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Sat 4th:
MEN'S FINAL:
Rouen Squash bt Capitol St Cloud
4/1
David Palmer bt Lee Beachill
9/2, 9/0, 9/4
Peter Nicol lost to Anthony Ricketts 3/9,
9/1, 3/9, 5/9
Nick Matthew bt James Willstrop
9/5, 9/2
John White bt Adrian Grant
9/6, 4/9, 10/8, 9/3
Olli Tuominen bt Simon Parke
9/3, 9/7, 9/2
Rouen Take French Title
In a match featuring six of the world's top ten players, Rouen beat
Capitol St Cloud to claim the French League title.
Match of the day was John White's one hour 52 minute victory over
Adrian Grant, a match which amazed the packed audience at Antibes and
delayed proceedings on both courts as the players due on insisted on
watching the end of the match.
Olli Tuominen had put Rouen one up, and once David Palmer had beaten an
out-of-sorts Lee Beachill, suffering from the after-effects of
food-poisoning, Anthony Ricketts' win over Peter Nicol was only a
consolation point for St Cloud.
Nick Matthew made it 4-1 in the best of three dead rubber against James
Willstrop to give Rouen their fourth win in seven final clashes against St
Cloud.
There was some consolation for St Cloud in the women's event as they
cruised to a 5-0 win over the host club.
 "I
did actually enjoy it, in a weird way. In those sort of conditions, it’s
always going to be a tough game, whoever you’re playing, because you
simply cannot kill the ball…
Adrian Grant |
 "In
this weather, at that pace of game… It was hard, VERY hard…
John White |
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More in
the Players on
the Finals |
WOMEN'S FINAL:
Capitol St Cloud bt Rackets
Antibes
5/0
MEN'S 3/4:
Set Marseilles bt Passion Aix
4/1
WOMEN'S 3/4:
Squash Hermine bt Passion Aiz
4/1
Fri 3rd, Semi-Finals:
MEN :
Capitol St Cloud bt Passion Aix
4/1
Rouen Squash bt Set Marseille
4/1
WOMEN :
Capitol St Cloud bt Squash de l’Hermine
5/0
Rackets Antibes bt Passion Aix
3/2
Full
Results
 "The
second game was definitely my best game. I was more in control, I played
tighter squash, getting him behind me. I really needed to win that game,
and when I didn’t, it seemed a very long way to go…"
Simon Parke |
 "I’m glad I didn’t have to win, because at 5/4 in the fourth, it was very
hard, I would have had to push very hard, and when I heard that David had
won, suddenly, I felt tired, so tired ..."
Peter Nicol |
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More in
the Players on
the Finals |
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ALSO IN FRENCH
Lots more photos, quotes,
portraits and more ...
The
Players on the Finals
More
effort, please ...
Capitol
St Cloud
Capitol
Champions
Runners-up Antibes
Action Gallery
by
Frederic Dagraca
Quick snippets from Framboise ...
Arrived at the club ... great weather, great facilities, great
surroundings.
First player to be seen was James Willstrop, who wasn't happy
- he'd just lost 3/0 to Jean-Michel Arcucci and struggled
with the hot, bouncy conditions.
 "I
really didn’t enjoy the conditions… It was far too hot for me… The
ball was so bouncy, that’s not the squash I like…
The
Players in Antibes
Thierry Lincou also suffered with the heat and had breathing
difficulties, hyperventilating at times. After fighting back to
2-all against David Palmer - the match already lost - Lincou
conceded early in the fifth.
David was pleased with the win, he was unhappy with his loss against
Lincou in last week's Dutch finals and was very concentrated today.
 "I
was really was looking forward to my match today, because I played
very badly in Holland last week, I was not happy with my game, so
today I’m happy with the way I played ..."
The
Players in Antibes
John White was as fiery as ever, playing stupendous winners
in scorching conditions - some attempted nicks were bouncing a meter
high! This gave Mathieu Castagnet the chance to chase
everything down, which the young Frenchman did with gusto, earning
praise from Phil Soria ... "Mathieu doesn't normally run that
much, but he certainly did today ..."
Isabelle Stoehr came close to earning a point for Squash
L'Hermine as they lost 5-0 to St Cloud, but couldn't finish off from
2-0 up against Laura Lengthorn.
Celia Allamargot also turned in a fine performance. Injured
just before the Carcassonne Open she was returning from two weeks
off with a twisted ankle, and played remarkably well to just lose
out 9-7 in the fifth to Anabelle Romedenne as her Passion Aix
team lost 3/2 to the host club Rackets Antibes.
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Action Gallery by
Frederic Dagraca
The players in Antibes |
A LONG SEASON…
Women's Final
Laura-Jane Lenthorn and Becky Botwright offered us a good
match, although it was obvious that they were both very tired not only
from the past days (they both played in the Dutch Open), but also from a
looooong season…
 Laura
started very strongly, and dominated all the rallies from the T, hitting
perfect balanced shots (it’s still hot here, you know), but in the second,
up 5/0, she seemed to forget all about length, to Becky’s great pleasure,
who enjoyed volleying immensely, and charmed us with a few exquisite
volley drop shots…
But in the last two games, Laura, advised by Caroline Chaloner,
concentrated to get back her length, and soon Becky started to make a few
unforced errors…
A nice match, two very professional ladies, who gave their best today, and
trust me, it was not that easy…
Laura Lengthorn (St Cloud) bat Becky Botwright (Antibes)
9/3, 4/9, 9/1, 9/3
(31m)
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IT
WAS A
HOT HOT DAY…
Framboise on Friday in Antibes
Blimey…
What a change of weather…
Here you are in London, thinking that maybe, maybe today is the day you
actually stop your heating, and zoom, you find yourself in some scorching
temperature, under a blazing sun, at only 1h40 from Gatwick…
The minute I arrived from the airport, picked up by my brother (my family
home is just 50 minutes away from Nice Airport, and 35 minutes from
Antibes Squash Club), I asked myself the same question I always ask myself
on
my arrival… What the h… am I doing in England when I could live HERE…
 The
glamour of it all, I suppose…
But Antibes Squash Club is still as lovely as it ever was… Only warmer
than I remember, and especially warmer than the players would wish it to
be, that’s for sure…
“Have you been on court?”, Lee Beachill asked me. “You should… Here, in
the club, it’s actually quite cool compared to the courts…”
A fact confirmed by everybody…
 It was a hot, hot day… But then again, South East of France, in June…
Hardly surprising now, is it???
But who cares… The best players in the world, a fantastic welcome from Lee
Goodall,
Clive and Debbie Stokes, the beautiful smile of
Pauline Filet, the French
Federation PR, friends everywhere… What more do you want????
Framboise
The Players in
Antibes:
quotes in English and French |
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Action Gallery
FULL RESULTS
FINALE FEMMES:
Capitol St Cloud bt Rackets Antibes
5/0
Laura Lengthorn bt Becky Botwright
3/0
Dom. Lloyd-Walter bt Annabelle Romedenne 3/0
Suzie Pierrepont bt Emilie Bouzeza
3/0
Sarah Kippax bt Catherine Bignotti
3/0
Caroline Heal bt Virginie Fribourg
3/0
Places 3/4
HOMMES :
Set Marseille bat
Passion Aix 4/1
Thierry Lincou bat Grégory Gaultier
3/1
Azlan Iskandar bat Jean-Michel Arcucci 3/2
Renan Lavigne bat Fabien Verseille
3/0
Mathieu Castagnet bat Thibault Gouti 3/0
Yan Perin perd contre Sameer Khan 2/3
Places 3/4
FEMMES:
Squash Hermine bat Passion Aix
4/1
Isabelle Stoehr bat Olga Puigdemont
3/2
Manuela Manetta bat Celia Allamargot
3/1
Laurence Bois bat Anna-Carin Forstadius 3/0
Sonia Pasteris bat Margot Demont
3/0
Nathalie Brindejonc perd contre Isabelle Quintard 0/3
SEMI-FINALS:
MEN :
Capitol St Cloud bt Passion Aix
4/1
Anthony Ricketts bt Grégory Gaultier
3/1
James Willstrop lost to Jean-Michel Arcucci
0/3
Adrian Grant bt Fabien Verseille
3/0
Simon Parke bt Thibault Gauti
3/0
Alex Gough bt Emmanuel Villier
3/0
Rouen Squash bt Set Marseille
4/1
David Palmer bt Thierry Lincou
3/2
Peter Nicol bt Azlan Iskandar
3/1
Nick Matthew lost to Renan Lavigne
0/3
John White bt Mathieu Castagnet
3/0
Olli Tuominen bt Yann Perin
3/0
WOMEN :
Capitol St Cloud bt Squash de l’Hermine
5/0
Laura Lengthorn bt Isabelle Stoehr
3/2
Dominique Lloyd-Walter bt Manuela Manetta
3/0
Suzie Pierrepont bt Laurence Bois
3/1
Sarah Kippax bt Sonia Pasteris
3/1
Caroline Heal bt Natalie Brindejonc
3/0
Rackets Antibes bt Passion Aix
3/2
Becky Botwright bt Olga Puidgemont
3/2
Anabelle Romedenne bt Celia Allamargot
3/2
Emilie Bouzeza lost to Anna-Carin Forstadius
0/3
Catherine Bignotti btt Margot Demont 3/0
Virginie Fribourg lost to Karine Isambarf
0/3
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