLSSON 10/9 9/0 9/0
ADRIAN GRANT bt HENRIK LOFVENBORG 9/1 9/0 9/0
FRANCE 4-0 IRELAND
THIERRY LINCOU bt LIAM KENNY 9/5 9/0 9/3
GREGORY GAULTIER bt JOHN ROONEY 9/1 9/3 3/3 rtd
RENAN LAVIGNE bt STEVE RICHARDSON 9/4 9/4 9/1
JEAN-MICHEL ARCUCCI bt JOHN HURLEY 9/3 9/2 9/3
Below:
Reports on France's win over
Denmark in the women's,
and a real problem for the
world number one ...
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PLEASE, A BIT OF RESPECT
FOR THE PLAYERS…
L’Hermine Squash Club is a beautiful club, but it has a little
inconvenience: the courts are facing each other, and the exhibition court
is at the beginning of a large “corridor” with courts on each side.
The bar and entrance is on the left, and the other side is a cul-de-sac.
So people have to come in and out in front of the exhibition court. You
would think that with the number of players around, people would think
before passing in front of a match being played…
Think again.
I even saw some people continuing to pass in front of a court with a match
on, when the opposite court was free.
No brain whatsoever!
Oi! watch where you're walking !!
Sorry, but it’s
extremely disturbing for the players and spectators to have an incessant
flow of players, refs, official, spectators, children, bla bla bla… in
front of games.
Shame really. So far, it’s the only problem I’ve seen in the event, but
it’s a biiiiiiiiiiig one.
ALEX GOUGH:
FIVE GAMES TO OVERCOME
THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
I personally didn’t have the chance to see the Wales versus Spain match,
as I was watching England versus Sweden. But it’s actually Thierry
Lincou’s mother who informed me that the Welsh former world number 5 did a
pretty good performance on a back court against the up and coming Spanish
player Borja Golan, who in 2001 was ranked 243!
"He is pretty high in the world scene now, 36 I think, and he is tough. It
was hard work, not the start you’d want really!" confessed Gough.
Alex regrets that extra croissant ...
Alex has a hard day
tomorrow, as his team will playing Ireland in the morning, and France in
the evening.
No rest for the wicked…
THE DANES SAVE THE DAY!
Well, one Danish Ref and Press rep saved mine anyway! You wouldn’t know
about this, but AOL (my internet provider) has problems at the moment, and
I hadn’t been able to connect all day, which causes me huge problems when
trying to send photos and report to my webmaster Steve Cubbins who, as you
know, is the real brain behind my words.
 Well,
this marvel of genius, Michael Hansen, sorted my problem in less
time than I finish a plate of pasta. And when, full of gratitude, I asked
him if he wanted a French female slave for the rest of the tournament, he
simply said: "No, thank you, I would prefer a baby sitter for my 11
month-old baby who wakes up every morning at 5.30 am."
I love the Danes!
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ONE ALL
FOR FRANCE!
Yes, I know, sounds weird, doesn’t it?
You’ll see later why this title.
A very large crowd came to see the French ladies play the Danish team. The
French were loud, but believe me, so were the Danish! What support! In
particular, we had a whistler that has to calm down, or the whole of
Rennes will soon be deaf!
Anyway, Corinne Castets won her match against Julie Dorn-Jensen
in 3 games 9/4, 9/4, 9/0 while I was catching up with my sleep. Yes, I
know, I got it wrong, yet again. I thought we were starting at 2pm, but
no, it was 1pm. So I went back to the hotel, slept for 20m (yes, I had
only 4 hours of sleep last night, so…) and by the time I came back, I was
told that the French number 3 had won.
OK, bad timing again. But I did succeed to see the next match between
Laurence Bois and Line U Hansen. Quite straight forward, I’m
afraid to say (oh come on, with a title like that, I’m sure you must have
guessed that we were at one all at some point, didn’t you?).
As the French player told me afterwards: “I couldn’t stand the pace. If I
had succeeded in taking the second game, especially mentally, everything
would have been possible. But I just couldn’t stay afloat. She was just
above my level”.
Yes, 9/1, 10/9, 9/5. Just a bit too far stretched.
And that’s when I heard in the crowd behind me a French voice saying
“C’est un partout pour la France”, “It’s one all for France”, which I
thought was very funny indeed.
And then came the Number Ones. Isabelle Stoehr, for France (world
13), and Ellen Hamborg Pedersen (world 49). Looking at the
rankings, you would think that it would be an easy match.
NOT!
8/2 up for France in the 1st game. So far so good. Then the Medical
Student about to graduate started to come back. 3, 4, 5… But the French
player won on a beautiful back hand drop shot, 9/5.
Isabelle made some strange tactical choices in the first two games, too
many drop shots in particular, whereas her opponent was playing some
perfect length shots, and in particular cross court lobs that pressurised
the French player into making some mistakes. A lot of mistakes.
In the second game, the two players gave us some long rallies,
predominantly drop shots and cross courts, very few straight drives.
Isabelle was going for some flamboyant shots, but the Dane was volleying
everything, not moving from the T. The French girl was leading the
rallies, but she was also making a lot of mistakes. Once again, France was
up 7/4, and once again, the Danish lady came back. 7/7. The Danish girl
saved her first game ball with a lucky nick rolling from the back wall.
8/8. Every rally was a festival of retrieving and front court battle.
All good things coming to an end though, and France got the last word
10/9.
But the Danish warrior hadn’t said her last word, and came back in the 3rd
to lead 7/1. And that’s when Stoehr decided to change her tactics
radically. She starting lobbing, cross-courting and playing length. And it
worked. Point by point, she clawed back to 7/7, and on a magnificent
backhand volley kill nick, she gave her country the winning match in 3
games.
“I was struggling physically”, said a delighted Isabelle after the match.
“I have been injured, and I lack match practice. So I went deep in my
mental strength to make the team proud.”
And proud they were.
DENMARK 1-2 FRANCE
ELLEN H/PEDERSEN 0-3 ISABELLE STOEHR
5/9 9/10 7/9
LINE U HANSEN 3-0 LAURENCE BOIS
9/1 10/9 9/0
JULIE DORN JENSEN 0-3 CORINNE CASTETS
5/9 4/9 0/9
More Results
On the next court, the English ladies
didn’t stay long, I have to say. 3/0 every time, just a nice sweat,
against some extremely motivated Germans who, unfortunately, couldn’t do
much against one of the best teams in the World (not to say the best
one!).
ENGLAND 3-0 GERMANY
LINDA CHARMAN 3-0 SABINE TILLMAN
9/3 9/3 9/5
VICKY BOTWRIGHT 3-0 KATHRIN RORHMUELLER
9/1 9/0 9/3
JENNY DUNCALF 3-0 KATHARINA WITT
9/5 9/0 9/1
More Results |
Corinne Castets gets France's
women off to a good start ...
Laurence Bois & Nathalie Cornet
Denmark's Line Hansen
Danish team talk
English girls in quickfire win
|
JOHN WHITE:
IS HE GOING TO PLAY NAKED?
After the Austrian team's
problems, Air France has now lost the World Number One's bags!
So this morning, the Scot arrived with a black dustbin bag containing a
few t-shirts and basics. No racquet, no shoes….
“I arrived very late last night”, said John, “and my luggage is still out
there, somewhere… I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to play”!
“Are you going to play naked then?” I asked? Oh come on, couldn’t miss
that one could I…
“No, you don’t want to do that”! said a cheeky Peter Nicol, sitting with
his colleague.
Oh well, Air France is now on the top of the list at Rennes for this
event…
You don't want to do that, John, says Peter,
but Martin thinks it's a great idea ...
NO, HE DIDN’T….
No, John White did find some
squash gear after all. He was playing Israel's number 1, Ilan Oren,
who gave a good performance, but … I have to say I never saw the World
Number 1 playing so many lobs. In the last game, the 2 players actually
looked at each other and smiled. The lesson was pleasant it seemed.
“It’s hard” admitted the Israeli, “hard and frustrating. It’s so much
harder to even see the ball!”.
On top of that, Ilan is 20 tomorrow. Strange way of celebrating your
birthday though…
9/2, 9/3, 9/0 was the result of a very relaxed match for the Scottish
player.
 Next
on was Martin Heath against Ron Levy. There again the score
was not very close, 9/5, 9/0, 9/3, but the rallies were longer, and most
of them were in front of the court, with lovely “I drop you, and you drop
me, and let’s do it all over again”.
A very pleasant match indeed. And an Israeli player already thinking of
his next match against the Czech Republic this afternoon:
“I don’t think that Martin played his best, even if he played beautifully”
commented Levy. “And I have to admit I’m thinking about my next opponent.”
So, 4 love for Scotland, and no game dropped.
SCOTLAND 4-0 ISRAEL
JOHN WHITE 3-0 ILAN OREN 9/2 9/3 9/0
MARTIN HEATH 3-0 RON LEVY 9/5 9/0 9/3
PETER O'HARA 3-0 TOMER NOACH 9/0 9/4 9/2
STUART CRAWFORD 3-0 MOSHE SARFATY 9/0 9/1 9/0
More Results |
Me ? Play Naked ?
You'll just have to wait and see ...
Anyone got some spare shoes ???
Ilan Oren, Israel #1
more photos in
THE GALLERY |
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