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RESULTS    GALLERY

Framboise Gommendy
 reports from Rennes...

FULL PLAY-OFF
DRAWS & RESULTS

  Men's Semi-Finals: 

ENGLAND 4-0 WALES
PETER NICOL 3-0 ALEX GOUGH   9/6 9/0 9/0
LEE BEACHILL 2-0  DAVID EVANS  9/3 9/0 
JAMES WILLSTROP 3-0 GREG TIPPINGS 9/2 9/4 9/7
ADRIAN GRANT 3-0  RICKY DAVIES  9/2 9/2 9/0

NETHERLANDS 0-4 FRANCE
TOMMY BERDEN 1-3 THIERRY LINCOU  3/9 9/8 1/9 4/9
LAURENS JAN ANJEMA 0-2 GREGORY GAULTIER 7/9 5/9
LUCAS BUIT 1-3 RENAN LAVIGNE  9/0 0/9 rtd
DYLAN BENNETT 0-3 LAURENT ELRIANI  0/9 2/9 7/9

FRANCE IN THE FINAL
It was expected. But some hiccups along the way.

Laurent Elriani, 28 years old, ranked 91, was facing Dylan Bennett, ranked 78. The French crowd was present, and loud. And for once, the VIP seats were nearly all taken, which changes of some events where the sponsors don’t bother coming to the competition, and the best seats stay empty.

The first 2 games were pretty easy for the Frenchman, 9/0, 9/2. The 3rd was going well, as Laurent was up 8/4. There were some close encounters, which led one of the main sponsors behind me to say “C’est un sport de contact!” “It’s a sport of close contact!”.

And then Laurent got stunned by a referee call, and let his concentration wonder for a while.

“At 8/4, the ref’s decision surprised me. Then I wanted to finish too quickly, I wasn’t patient enough. I got stuck. It gave Dylan some of his energy back, and it became very difficult.”

Yes it did. 4/8. 5/8. 6/8. 7/8. The crowd was wild. It took Elriani 5 match balls to give France their first point.

In came Renan Lavigne, ranked 21st, 30 years old, closely followed by Lucas Buit, a darn good player, not PSA ranked as he is quite happy to stay home with wife and children, his coach told me!

9/0 for the Dutch. Renan served 3 times. Short. Very short.

In the second, the game changed radically, and this time, it’s the French player who won the game 9/0. And suddenly, the Dutch player retired, complaining of the recurrence of an old hamstring injury.

Shame for the Netherlands. A victory in this match could have made a pretty important difference.

And then Thierry Lincou, la star, our star, stepped in.

You have no idea of the admiration, the aura, that this young discreet and gentle man carries round.

Consistently in England, I’m practically the only voice that is behind him. But over here, I don’t have to be. And it feels good.

Thierry was playing Tommy Berden (ranked 34). The French number one got up to 5/0 in the 1st game, then 8/1 to finally finish 9/3 on a stroke that angered Berden who had a few words with the referee when he got out of court.

The media presence was very obvious, maybe a bit too much, and may have caused Thierry to lose just a bit of his focus, and the second game 9/8 (the Dutchman asked for 1). In that game, Thierry made a few mistakes, Tommy went for some great drop shots, short drives and cross courts that forced Lincou to stretch and stretch again.

Oups!

But then Thierry did what the great players do when in trouble. He regrouped, and it took him 2 minutes, 2 MINUTES, to win the 3rd game 9/0.

At that point, a disheartened Burden reminded the Referees that, as France had won 2 matches and 2 games, they were actually in the final. The referees advised him to play on, as the crowd was large and probably wouldn’t have appreciated another truncated match.

“I started to play very well, and I was very happy to win the second game. Then, before I knew it, Thierry was up 8/0, and there was nothing I could do," said Tommy after the match. "After that, I knew we had lost, and I didn’t want to go on. But I did, in respect for the crowd. I just know I could have played better than that."

Gregory Gaultier went on and played a dead rubber with Laurens Anjema (ranked 32, training with Neil Harvey in Chingford) and won 9/3, 9/3, but I didn’t see the match, as I was busy working…

So, a big day tomorrow, starting at 11 am with the French Ladies playing Belgium for 3rd place. Then the English playing the Netherlands. We won’t see the Welsh playing the Dutch, which is a shame, as you know the admiration I have for the Welsh team (the game will be played at the Squash L’Hermine).

And then ... THE MATCH.
No need to say more.
 

France line up against Holland

Elriani v Bennett

Lavigne v Buit

Lincou v Berden

Rennes Portraits:
Jade, Thierry & Céline Lincou

  Women's Semi-Finals: 
NO SURPRISE
FOR THE ENGLISH
To tell you the truth, and no disrespect for the Belgium players, the meeting was slightly uninteresting. When the gap is that big between players, it must be boring for the best player, frustrating for the opponent, and not that fascinating for the audience.

9/1, 9/0, 9/0. In a few minutes, Linda Charman passed the very tall and stunning Katline Cauwels (ranked 48). The poor Belgium was overstretch at every shot, and never had any opportunity to have any say on the match.

The match between the number ones was slightly more interesting. Even if Kim Hannes is lower in the world rankings (61), her level is probably in the best 40 (in my opinion, once again, what do I know!), and she gave Cassie Jackman some opportunity to stretch her legs. The match lasted 25 min, and was pleasant, even if Cassie made a few mistakes. 9/3, 9/1, 9/1.

The youngest meeting was the longest match (27!): Jenny Duncalf (21) and Charlie de Rycke (17). I was sitting near David Pearson, who kept on saying through the whole match “What is she doing?”.

Jenny made quite a few mistakes, and let her opponent take confidence. We saw some nice front of the court work, and the Belgian volleys very well (she is very tall as well, which helps I guess). The first game was the closest, 9/6, then 9/4, 9.3.

Just one point in passing. I noticed that the 3 Belgians were extremely slim. Is it something to do with the Belgian training regime? If it is, could I become Belgian please?

Kauwels, De Rycke & Hannes

DREAM’S OVER, LADIES…

Too good, too fit, too precise.

The Netherlands ladies were too strong today. The first match between Laurence Bois and Annelize Naude didn’t last long, and like the Charman match, was not that fascinating. The South African now playing for the Netherlands, with the funny hair (that she changes I was told for each tournament!), never gave the 34 year old French player any openings. Laurence succeeded to take 1 point in the last game, after saving her first match point, but couldn’t save the second one. 9/0, 9/0, 9/1.

Isabelle Stoehr was meeting the tall red haired Vanessa Atkinson, and the crowd got into the match, as the player from Tours played some flamboyant shots, in particular her trademark, the backhand volley drop shot, but also some beautiful forehand volley kills.

In each of the 3 games, Vanessa was up quite comfortably, but every time, the French player succeeded to come back into it. The score in the first and the third were quite close, and Isabelle could have won the 3rd one. But she was visibly in pain, and had a lot of trouble adjusting her volleys. Shame that her shoulder injury prevented her playing at her full capacity. But she fulfilled her moral contract. She fought well, and has nothing to be ashamed of. Vanessa Atkinson, the world number 3, was just a shot too far…

In a few minutes now, the Men are going to play against the Netherlands, as well. Can’t wait!

Speak with you later…

 
Liberté for the semi-finals

England coaches look on ...


 

Cassie & Jenny relaxed about it all ...

The Dutch make the Final