James Willstrop:
NOTES ON PAKISTAN:
FINAL:
James Willstrop
(Eng) bt Anthony Ricketts (Aus)
6/11, 11/9, 13/11, 11/3 (58m)
 Saturday
11th Dec 1pm
It's been quite a last 24 hours! To
win yesterday was a bit of a dream like scenario. Everything just
came together all week. It was a real target to win a major title
but to do it this week with the quality of the draw in Pakistan was
special.
Anthony was tough to beat even though he was a bit jaded and the
first three games were a real scrap. When I managed to nick the
third he was spent and I just had to make sure I didn't let him back
in. I think it was a good match played really aggressively but
fairly by both of us and hopefully the packed crowd enjoyed it.
It took a while to get the game started. After the warm up we had to
wait for another five minutes for the Prime Minister to arrive ...
(if Blair was late to the British Open we'd let him off I'm sure).
Then as we started we both found the court was a bit slippy so we
had another five minute break for the court to be wiped with the
damp cloth. This was brutal ... We just wanted to play!
Then we had a heavy collision in the middle of the court and my
sheer amazing strength seemed to wind Anthony a bit! ... "three
minutes injury break" he said...
"Anthony, you're joking", I replied ... "just kidding", he said
cheekily, being the comedian that he is.
People in Pakistan are very passionate about squash and the
reception they gave us in the final was awesome.It is very different
over here compared to England. When you see the Pakistan National
news on TV, the squash is the very first story they cover and it is
always back page news in the national newspapers.
I spoke to Malc during the tournament as usual over the phone, and
he uses his blend of wit and calmness to keep me relaxed which is
great for me. It's good to have him there all the way, and also the
club who as always are greatly supportive.
I hope these notes have been informative. Congratulations to the PSF
and all involved in the tournament for doing a great job! It is an
important event in the PSA calendar , let's hope it stays that way.
James Willstrop
11.30pm 9th Dec 2004
Semi-Final:
[8] James Willstrop (Eng) bt
[2] Nick Matthew (Eng)
11/4, 11/5, 11/5 (30m)
Semi finals day today and I was really happy with my performance.
The scores don't flatter Nick and I can assure you the match was
harder than it looked! I am happy with it but am well aware there is
a new challenge awaiting at four tomorrow. I am looking forward to
it immensely. I really enjoy the big occasion and a super series
event is certainly that. I want to have some fun out there too and
hopefully Anthony and I can produce a good match for the Pakistani
spectators.
Anthony and Jonathan was fiercely competitive and really exciting
from the spectator's point of view. It was a bit strange when a
group of school children who were watching the match started
clapping intermittently, and randomly at completely the wrong times!
No one seemed to be able to get through to them when it was right to
clap! It was almost comical, but not for the players.
I noticed Jansher was watching in the front row. It was good
to see the Pakistani squash legend there supporting the event. He is
one of the greats and I learned a lot by watching him when I was
younger so it was good to see him there.
Elsewhere on the scene not much is happening. Dan Jenson
and David Palmer are still around as they are off to Chennai
for the doubles after this, and were seen in golfing gear which
looked quite amusing. Ernie and Tiger played this morning and had
caddys!
Otherwise all is the same; routine stays the same, practice, hotel,
tv prepare, play, and hopefully win!
James Willstrop
10.30pm 8th Dec 2004
Quarter-Final:
[8] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [3] Amr Shabana (Egy)
11/9, 11/7, 1/0 rtd (22m)
There's always lots of time when you're in Pakistan, what with armed
guards having to go anywhere with you so most of the time is spent
either training, playing, slagging some of the other players off or
relaxing in the hotel room - and now writing!
Islamabad is better than
i thought it would be. The hotel and squash centre are good and
transport is running well.
I beat Amr Shabana today. I was two up and he came off. I played ok
for the two games that were competitive but felt more flowing
yesterday beating Olli 3-0.
Nick also did well in the end to beat Shahid who is formidable, like Pakistani's tend to be, in his own
country. It was difficult as Shahid is very skillful and looks for
anything he can get from the referee which must have been annoying,
especially with 50 or 60 people shouting against you from outside.
Power was looking sharp in his match with Palmer, who was doing a
lot of complaining to the referee and made Power look angelic which
is difficult!
I missed the Ricketts / Gaultier match but Anthony seems in good
spirits and has had a couple of good wins here added to the quarter
final in Qatar so it looks like he's back in form.
Anyway all ready to play tomorrow against Nick. Just had some good
food and a massage and it will be back to the hotel room to watch
the umpteenth film of the week with Nick and maybe finish last
night's game of chess which I will lose for sure!..
Hope it's not a sign of things to come!
James Willstrop
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